monster book review summary

Monster Book Review

A Multiple Award-Winning Book by Walter Dean Myers

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In 1999, in his young adult book Monster , Walter Dean Myers introduced readers to a young man named Steve Harmon. Steve, sixteen and in prison awaiting a murder trial, is an African American teen and a product of inner city poverty and circumstance. In this story, Steve retells the events leading up to the crime and narrates the prison and courtroom drama while trying to determine if what the prosecutor said about him is true. Is he really a monster? Learn more about this award-winning book that gives a disturbing inside account about a teen struggling to prove to himself that he’s not what everyone thinks him to be.

Summary of Monster

Steve Harmon, a 16-year-old African-American teen from Harlem, is awaiting trial for his role as an accomplice in a drugstore robbery that ended in murder. Before being imprisoned, Steve enjoyed amateur filmmaking and while in confinement decides to write his experience in prison as a movie script. In a movie script format, Steve gives readers an account of the events leading up to the crime. As narrator, director and star of his story, Steve navigates readers through the events of the courtroom and discussions with his attorney. He directs camera angles at various characters in the story from the judge, to witnesses, and to the other teens involved in the crime. Readers are given a front seat to the personal dialogue Steve has with himself through diary entries he tucks in among the script. Steve writes this note to himself, “I want to know who I am. I want to know the road to panic that I took. I want to look at myself a thousand times to look for one true image.” Is Steve innocent of his part in the crime? Readers must wait until the end of the story to find out Steve’s courtroom and personal verdict.

About the Author, Walter Dean Myers

Walter Dean Myers writes gritty urban fiction that depicts life for African American teens growing up in inner city neighborhoods. His characters know poverty, war, neglect, and the street life. Using his writing talents, Myers has become the voice for many African American teens and he creates characters to whom they can connect or relate. Myers, also raised in Harlem, recalls his own teen years and the difficulty of rising above the pull of the streets. As a young boy, Myers struggled in school, got into several fights, and found himself in trouble on many occasions. He credits reading and writing as his lifelines. 

For more recommended fiction by Myers, read reviews of Shooter and Fallen Angels .

Awards and Book Challenges

Monster has won several notable awards including the 2000 Michael L. Printz Award, the 2000 Coretta Scott King Honor Book Award and was a 1999 National Book Award Finalist. Monster is also listed on several book lists as a best book for young adults and a best book for reluctant readers .

Along with the prestigious awards, Monster has also been the target of several book challenges in school districts across the country. While not listed on the American Library Association's frequently challenged book list,   the American Booksellers For Freedom of Expression (ABFFE) has followed Monster 's book challenges. One book challenge came from parents in the Blue Valley School District in Kansas who want to challenge the book for the following reasons: "vulgar language, sexual explicitness, and violent imagery that is gratuitously employed."

Despite the various book challenges to Monster , Myers continues to write stories that depict the realities of growing up impoverished and in dangerous neighborhoods. He continues to write the stories that many teens want to read.

Recommendation and Review

Written in a unique format with a compelling storyline, Monster is guaranteed to engage teen readers. Whether or not Steve is innocent is the big hook in this story. Readers are invested in learning about the crime, the evidence, the testimony, and the other teens involved in order to find out if Steve is innocent or guilty.

Because the story is written as a movie script, readers will find the actual reading of the story fast and easy to follow. The story gains momentum as little details are revealed about the nature of the crime and Steve’s connection to the other characters involved. Readers will grapple with determining whether Steve is a sympathetic or trustworthy character. The reality that this story could be ripped from the headlines makes it a book that most teens, including struggling readers, will enjoy reading.

Walter Dean Myers is a renowned author and all his teen books should be recommended reading. He understands the urban life that some African American teens experience and through his writing he gives them a voice as well as an audience who can better understand their world. Myers's books take on serious issues facing teens such as poverty, drugs, depression, and war and make these topics accessible. His candid approach hasn’t gone unchallenged, but his forty years of longstanding work has not gone unnoticed by his teen readers nor by award committees.  Monster is recommended by publishers for ages 14 and up. (Thorndike Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780786273638).

Walter Dean Myers Website  , ABFFE

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By Walter Dean Myers

‘Monster’ tells the story of a fourteen-year-old boy who gets implicated in a felony murder, and has to fight to prove his innocence.

About the Book

Article written by Chioma Julie

Degree in M.C.M. Awarded Best Graduating Student in Literature-in-English at UNISEC.

The story, for the first page and maybe a quarter of it, begins in prose form and transitions to drama almost abruptly. This style is maintained throughout. ‘ Monster ’ is very thought-provoking and packed with lessons.

‘Spoiler-Free’ Monster Summary

Steve Harmon, a fourteen-year-old black boy, finds himself roped into a felony murder case. He gets to introduce himself to us when his life had already started to plummet. This chap finds himself in prison alongside people, most of whom are hardened criminals, because he is accused of being an accomplice in the murder of Mr. Nesbitt, a middle-aged drugstore owner.

