Review- Alex Finch: Monster Hunter (The Monster Files #1) by Cate Dean

Title: Alex Finch: Monster Hunter

Series: The Monster Files #1

Author: Cate Dean

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: September 2013

Published by: Pentam Press

Source: Amazon Freebie

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Buy it: Amazon

Synopsis:

Meet Alex Finch - tomboy, techno geek, monster hunter.

Reluctant monster hunter.

A school project, an absentminded project partner, and a misplaced backpack all change 16-year-old Alex Finch's life forever.

In a single afternoon Alex finds the missing backpack, has a run-in with Sam, the boy she's had a crush on since first grade - and discovers that monsters are real.

That mind-blowing incident throws her life in a completely different direction, uncovering secrets that cost her more than she could ever imagine. And the further she digs, the darker and more dangerous the secrets become.

What else is hiding behind the ordinary facade of her California beach town?

Alex is about to find out.

My rating: ★★★★☆

"The monster’s out of the closet, and we have to shove it back in and lock the door."

All because of a lost backpack...

Alex just wanted to find her backpack with all her project notes inside. If it hadn’t been for her ditzy project partner, Misty, losing them, they wouldn’t have been attacked by a monster! Now Alex is thrown into a world she never knew existed until it almost literally bites her in the ass. And to top it off, her crush Sam maybe or may not be involved in all this craziness, too.

Alex was very sassy and relatable and I totally loved her for that! I also really liked Alex’s reaction towards finding out about the supernatural world—it was very realistic! Initially, Alex wants zero involvement in all this, and I totally get it. However, certain things happen that force Alex to rethink things and she reluctantly goes out to stop the monster before it hurts innocent people in town.

And Alex’s dad... he was the best! In a lot of YA books the parents are typically either dead or not around. In this book, however, I really loved how he involved himself in his daughter’s life and how he took care of these crazy teens fighting this crazy monster. I just loved seeing an adult around for a change—it was really nice!

Another character I loved: Misty! At first she was presented as an airhead of a cheerleader, but there was so much more to her and I really appreciated that. I was so pleasantly surprised by Misty and so glad she wasn’t your cliche, stereotypical mean girl/cheerleader. I just loved seeing how Alex became more accepting of Misty as a friend, something she never thought possible.

[Misty] flashed me one of her brilliant smiles. “Being friends with you is never boring.”
“Friends?” I think my voice may have squeaked.
“You think I’m spending time with you, and introducing you to my friends because we’re working on a stupid project together?”

In this book we focused on two different monsters, but there were a couple of other monsters mentioned throughout the book that has made me very excited to continue read the series. A particular one that caught my attention: the Fenris Wolf! As in from Norse mythology! You know how much I love my mythology, so I was super excited to see this!

The one thing I wasn’t the biggest fan of in this book was the fact that there were so many questions raised, and so few of them answered. Like, almost none. Look, I understand that this is the first book in the series, but still. I feel like we should’ve gotten at least some answers. I mean there are some things implied, but never actually confirmed. I don’t know, I guess I’m just annoyed by it.

But overall, I really liked this book! I thought the world was really interesting and I am hoping to see more variety of monsters in future books! I was actually expecting something more along the lines of Supernatural when it came to the monster hunting aspect of it, but it really wasn’t like that at all. It’s definitely not a bad thing though because it was still a really enjoyable read!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! :)