The Monstrous Kind

By: Lydia Gregovic

Narrated by: Fran Burgoyne

An atmospheric, haunting, romantasy inspired by Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, set in Regency era England about two sisters fighting to hold on to their manor while deadly monsters prowl along its perimeters—perfect for fans of House of Salt and Sorrows and Anatomy: A Love Story.

Merrick Darling’s life as daughter of the Manor Lord of Sussex is better than most. Unlike the commoners, she is immune to the toxic fog that encroached on England generations earlier. She will never become a Phantom—one of the monstrous creatures that stalk her province’s borders—and as long as the fires burn to hold them back, her safety is ensured. She wants for nothing, yet she will never inherit her family’s Manor. She must marry smartly or live at the kindness of her elder sister, Essie.

Everything is turned on its head, though, when Merrick’s father dies suddenly. Torn from her New London society life of ball gowns and parties, Merrick must travel back to her childhood home, the Darling estate of Norland House, and what she finds there is bewildering. Once strong and capable, Essie is withdrawn and frightened—and with good cause. A recent string of attacks along the province’s borders has turned their formerly bucolic countryside into a terrifying and unpredictable landscape. The fog is closing in and the fires aren’t holding, which makes Merrick and Essie vulnerable in more ways than one. Because the Phantoms are far from the only monsters in Merrick’s world, and the other eleven Manor Lords are always watching for weakness.

Revealing her and her sister’s current state to the rest of the Manors is out of the question, but when Essie goes missing, it’s clear that Merrick needs help. Only, who can she trust when everyone seems to be scheming, and when all she holds true feels like it’s slipping right out of her grasp?

©2024 Lydia Gregovic (P)2024 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"From its first page, The Monstrous Kind beguiled me, seizing hold of my imagination with its eerie landscapes and fog shrouded manor. Gregovic’s world-building is decadent and nightmarish. I was consumed by this book!”—Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The House of Salt and Sorrow

“A gorgeously evocative gothic fantasy, conjuring mist-cloaked manors, unearthly monsters, disturbing family secrets, and a dark thread of forbidden romance. This is everything I look for in a book.” —Ava Reid, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of A Study in Drowning

“Lushly atmospheric and exquisitely gothic, Gregovic’s world of haunting gray mist will ensnare you with its intricate web of politics, sinister monsters, and brooding romance. A deliciously dark, genre-bending tale to sink your teeth into and devour.” — Amélie Wen Zhao, New York Times bestselling author of Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

“Lydia Gregovic’s masterfully eerie twist on the Austenian will captivate readers with its haunting prose, decadent romance, and Gothic mise-en-scène. I was entranced by the beguiling world of regency and rot, where skeletons lurk in every closet and nothing is ever as it seems.” —Sophie Kim, author of The God and the Gumiho

“Romantic, clever, and deeply emotional. The Monstrous Kind is the darkly glimmering crown jewel of YA Gothic fantasy.” —Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of A Fragile Enchantment