The incident occurs in Harlem, New York City. Steve Harmon is on trial alongside James King who, in the bid to distance himself from gangsters as much as he can, he now says is just an acquaintance. In the middle of something as serious as felony murder, Steve just couldn’t recognize himself anymore. He marveled at how much he had changed in such little time. Whenever he looks in the mirror, he is in disbelief. To block off the unpleasantness as much as he could, he starts seeing the whole situation as a film, a sad one. Sometimes he would tell himself that it can’t be him in court and on trial for participating in a robbery that led to someone’s death. But it is him, there, accused and being defended by O’Brien, his lawyer.

‘ Monster ’ Summary

Warning – This article contains important details and spoilers

Steve Harmon is on trial for participating in a robbery that led to the death of Mr. Nesbitt, a drugstore owner. His little brother, Jerry, and his parents are all very affected by his situation. Steve’s imaginary camera helps him cope a little. Mr. Sawicki’s class became of good use anyway. Something to take out of the whole thing, a consolation sort of. But later, there would be another consolation, something bigger.

For now, Steve’s camera follows him from the prison yard to the views outside of it, to the courtroom, and to the moments that have now become memories, flashbacks to the times when everything seemed right with the world; when the highest crime would be when as children, Tony, his childhood friend said he’d get an uzi and blow a certain tough-looking guy’s brains out; when all Steve had to worry about was making some sort of short film about his neighborhood for Sawicki’s class; totally different from a robbery was being planned before him. We, in turn, follow Steve’s camera.

O’Brien, Steve’s lawyer, is full of doubt. With each testimony, it seems they get closer to losing the case. Bobo’s testimony seemed to worsen it all. But all hope is not lost for them anyway. She sees Steve has lost hope and tells him to believe in himself or no one would. Steve demonstrates his loss of hope several times. At some point, he even begins to doubt himself. He sees it in Petrocelli’s eyes, the look given to guilty people. Petrocelli, the lawyer representing the state, is ruthless. Once to his hearing, she gives him that look and says ‘monster’. He sees a bit of it in his father’s eyes too. Little, but there anyway, and big enough to matter. Petrocelli would go to any length to prove he is a monster. To any length, because she does not leave out even criminals as witnesses in the bid to push her case- Bobo, Osvaldo, Cruz, name them.

Testimonies or accounts from these people indict Steve even more. One time, he misses his little brother, Jerry, so much so that he wishes he was there with him. No, not in prison, but just there with him somehow. Jerry got to visit him only once. But as children are not allowed inside correctional facilities, Steve saw him from afar. He found it funny because if he were not in prison and was just visiting, he would not be allowed in as well.

The jurors hear from all the witnesses (not less than ten of them) including the woman who recounts visiting the store to get some cough medications for her sick grandchild. The woman mentions seeing James King on December 22, struggling with Mr. Nesbitt. Bobo corroborates that but ropes Steve in as the one who was sent to watch and give a signal when the coast is clear or when it’s not. He says they went ahead to rob Mr. Nesbitt without a signal from Steve because, to them, no signal meant that the coast was clear.

Towards the end of the story (as far as we know, because the story is a continuum) the three lawyers present their cases: O’Brien for Steve Harmon, one of the defendants, Briggs, representing the second defendant (James King), and Petrocelli, the prosecutor representing the state.

On the last day of the trial, Steve listens keenly but continues to hear the same line from the Judge addressing the jurors. Finally, the verdict is read out, and Steve Harmon is free to go, while James King is to be locked up.

Five months later, Steve already got himself a camera. He hopes it would help him answer the question of who he is because even he no longer knows- O’Brien and his father may be right for reacting the way they did.

How is ‘ Monster’ structured?

Walter Dean Myers ‘ Monster ’ is structured in a simple way. It is a drama with scenes divided by dates. Each scene begins with a narration in the form of a note or sometimes, a narration and a separate note from Steve Harmon, the protagonist. The sentence structure adopted is simple. The language used is also simple.

Is ‘ Monster’ a true story?

No, ‘ Monster ’ is not a true story; it is fiction. With this fact stated, it is worth mentioning that ‘ Monster ’ even though fictitious, is a book inspired partly by the author, Walter Dean Myers’ experiences.

What is the most ironic thing in ‘ Monster?’

The most ironic thing in ‘ Monster ’ is Petrocelli, the lawyer representing the state, inviting just about anyone, including hardened criminals to make her point, and expecting that the words of criminals (most of them desperate to get a break from doing the time for their various crimes) to be trusted enough for their words to be admitted as true. But, it works partly anyway as James King was eventually found guilty.

Is ‘ Monster ’ a children’s book?

Not really. Though ‘ Monster ’ features a lot of children as its characters , ‘ Monster ’ isn’t particularly for children. It can be; however, I would categorize ‘ Monster ’ as a book meant mostly for adults.

About Chioma Julie

Chioma is a graduate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She has a passion for music, movies, and books. Occasionally, she writes to unwind.

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by Walter Dean Myers ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 31, 1999

The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes...

