Monster by C.J. Skuse

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 384
Publisher: MIRA Ink
Released: 24th of September 2015

At sixteen Nash thought that the fight to become Head Girl of prestigious boarding school Bathory would be the biggest battle she’d face. Until her brother’s disappearance leads to Nash being trapped at the school over Christmas with Bathory’s assorted misfits. As a blizzard rages outside, strange things are afoot in the school’s hallways, and legends of the mysterious Beast of Bathory – a big cat rumoured to room the moors outside the school – run wild. Yet when the girls’ Matron goes missing it’s clear that something altogether darker is to blame – and that they’ll have to stick together if they hope to survive.

What I Have to Say 

This was really good. Sometimes CJ Skuse's characters can be a little annoying. In both Dead Romantic and Rockaholic, the characters were very unobservant and didn't have much common sense. So it's nice to see a smart character in Monster, especially as she looks after the other characters. 

I really liked the way that elements of the boarding school life contributed to the plot to make the characters more isolated. The fact that Matron had the girl's mobile phones and had shut off the internet really added to the plot in a convenient way which added to the general atmosphere of the book.

The elements of this book really added up to form a perfect whole. The boarding school setting, the intelligent and resourceful main character and the mysterious Beast of Bathory really made a book worth reading. If I had to pick a negative, it's that the battle between the two girls to become Head Girl was such a small part of the book, when at the start it seemed like it would be a bigger thing. 

All in all, this is a great book.