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The Shape of Monsters

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The Shape of Monsters

By: C L Hellisen
Narrated by: Omari Douglas
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About this listen

Audible Originals are proud to present, The Shape of Monsters by CL Hellisen, narrated by Omari Douglas, star of Black Doves and It's a Sin.

In a world where power is everything, Aleks and Vaira Kercheval have rejected their magical heritage. The lives they have carefully constructed for themselves are torn asunder when they inherit Aubrey House, their family's ancestral home. When the siblings cross the threshold, a long-dormant magic awakens, thrusting them into a world of ancient feuds and twisted powers.

As Vaira embraces her magical heritage, determined to claim her rightful place among the Mage Houses, the powerless Aleks accidentally summons Ilea, a monstrous prince from the Void, thereby binding himself to a creature of immense power and insatiable hunger.

Aleks and Vaira find themselves on either side of a magical divide. But dark forces are at work, threatening to tear apart the fragile peace between the ancient families.

When Vaira's quest for power leads her into the depths of the Void, Aleks must make an impossible choice - betray his sister to save her from corruption, or watch as she becomes something monstrous and inhuman. As the lines between human and monster blur, each must decide how far they'll go to survive in a world where even gods can fall.

The Shape of Monsters is a treasure trove of dark magic and family blood, where the price of power is paid with the ultimate sacrifice.

©2025 C L Hellison (P)2025 Audible Ltd.
Action & Adventure Best of 2025 Dark Fantasy Fantasy LGBTQ+ LGBTQIA+ Creators Emotionally Gripping Scary
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A decadently dark tale of love and magic brought to life by an excellent narrator. I'm so glad there's a sequel!

Brilliant

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I think I was expecting a classic creature feature meets spooky witchy story so I was a bit disappointed. I found the story engaging at first but wasn’t super keen on the more cannibalistic scenes. Don’t get me wrong I love horror/gore but I guess I just didn’t enjoy it being sexualised. Not kink shaming, if that’s your thing you’re gonna love this, it’s just not for me ☺️

Woke cannibal erotica 😅

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Good start but started to realise that I was listening to a teen drama which I hadn’t realised when I chose the book. Then Aleks develops a non-binary relationship with a dead, shape-shifting monster from the void that is always referred to using they/them. Yeah, I’m out.

Not for me - the whole they/them thing was weird

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. . listening to get a little insight. Most negative reviews for this focused on A: The personal relationship between the protagonist and his bound demon and B: The authors use of pronouns like they /them .
To clarify, the protagonist is ( mainly) gay his demon an amorphous, gigantic power from another realm, bound by accident, diminished in power but still able to take whatever form it wishes. With that in mind, I think the use of non-binary pronouns are completely apt. Author also goes to a lot of effort to underscore the fact that the Long Lived, Massively Powerful, Demon from Dark Depths is given freedom of choice ( about the relationship).

It's a little dark, narrator does a good job, storyline is ok . I'd probably buy the next in series to see how the plot develops.


I always read the negative reviews before...

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Surprising twists, great story line and great narrative. Well worth a listen highly recommend thank you

Enjoyable listening

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