In a riveting novel from Myers (At Her Majesty’s Request, 1999, etc.), a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day’s action.

Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a prison where most nights he can hear other inmates being beaten and raped, he reviews the events leading to this point in his life. Although Steve is eventually acquitted, Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist’s guilt or innocence.

Pub Date: May 31, 1999

ISBN: 0-06-028077-8

Page Count: 280

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION

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BOOK REVIEW

by Walter Dean Myers ; illustrated by Floyd Cooper

by Walter Dean Myers

by Walter Dean Myers ; adapted by Guy A. Sims ; illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile

THE TRUE STORIES BEHIND HATCHET AND THE BRIAN BOOKS

by Gary Paulsen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2001

Paulsen recalls personal experiences that he incorporated into Hatchet (1987) and its three sequels, from savage attacks by moose and mosquitoes to watching helplessly as a heart-attack victim dies. As usual, his real adventures are every bit as vivid and hair-raising as those in his fiction, and he relates them with relish—discoursing on “The Fine Art of Wilderness Nutrition,” for instance: “Something that you would never consider eating, something completely repulsive and ugly and disgusting, something so gross it would make you vomit just looking at it, becomes absolutely delicious if you’re starving.” Specific examples follow, to prove that he knows whereof he writes. The author adds incidents from his Iditarod races, describes how he made, then learned to hunt with, bow and arrow, then closes with methods of cooking outdoors sans pots or pans. It’s a patchwork, but an entertaining one, and as likely to win him new fans as to answer questions from his old ones. (Autobiography. 10-13)

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-385-32650-5

Page Count: 150

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION

More by Gary Paulsen

by Gary Paulsen

TIES THAT BIND, TIES THAT BREAK

by Lensey Namioka ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1999

Namioka (Den of the White Fox, 1997, etc.) offers readers a glimpse of the ritual of foot-binding, and a surprising heroine whose life is determined by her rejection of that ritual. Ailin is spirited—her family thinks uncontrollable—even at age five, in her family’s compound in China in 1911, she doesn’t want to have her feet bound, especially after Second Sister shows Ailin her own bound feet and tells her how much it hurts. Ailin can see already how bound feet will restrict her movements, and prevent her from running and playing. Her father takes the revolutionary step of permitting her to leave her feet alone, even though the family of Ailin’s betrothed then breaks off the engagement. Ailin goes to the missionary school and learns English; when her father dies and her uncle cuts off funds for tuition, she leaves her family to become a nanny for an American missionary couple’s children. She learns all the daily household chores that were done by servants in her own home, and finds herself, painfully, cut off from her own culture and separate from the Americans. At 16, she decides to go with the missionaries when they return to San Francisco, where she meets and marries another Chinese immigrant who starts his own restaurant. The metaphor of things bound and unbound is a ribbon winding through this vivid narrative; the story moves swiftly, while Ailin is a brave and engaging heroine whose difficult choices reflect her time and her gender. (Fiction. 9-14)

Pub Date: May 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-385-32666-1

Page Count: 154

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

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by Lensey Namioka

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54 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

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Pages 201-281

Monster Additional Material

Character Analysis

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Summary and Study Guide

Monster , a YA novel about a Black New York teenager accused of murder, quickly became one of Walter Dean Myers's most acclaimed works when it was published in 1999, winning the Coretta Scott King Award , receiving the Prime Excellence Award of the American Library Association , named a National Book Award Finalist.

The completion and release of the novel occurred during the arc of the conviction and eventual exoneration of the Central Park 5, Black teenagers who were wrongfully accused of attacking a white female jogger in 1990, then released in 2002. The focus on a young man accused of a serious crime suggests a parallel, yet Monster is intentionally ambiguous regarding the guilt or innocence of the protagonist .

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The 20th anniversary edition from Harper Teen, upon which this summary is based, includes several extra features, including a study guide and a candid interview with Myers. Readers should be aware that the text contains adult language. There are references and depictions of gun and physical violence, drug use, and sexual assault.

Plot Summary

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Myers alternates between different points of view and genres of literature. Chronologically, the narrative starts with the main character, 16-year-old Steve Harmon , a Black high school student from Harlem who is incarcerated in the Manhattan Detention Center waiting to go on trial for murder.

Harmon introduces himself in the first person, journaling about the hell of being locked up, his constant fear , and the ways he has had to adapt to avoid physical and sexual assault. Steve’s escape from the surreal experience of jail is through imagining that he, a film student, is depicting events as a movie. Thus, much of the novel is presented in the form of a third person screenplay. Using an opening credit montage, Steve introduces the other main players in the movie: Kathy O’Brien , his defense attorney; Sandra Petrocelli , the prosecutor; James King , his co-defendant and the person accused of shooting Mr. Nesbitt, the drug store owner; Bobo Evans and Osvaldo Cruz, witnesses who have turned State’s evidence to avoid lengthy jail sentences.

Myers does not use chapters for breaks, instead cutting back and forth between the ongoing trial and previous events in Steve’s life that pertain to what is currently happening.

