Climbing Mount TBR: Someone You Can Build A Nest In

Article by Ed O.

Welcome back to Climbing Mount TBR where I, your humble Book Kaiju, struggle to climb to the top of my book pile.

I’m closing out my half of the Hugo Best Novel nominees by reading Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell. Shout out to the publisher, DAW Books, who provided a free copy of the novel to the Hugo Voters. Thanks to them I had a reason to finally get around to reading it!

So, what’s it about?

Shesheshen is a monster just doing monster things. Like terrorizing the village and spending quality time with her pet blue bear named Blueberry (I will die for Blueberry). Then one winter as she lies hibernating in her cave pool, several monster hunters led by a cocky jerk in impractical armor poison her with rosemary and try to kill her! How rude!

Poisoned, but now with several new bones to add to her collection, Shesheshen heads to the village to grab a bite to eat and figure out what’s going on. She finds the villagers celebrating her death. Awkward. Apparently the rightful lords of the region, the Wulfyres, have returned to save the people from the terrible monster.

Shesheshen may be a shapeshifter, but she’s terrible at actually acting like a human, so she’s soon found out. Villagers do what villagers do in a monster story: They grab their torches and pitchforks. She’s chased out of town and over a cliff to certain doom!

Except she’s saved from death by Homily. Shesheshen finds herself drawn to this stranger. Homily is very sweet and kind. She’s smart and witty. She’s got enough body mass that Shesheshen could lay eggs in her. Is this love?

But these two kooky kids can’t just ride off into the sunset. Like all good romance plots, they have obstacles to overcome. Homily is a Wulfyre out to avenge her family by ripping out the heart of a mysterious monster (i.e., Shesheshen). Worse, Homily’s family comes for a visit and let’s just say an amorphous, shape shifter isn’t the monster you should be scared of. No, the real monster is familial trauma!

So, what did I think?

This was an enjoyable book. It’s a quick read, there’s heartwarming moments, and nice action scenes to break up the drama. Someone You Can Build a Nest In is fun and that’s the best reason to go give it a chance.

I loved what Wiswell did by making the POV character a non-human. Xenofiction isn’t easy to write, but I thought he did a commendable job in making Shesheshen relatable, but also weird. Shesheshen doesn’t think like us. Her views on love and friendships are strange. She’s not just a Star Trekian human with a rubber face. She’s something unique, and that makes her a delight to read.

I honestly wish I had read this book when it first came out a year ago. Now when I’m reading it, I have to think “Is this a Hugo worthy book?” Don’t get me wrong, I liked this story! The characters were interesting, and the plot was great. I don’t regret reading it and I’ve already forced friends to read it.

Reading it as a Hugo nominated book, however, I’ve got to pay attention to the flaws. It feels like a first novel. Wiswell wrote a good book, but he still needs to polish up his skills to make a great book. This book didn’t have a whole lot to say, that is there’s no deep message. There is talk about familial trauma, but that is treated more as a plot point than a deep issue. The dialogue felt a little clunky at times. The romance felt rushed and a little forced. By the end of the book there’s enough minor flaws to make me place this near the bottom of my Hugo Ballot.

It’s a fun book, but to me it’s not Best Novel material. Still, give it a read! It’s worth your time.

As the Hugos draw ever closer, what do you all think? Who deserves to be crowned Best Novel? Let us know in the comments and over on BlueSky!