The Maiden and Her Monster is a darky reimagined fantasy retelling of the Golem of Prague, by Maddie Martinez. Released 9th Sept 2025 by Macmillan on their Tor Forge imprint, it's 352 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback due out from the same publisher in 3rd quarter 202. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
Steeped in Jewish folklore and history, the author has done a stellar job of reimagining the Golem story with some twists. It's not necessary for readers to have prior exposure to the fables; the author does a good job of providing context without spoon feeding. For readers who are entirely unfamiliar with the story/background/culture, expect to read this with additional resources, the author/publisher have not included a glossary. In fact, the author is gifted at narrative prose, and it does not read like a debut effort at all. The writing is lush, enveloping, and nuanced.
That being said, there is a -lot- of explicit and direct violence here. Content warning for graphic body horror, religious extremism/zealotry, violence to animals, and threatened SA. It was quite difficult to read in places.
Three and a half stars. Well written. It would be a good choice for public library acquisition, or possibly a book club or buddy read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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