Before presenting evidence against the defendants, the prosecutor calls a series of witnesses to demonstrate how the police came to identify the suspects in the case. The defense attorneys (Kathy for Steve and Asa Briggs for James King) point out to the jury that witnesses against their clients have something to gain by presenting evidence against King and Steve. Privately, Kathy expresses concern that the prosecutor is working slyly to make Steve appear to be a stereotypical delinquent.

While the trial progresses, Steve catches glimpses of ordinary New York life entering and leaving court. He also remembers and longs for the life he had before he was locked up and has suicidal thoughts.

Flashbacks presented as scenes in his screenplay show Steve interacting with others who end up being involved in the trial. King approaches Steve to serve as a lookout for him and Bobo when they rob Mr. Nesbitt’s drugstore. In that pivotal flashback, King pressures Steve to enter the drugstore, check to make sure there are no police or customers inside, and signal as he leaves the store that it is clear of other patrons. Pointedly, the scene ends without Steve saying whether he will do so.

In the courtroom scenes, the prosecution ties its case together through the testimony of Bobo, who has taken a plea bargain for a lesser charge and a shorter sentence. Following Bobo’s testimony, Kathy is concerned that the jury is against Steven. She tells him he must testify and calls a very effective character witness, Mr. Sawicki, the teacher who runs the video club to which Steve belongs.

Steve and King are celled together as they await the verdict. King expresses bravado, while Steve admits that he is frightened. After deliberating, the jury returns a verdict of guilty for King, who is promptly led out of court. Steve is found not guilty. Elated, he opens his arms to embrace Kathy, who turns away.

In a final journal entry, Steve describes what his life has become after his acquittal. His thoughts are still haunted by his seven months in prison and even more by the accusation of the prosecutor that he is a monster. He continues to film himself as a form of self-evaluation, trying to determine what kind of a person he truly is.

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by Walter Dean Myers

• Monster Summary

Steve Harmon , the novel’s protagonist—and, at times, its narrator—is a sixteen-year-old African-American student from Harlem. At the beginning of the novel, the reader learns that Steve is in prison awaiting trial for his alleged involvement in a murder. He writes in his diary to pass the time, chronicling his observations and anxieties while imprisoned. As a coping mechanism, Steve records his daily life in the format of a film script. Steve’s lawyer, Kathy O’Brien, coaches him on what to expect during his court hearing. Both Steve and James King , another man allegedly involved in the murder, have entered a plea bargain and must testify in court.

Steve and James are cross-examined by Sandra Petrocelli , the State Prosecutor. In her opening statement, she brands the accused men as “monsters” for the crimes they’ve committed. The use of the word “monster” references the novel’s title and its overall thematic significance. As the trial progresses, more witnesses are called to the stand. The trial proceedings are interrupted by a series of snippets that explore the relationship between Steve and James. Some of the accounts suggest that Steve and James barely know one another, while others show James alleging that Steve was the gunman in the robbery. Osvaldo Cruz , a Latino gang member also implicated in the crime, explains that he was pressured to participate in the robbery due to threats by Richard “Bobo” Evans.

Steve begins to think about his parents and their reactions to his arrest. He feels his father’s disappointment and his mother’s anxiety. When Osvaldo is called to testify, he explains that Steve was meant to serve as the lookout for a burglary. Though the individuals indicted in the crime had no intention of killing Mr. Nesbitt, the reader learns that Mr. Nesbitt’s own gun—pulled out in self-defense—was then turned on him. During Bobo’s testimony, he asserts that James King was the individual who actually pulled the trigger, subsequently killing Mr. Nesbitt. Bobo also claims that he “barely knows” Steve, but that he was supposed to be the “lookout” at the crime scene.

A few bystanders that have been called to the stand recount that they have witnessed only two people at the scene of the crime. These two people are allegedly Bobo and Osvaldo. Using these testimonies, Asa Briggs , the lawyer for James King, argues that neither Steve nor James can be placed at the crime scene. Kathy O’Brien, Steve’s lawyer, is doubtful of her client’s innocence. However, she advises Steve to refrain from writing anything incriminating in his journal in the event that it is seized by the court. In addition, she tells Steve that he should emphasize the distance between himself and James in order to ensure his own innocence. During Steve’s testimony, he explains that he has no recollection of his whereabouts during the day of the crime. He utilizes his oblivion as evidence that he is uninvolved in the crime.

O'Brien highlights the conflicting eyewitness accounts, thus pointing to their inconclusiveness. Though some common testimonies frame Steve as the lookout during the crime, O’Brien explains that this role is highly distinct from “murderer.” O’Brien enlists George Sawicki , the advisor of Steve’s high school film club, to serve as a character witness. Mr. Sawicki paints a humane and upright image of Steve to the jury. He emphasizes Steve’s excellence in film in order to point to the defendant’s alleged sensitivity and honesty. The lawyers give their closing speeches. The final verdict finds James King guilty of the murder of Mr. Nesbitt. Steve Harmon is acquitted.

