someone you can build a nest in

A Most-Anticipated Book of 2024: LitHub, Polygon, Apple, Goodreads

⭐ ＂Wiswell raises the bar on the outcast as protagonist . . . the ultimate monster slayer story, if the monster is just a misunderstood creature searching for love.＂ -- Kristi Chadwick, Library Journal (starred review)

Discover this creepy, charming monster-slaying fantasy romance--from the perspective of the monster--by Nebula Award-winning debut author John Wiswell

Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she’s fallen in love.

Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth.

However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, she’s found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen’s eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans don’t think about love that way.

Shesheshen hates keeping her identity secret from Homily, but just as she’s about to confess, Homily reveals why she’s in the area: she’s hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Has Shesheshen seen it anywhere?

Eating her girlfriend isn’t an option. Shesheshen didn’t curse anyone, but to give herself and Homily a chance at happiness, she has to figure out why Homily’s twisted family thinks she did. As the hunt for the monster becomes increasingly deadly, Shesheshen must unearth the truth quickly, or soon both of their lives will be at risk.

And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with, rather than in, the love of her life.

John Wiswell won the Nebula Award for his short story ＂Open House on Haunted Hill.＂ He has also been a finalist for the Hugo Award, World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, and Locus Award. His work has appeared in acclaimed publications like Uncanny Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Tor.com, Nightmare Magazine, and others, as well as numerous podcasts, including LeVar Burton Reads podcast, the NoSleep podcast, Podcastle, Escape Pod, and others. He was most recently a finalist of the Hugo Award a second time in 2022 for Best Novelette. He has 9,000+ followers on Twitter and is a well-known and beloved member of the online sci-fi and fantasy community. He regularly attends sff industry cons and participates in programming.