The Monsters We Feed is a standalone novel situated in Luminaworld, and an excellent entry point to the saga if you are intimidated by the book We Break Immortals is. Situated in the city of Kolchin, we are going to be following the adventures of an MC we wish we could help, surrounded by a neo-noir atmosphere that the author has really nailed.

Our secrets and lies are the monsters we feed.

Jatan Algevin is an angry young man, who has grown up hating all the magick users, believing they are not more than abominations and that their class should be eradicated from the world. He's also a closed-minded person, especially against anything that can suppose change to the city he believes he knows as the palm of his hand. All of this changes the morning he finds a dead Glasseye and gets monocle, opening a whole new way to look at the world.

He soon becomes obsessed with it, as it is useful to find those pesky magick users he hates so much. But this new way to see the world, also opens to him a totally different city from the one he knew, making him enter into contact with other groups he would never think about; his obsession makes the world he knows to go upside-down. It is a really well-fleshed character, a person whose convictions suddenly disappear after a traumatic fact. The contact with other groups and people that he would never work with also helps expand his own vision of how the city should be and makes him improve as a person.

Lyra, his sister, is a totally different character, and plays an important role in the change Jatan experiments during the novel. Both suffered the death of their parents, but the personalities that appeared after it are the opposite. Lyra has a secret that will be a key piece in the plot. Outside of the two brothers, I would like to also mention the portrait that Howard-Riley makes of the scumborns of Tennement Lane, constantly having to hide from the rest of society, trying to protect their children.

And let's talk about what for me is the strongest aspect of the novel, which is the worldbuilding and the atmosphere the author has created. It is difficult to explain with words, but the city feels alive, with its own labyrinths, and its people; part of this is due to how the language in this novel has its own terms, calling the different classes, showing also the division of the society between those who have magick and those who not. There are many small details grouped together that help us to form a full picture of how this place is.

The magick system is also well explained, with many details and situations that help show how it works, being mainly based on moving objects through the use of energy, letting a residue that cannot be seen by the naked eye. A system with limitations, that taxes the user draining its energy, well balanced in my opinion.

This novel is an excellent example of how to write a dark story that keeps you hooked until the last page, and how to make you cheer for a character who can be found despicable at first sight. A great standalone, and one more reason to continue reading more stories in Luminaworld.