Steve, elated by his acquittal, turns to hug O’Brien. However, his attorney coldly turns away. This reaction bothers Steve, and he ponders his lawyer’s impression of his own morality.

The novel jumps five months into the future. Steve’s life has, essentially, returned to normal. He continues journaling and filmmaking, which brings him happiness and purpose. However, his dad has moved away, thus creating distance within his family. Steve finds himself haunted by O’Brien’s callous reaction. Did O’Brien genuinely believe in Steve’s innocence? Or was she merely defending a “monster” because her job depended on it?

Monster Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Monster is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Wednesday, July 8th

The script allows Steve to speak and express himself when in court... it symbolizes his reality.

Please post your questions separately.

Edgar Allan Poe

This depends on what you want to comment on. Can you be more specific? Is it a specific work that he has done?

what page number is "You do the crime, you do the time. You act like garbage, they treat you like garbage" on

Page numbers differ depending on your book copy but you can find this quote in chapter 6.

Study Guide for Monster

Monster study guide contains a biography of Walter Dean Myers, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Monster
• Character List

Essays for Monster

Monster essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Monster by Walter Dean Myers.

• Race and Identity: 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian' and 'Monster'
• A Modernist Monster: Techniques and Social Messaging in Myers' Novel

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• Themes and format
• Autobiographical elements

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Monster : Book summary and reviews of Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books

by Walter Dean Myers

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Published Apr 1999 281 pages Genre: Literary Fiction Publication Information

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About this book

Book summary.

This New York Times bestselling novel from acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers tells the story of Steve Harmon, a teenage boy in juvenile detention and on trial. Presented as a screenplay of Steve's own imagination, and peppered with journal entries, the book shows how one single decision can change our whole lives.

Monster is a multi-award-winning, provocative coming-of-age story that was the first-ever Michael L. Printz Award recipient, an ALA Best Book, a Coretta Scott King Honor selection, and a National Book Award finalist. Monster is now a major motion picture called All Rise and starring Jennifer Hudson, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Nas, and A$AP Rocky. The late Walter Dean Myers was a National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, who was known for his commitment to realistically depicting kids from his hometown of Harlem.

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Reader reviews.

"A riveting courtroom drama that will leave a powerful, haunting impression on young minds." - Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A novel that in both form and subject guarantees a wide teen audience." - Horn Book (starred review) "The tense drama of the courtroom scenes will enthrall readers, but it is the thorny moral questions raised in Steve's journal that will endure in readers' memories. Although descriptions of the robbery and prison life are realistic and not overly graphic, the subject matter is more appropriate for high-school-age than younger readers." - Booklist " Monster will challenge readers with difficult questions, to which there are no definitive answers. In some respects, the novel is reminiscent of Virginia Walter's Making Up Megaboy , another book enriched by its ambiguity. Like it, Monster lends itself well to classroom or group discussion. It's an emotionally charged story that readers will find compelling and disturbing." - School Library Journal "The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue alternate with thoughtful, introspective journal entries that offer a sense of Steve's terror and confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers's point: the road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps, each involving an experience in which a "positive moral decision'' was not made." - Kirkus Reviews "The youthful, vulnerable voice will draw in YA readers, boys and girls." - Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) "The unusual format and easy style combines with powerful content to make an unforgettable book." - Language Arts "Chilling and engrossing." - New York Times

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Author Information

Walter dean myers author biography.

Walter Dean Myers is the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of more than eighty books for children and young adults, including Sunrise Over Fallujah , Fallen Angels , Monster , Somewhere in the Darkness , Slam! , Jazz , and Harlem . Mr. Myers has received two Newbery Honors, five Coretta Scott King Awards, and the inaugural recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. In addition, he was the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award and the 1994 recipient of the American Library Association's Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring an author for a "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature." He is considered one of the preeminent writers for children. In 2012, Walter Dean Myers was named National Ambassador for ...

... Full Biography Link to Walter Dean Myers's Website

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Walter Dean Myers

Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Walter Dean Myers's Monster . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Monster: Introduction

Monster: plot summary, monster: detailed summary & analysis, monster: themes, monster: quotes, monster: characters, monster: symbols, monster: theme wheel, brief biography of walter dean myers.

Historical Context of Monster

Other books related to monster.

• Full Title: Monster
• When Written: 1998
• Where Written: Jersey City, New Jersey
• When Published: April 21, 1999
• Literary Period: Contemporary
• Genre: Young Adult Fiction
• Setting: Harlem, New York City
• Climax: Steve Harmon is declared not guilty of felony murder
• Antagonist: Sandra Petrocelli
• Point of View: Split between first-person narration (by Steve Harmon) and dramatic point of view (through the screenplay he writes)

Extra Credit for Monster

Composite Character. Although Steve Harmon is not a real person, Myers stated that he knew many young men just like him and in his same predicament; Steve is thus a “composite character” built from all of them.

Catharsis. Myers has admitted in interviews that when he writes characters like Steve Harmon, he is writing to calm the memory of the troubled young man he once was as a teenager, and feels as if he is writing to reach out and comfort his younger self.

