When We Were Monsters

Written by Jennifer Niven

Reviewed by Sandy Driessens

The day before we kill Meredith Graffam is calm and blue opens Jennifer Niven’s latest YA thriller.

Eight of the brightest, most visionary senior students, from the prestigious Brighton and Hove Academy are selected to attend the Jan Term Visiting Artist series, to be held over three weeks at The Moss, the ageing mansion of the school founders. Bestselling author, Oscar-winning actor, director, screenwriter and previous student, Meredith Graffam, will be the mentor for the course in Immersive Storytelling. How thrilling, how intoxicating, is how the students feel … but on the second day, the extraordinarily dangerous test with which Graffam challenges them, leaves some of the students questioning whether the $15,000 scholarship, that can be won by only one of them, is worth the risk.

The first line obviously gives away the climax at the end of the book, but the harrowing journey getting to that conclusion is the basis of this tense novel. Narrated by two of the teenagers attending the workshop, the voices have an authentic ring, with the unreliability and naivety expected of that age group. These two, obviously, are the most developed characters, though backstories of the others are slowly revealed. The antagonist, Meredith Graffam’s true personality and intention is exposed in increments to draw out the tension.  “The Moss”, the expected eerie mansion set in a forest, where another teenager died is a character in its own right as well,

With references throughout to the creation of monsters in books such as Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray, the theme of who is the real monster … the creator or the created, becomes obvious early on. When We Were Monsters is classed as YA for 13 to 18 year olds, however, I do not recommend it for anyone under 17 years. It is a cautionary tale about hero worship and winning at any cost but with themes of extreme psychological manipulation, alcohol consumption, malicious drugging, sexual relationships and eventually a choice to murder, I believe it requires a certain amount of maturity be able to deal with this emotionally very dark thriller.

Penguin 2025 

Jennifer Niven