Book Confessions of an Ex-Ballerina

Title: Monster Nanny

By: Tuutikki Tolonen

Genre: Paranormal

Pages: 304

Release Date: November 14th, 2017

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Audience: Middle Grade

Summary from Goodreads: HMH has bought world English rights to Tuutikki Tolonen's middle grade novel, Monster Nanny, the story of a contemporary family whose daily routines are turned upside-down when a hairy, swamp-smelling creature said to be specializing in childcare shows up at their doorstep. Publication is set for fall 2017

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Review: When mom wins a trip for a relaxing weekend away from the kids, a monster comes to stay, but it doesn't come without instructions. There is a book that tells the kids all about the care of the monster. Strange things begin to happen when more monsters show up, but not all is as it seems.

I was really intrigued by the whole monster nanny concept. At one point I started to think, "is this monster really a grandma transformed, and its trying to tell the kids?" But no, it was not as I thought. Things started to get strange when the bathrobe began to talk. I'm all for strange, but around the last quarter of the book, I felt like the whole story flip flopped and turned into something else. It didn't feel like it stuck with the whole paranormal feel of the first three quarters of the story and it turned into something more scifi. The ending was pleasant, but not the reveal I hoped it would be. 

All in all, it wasn't bad. If I hadn't lost interest toward the end I would have rated it higher. Three stars for Monster Nanny.  

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.