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Monster: a graphic novel, common sense media reviewers.

Thought-provoking adaptation of classic coming-of-age novel.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Monster: A Graphic Novel does a great job of showi

Scenes of redemption and self-reflection throughou

Because of the main character's ambiguity, it's to

Inmates are concerned about being raped in jail, a

Name-calling, including "f--got" and "stupid."

Adults are shown drinking alcohol, smoking what co

Parents need to know that Monster: A Graphic Novel is an illustrated representation of timely but strong themes in Walter Dean Myers' original novel. Street life, a murder, and life inside jail are realistically depicted. Parents should be ready to discuss the criminal justice system, racism, perception of…

Educational Value

Monster: A Graphic Novel does a great job of showing elements of self-examination as well as introducing film terms and an insider's look at the criminal court process.

Positive Messages

Scenes of redemption and self-reflection throughout that serve as bright spots of positivity within the darkness and despair of a violent murder trial.

Positive Role Models

Because of the main character's ambiguity, it's tough to view him in a solely "positive" light. However, he does exhibit positive traits. HIs parents are positive role models -- two of only a few adults who are portrayed positively.

Violence & Scariness

Inmates are concerned about being raped in jail, and readers "hear" a possible rape in progress in jail. There are several fight scenes and one situation in which an innocent victim is shown having a letter cut into his face as part of a gang initiation. People are intimidated with violence, and the main story involves the murder of a shop owner. The shop owner's body is shown in a flashback as well as in police investigator photos.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults are shown drinking alcohol, smoking what could be marijuana, and selling drugs. A teen is offered a marijuana cigarette but refuses the offer.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Monster: A Graphic Novel is an illustrated representation of timely but strong themes in Walter Dean Myers' original novel . Street life, a murder, and life inside jail are realistically depicted. Parents should be ready to discuss the criminal justice system, racism, perception of guilt or innocence, and peer pressure.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

Steve Harmon is a 16-year-old budding filmmaker awaiting trial for the murder and robbery of a beloved bodega owner. He sees his experiences in jail and on trial through the lens of a movie script. Steve grapples with fear, depression, and questions of whether he really is the MONSTER the prosecution says he is.

Is It Any Good?

Readers may be wary of messing with a masterpiece when a new version of a classic novel is created, but the striking, eerie art of this graphic novel adaptation quickly puts those fears to rest. The fear, doubt, uncertainty and confusion of Walter Dean Myers' novel is all there. As with the original, you want to root for Steve -- to believe in his innocence and hold your breath for his safety as he navigates the horrors of prison life. Yet, as with the novel, readers of the graphic novel will find themselves doubting the innocence of a teen with so much to live for who's working so hard to convince himself he still has some piece of humanity left.

In the hands of indie comic favorites Guy A. Sims and Dawud Anyabwile, the book comes to life for a new generation of readers at a time when society's narrative about the humanity of boys and men of color is often subjective. Stark and open-ended, MONSTER: A GRAPHIC NOVEL is an excellent resource when discussing current events, criminal justice, and peer pressure.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about media portrayals of violent crimes. What is the difference between the way a criminal trial is presented in the novel versus the way it's presented on television?

Families also can talk about peer pressure and ways to say no, even under threat of harm.

What happens when people view the same event(s) from different perspectives? Can you point to examples of this in current news events?

Book Details

• Authors : Walter Dean Myers , Guy A Sims
• Illustrator : Dawud Anyabwile
• Genre : Contemporary Fiction
• Topics : High School
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Amistad
• Publication date : October 20, 2015
• Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 18
• Number of pages : 160
• Available on : Paperback, Nook, Hardback, Kindle
• Award : Coretta Scott King Medal and Honors
• Last updated : August 15, 2021

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Book Reviews

When art you love was made by 'monsters': a critic lays out the 'fan's dilemma'.

Maureen Corrigan

Last month, I gave a talk at a conference in honor of the late writer Norman Mailer . When I mentioned this conference in class to my Georgetown students, a couple of them blurted out, "But, he stabbed his wife." I could feel the mood in that classroom shifting: The students seemed puzzled, disappointed even. What was I doing speaking at a conference in honor of a man capable of such an act?

The situation was reversed at the conference itself: When I confessed in my talk that, much as I revere Mailer's nonfiction writing, I was just as glad never to have met him, some audience members were taken aback, offended on Mailer's behalf.

If Mailer's writing had always been as bad as his sporadic behavior there would be no problem. But as Claire Dederer points out in her superb new book, Monsters , the problem arises when great art is made by men who've done bad things: men like Picasso, Hemingway , Roman Polanski , Miles Davis, Woody Allen and, yes, Mailer.

Do we put blinders on and just focus on the work? Do geniuses, as Dederer asks, get a "hall pass" for their behavior? Or, do we "cancel" the art of men — and some women — who've done "monstrous" things?

