Someone You Can Build a Nest In

By: John Wiswell

Narrated by: Carmen Rose

Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body using a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth. However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, she's found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warmhearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent coparent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen's eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans don't think about love that way.

Shesheshen hates keeping her identity secret from Homily, but just as she's about to confess, Homily reveals why she's in the area: she's hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Shesheshen didn't curse anyone, but to give herself and Homily a chance at happiness, she has to figure out why Homily's twisted family thinks she did. As the hunt for the monster becomes increasingly deadly, Shesheshen must unearth the truth quickly, or soon both of their lives will be at risk. And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with, rather than in, the love of her life.

©2024 John Wiswell (P)2024 Tantor

Instantly riveting

The characters are real. The plot is weird. The stakes high. It was phenominal. I'll be keeping an eye out for more from this author! Also: queer. I'm old enough to remember when that never happened. And I keep getting surprised today, and pleasantly so. Wonderful book.

Sapphic, Autistic-coded MC, Unique

This book is from the unique perspective of a shapeshifter so you get a lot of weird scenes and semi gory details. I loved was that the main character was very relatable for autistic readers because of the way shesheshen sees the world and has a hard time understanding human expression and language. I also didn’t expect it to be a sapphic love story🥹 I can’t say it’s the most awe inspiring book I’ve read but it is unique and special. It isn’t like anything I’ve read before and I loved it. Oh right… the ending was kind of lame to me personally.

The Best Kind of Sapphic

I loved every single thing about this book! It was sad and funny and sweet. I usually don't read books by men, but this one was amazing.

Captivating story with A+ narration

My favorite story and audiobook in a long time. Our author has such a precise way with words and made out amorphous protagonist someone to love and root for overall

Mind blowing

This is a a book of horror and heart. Unexpected and unique. Thoroughly enjoyable. Well read and written!

What a creative heartfelt story!

I wasn’t sure at first but this ended up being one of my fav books of all time. A gripping tale of the inhuman experience.

Came for the monsters

Stayed for the wholesome lesbians with mom trama

A fabulous story about the importance of cutting toxic people out of your so you can be your best self

Lovely!

I’ve created a new genre for this type of book. This a cozy horror and I am here for it.

Excellent plot and intelligent humor

I loved every bit of this. The narrator made it a fantastic listen. The characters were thoughtfully developed. I can only assume the main character started as a creative writing prompt and the author fell in love with her potential. My husband doesn’t listen to audiobooks, but occasionally has to endure them in the car, and there were parts where even he was laughing out loud. Parts were sad. Some of it was swashbuckling. I was pleasantly surprised by the narrative. It’s a beautiful story. More, please.

Rooting for the Monster

Loved the story's perspective on looking at a love story from the eyes of the monster in many levels. The way the "monster" perceived humanity was very interesting as well. 😊