Monstrous (MarcyKate Connolly) Books in Order

The Monstrous books are dark, fairy-tale-flavored companion novels set around the troubled city of Bryre. They are linked by their world, its magic, and the consequences of an evil wizard's curse, rather than by one continuing lead character. Each book gives a different young person a dangerous problem that cannot be solved by staying safely at home.

The series begins with Monstrous. Bryre lives under strict fear because girls become sick and vanish, and no one is allowed outside after dark. Kymera enters the city only at night, because people would see her wings, bolts in her neck, and spiked tail and assume she is dangerous. In fact, she was created to find and rescue the missing girls.

Kymera's friendship with Ren changes the shape of her mission. He knows more about Bryre's curse, the missing children, and the wizard behind the city's terror than she expects. The book has echoes of monster stories and old folklore, but Kymera is never simply the monster others believe her to be.

Ravenous takes place later in the same world and can be read as a companion story. Greta's younger brother, Hans, is captured by a witch who travels in a hut with chicken feet and has an appetite for children. Greta makes a bargain for his freedom, then must return to Belladoma, a place connected to painful memories, to retrieve what the witch wants.

The fairy-tale rules here have teeth.

Greta's journey brings in Dalen, a magical boy with horse-like features, as well as obstacles that force her to face fear and guilt. The story draws on familiar folk motifs, including a hungry witch and a brother and sister in danger, but takes its own route through them. It also includes the prequel novella Precious, which adds more history from Bryre.

Together, these books offer suspenseful middle grade fantasy with unsettling magic, brave young heroes, and a world where appearances often mislead. Start with Monstrous for the clearest introduction to Bryre and its curse, then continue to Ravenous for another adventure in the same shadowy world.