Claire Dederer on her book 'Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma'

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I hope that Dederer herself doesn't turn out to be a monster because I flat-out admire her book and want to share it with my students. As a thinker, Dederer is smart, informed, nuanced and very funny. She started out as a film critic and credits Pauline Kael as a model for grounding her judgments in her own subjectivity, her own emotions.

The subtitle of Monsters is A Fan's Dilemma : the dilemma being still loving, say, the music of Wagner or Michael Jackson ; still being caught up in movies like Chinatown or maybe even Manhattan . In short, Dederer wants to dive deep into the murk of being "unwilling to give up the work [of art you love], and [yet, also being] unwilling to look away from the stain [of the monster who created it]."

Editors' Picks

Before and after.

The #MeToo movement propels this exploration but so, too, does our own social media, biography-saturated moment: "When I was young," Dederer writes, "it was hard to find information about artists whose work I loved. Record albums and books appeared before us as if they had arrived after hurtling through space's black reaches, unmoored from all context."

These days, however, "[w]e turn on Seinfeld , and whether we want to or not, we think of Michael Richard's racist rant. ... Biography used to be something you sought out, yearned for, actively pursued. Now it falls on your head all day long."

Maybe you can hear in those quotes how alive Dederer's own critical language is. She also frequently flings open the door of the stuffy seminar room, so to speak, to take her readers along on field trips: There's a swank dinner in New York with an intimidating "man of letters" who, she says, likes to play the part, "ironically but not — ties and blazers and low-key misogyny and brown alcohol in a tumbler."

When she expresses distaste for Allen's Manhattan normalizing a middle-aged man in a relationship with a 17-year-old he tells her to "Get over it. You really need to judge it strictly on aesthetics." Dederer confesses to finding herself put off-balance in that conversation, doubting herself.

We also march through a Picasso show at the Vancouver Art Gallery in the company of Dederer and her children. At the time, she says they "possessed the fierce moral sense to be found in teenagers and maniacs, [and] were starting to look a bit nettled" at the exhibit's disclosures of Picasso's abusive treatment of the women in his life.

So where does all this walking and talking and thinking and reacting get us on the issues of monsters and their art? Still in the murk, perhaps, but maybe buoyed up a bit by a sharp question Dederer tosses out in the middle of her book:

What if criticism involves trusting our feelings — not just about the crime, which we deplore, but about the work we love.

To do that we'll have to think and feel with much greater urgency and, yet, more care than we are currently doing. As Dederer suggests — and Pauline Kael famously did — we should go ahead and lose it at the movies and then think hard about what we've lost.

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Book Review

Monster (by frank peretti).

• Frank Peretti
• Adventure , Christian Fiction , Suspense/Thriller

Readability Age Range

• West Bow Press, a division of Thomas-Nelson Publishers

Year Published

Monster by Frank Peretti has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine .

Plot Summary

Twenty-eight-year-old Rebecca (Beck) Shelton is not exactly looking forward to the survival weekend her deputy sheriff husband, Reed, has planned for them. Reed hopes the wilderness training in the dense woods of Idaho will help his shy, stuttering wife overcome her fears.

Randy Thompson, a survival expert, is supposed to help them prepare a camp and look for food. Their friends Dr. Michael (Cap) Capella and his wife, Sing, will rendezvous with them in the morning. Reed and Beck reach the cabin where they’d planned to meet Randy Thompson, but it has been torn apart. Randy is nowhere to be found. Reed calms Beck’s fears, and the two set up camp away from the cabin, but still within sight of it.

Meanwhile, when Cap and Sing arrive at the local lodge, the manager, Arlen Peak, tells them that strange things have been happening. Just a few hours earlier, a herd of elk ran through as if fleeing something. He warns the couple to be careful when they make their way into the woods the following day.

That night, the sounds of large animals wakens Reed and Beck. At first they believe the sounds are from a bear, but soon a woman’s shrieking gets their attention. They realize that three large animals are circling them, and the shrieking might be a distant beast. Beck and Reed flee into the forest as they try to figure out what is happening. An overwhelmingly foul stench accompanies the beasts, so the couple knows when they are near. When Beck tries to climb a tree for safety, she finds the torn body of Randy Thompson. They continue to look for a way to escape; Beck inadvertently careens off a waterfall as Reed watches helplessly. A large creature scoops Beck from the river and carries her into the forest.

The following morning, Cap and Sing find Reed but can’t locate any sign of Beck or Randy Thompson. Local law enforcement, volunteers and hunters set up a base camp at the lodge in order to search for Beck and kill the bear they believe has carried her off. Reed tries to convince Sheriff Mills and the others that the beast he saw was larger than a bear and walked upright, like a human, but they think he is in shock.

Beck wakes up in the company of a large, female, ape-like creature. The foul smelling animal feeds her a mouthful of berries. When she tries to leave, Beck realizes that her ankle is badly sprained, which severely handicaps her ability to outrun the beast. She is its hostage, until Reed finds her or she can figure out a way to escape.

The volunteers are broken into two groups. One examines the cabin and looks for clues. The other group searches for Beck. The search party finds a few odd tracks in the mud but has difficulty following the trail. A rescue dog acts strangely and refuses to lead its handler further into the woods. The random tracks indicate a large animal with a strange gait, but the men still think it must be a bear. They locate Beck’s backpack, but no other evidence of her, except a strange lock of hair. Reed takes the pack back to the lodge and discovers that everything is still inside it. Cap explains that his and Reed’s friend Pete, the search and rescue manager, has found more prints and hairs in the woods that might belong to the beast.

Cap hints that Pete may believe Reed’s story, but he won’t make it official until he has more proof. Reed begs Cap to take some of the hair samples to the university he used to work at in order to run tests to see what kind of animal they’re dealing with. Cap confesses he can’t go back without more evidence and hints that he did not willingly leave his job there.

Beck’s captor takes her to a river where Beck gratefully drinks and tries to clean herself. As they wade in the water, two more of the creatures arrive, a female and her son. These two creatures do not welcome Beck, but her captor protects her from their attacks. Her captor continues to dote on Beck after the others leave, pulling Beck close during the night in order to keep her warm.

Several miles away, a young married couple set up a campsite in the woods and begin to cook their dinner over an open fire. They hear the same shrieking woman that Reed and Beck heard the night before. When they investigate, a large beast attacks the husband. The wife hits the animal with a hot frying pan, and the couple manages to escape.

When the investigators question the couple, Jimmy, another deputy sheriff, believes the couple are the victim of a bear attack, but Reed is convinced they saw the same humanoid animal he did. A local merchant who heard about the animal after the couple stopped at his store arrives at the campsite. The merchant is a Native American. He and Sing, who is also Indian, discuss the legends of the wild men, or tsiatko. Other tribes called them sess-ketch; the white men call them Sasquatch.

The merchant says the tsiatko have laid claim to the woods. They will attack and kill any who wander in it. He runs through the area declaring to the tsiatko that he and his family will never set foot on this ground again. Jimmy believes the man is crazy and gathers some men to hunt for the bear in the morning. Cap, Reed, Sing and Pete continue to search the area and find the animal’s dung. They collect a sample and convince Cap to take it and the hair samples to the university. Reed starts thinking more like a police officer and asks the sheriff if he might use the computer in his office to look for a pattern in the attacks. He discovers that a few days earlier, a logger had been killed in the same area. He and Sing investigate.

Beck is “introduced” to the leader of the group of Sasquatch, a large male she decides to call Jacob. Her captor reminds her of Rachel, because she doesn’t have a child. The other female she names Leah. The juvenile male she names Reuben. Jacob has brought the carcass of a deer to eat and reluctantly shares some with Rachel and Beck. The following morning, the Sasquatch are frightened away by something. Beck suspects it may be people looking for her, but before she can call out, Rachel carries her away from the intruders.

An analysis of the feces and hair samples that Cap has brought is inconclusive. The lab technician believes it is because the samples were contaminated. The best he can tell Cap is that the feces came from some kind of primate.

Reed and Sing investigate the logger’s death. Although originally ruled an accident, Reed and Sing conclude that the same beast that attacked Randy killed the man. The body was moved after death and covered with logs, as if to hide the manner of the man’s death. They realize that something dangerous is in the forest and that someone is trying to cover up the evidence. After examining the pictures he originally took of Randy Thompson’s cabin, and then looking at pictures taken later, Reed notices that there are more boot prints entering the cabin and that a shovel is missing. He and Sing share the new evidence with Pete, the game warden.

Beck tries to adapt to her role as Rachel’s child. The Sasquatch is quite maternal and makes sure that Beck eats everything she is given, including raw deer meat and plants. Beck is overjoyed when Jacob returns with real fruit — apples and pears.

Reuben steals Beck’s apple and beats her when she tries to take it back. Beck must be satisfied with the cattails Rachel offers her. Later that night, as they travel through the woods, a bear attacks Beck, and it tears off a part of her jacket. Rachel fights the animal and scares it away. Jacob leads his pack to where he found the fruit. Beck realizes the fruit is some kind of lure. The area around it has been tilled so that any animal taking the fruit will leave prints. She quickly writes out Reed’s phone number as a clue for anyone who might be tracking her. Rachel carries her off before she is able to finish her message, but Beck hopes it will be enough.

Cap makes contact with an old friend, Dr. Emile Baumgartner. Baumgartner fears what the college will do to him if he’s seen with Cap, so the two drive to his home. The former colleagues discuss their differences in evolution theory as it relates to the weird DNA in Cap’s feces sample. Although restricted legally from telling Cap anything definitive, Baumgartner alludes to the possibility that another scientist from the college, Dr. Burkhardt, may have been pressured by financial backers to find the “missing link” between chimpanzees and human beings.

Baumgartner suggests that Burkhardt may have tried to virally implant human DNA into chimps. This kind of mutation is imprecise at best, and scientists have no idea what kind of mutations will happen because of it. Cap returns in secret to the campus lab to see if his sample contains both primate and human DNA.

The young man who set out the fruit for the Sasquatch is ecstatic when he sees their footprints in the morning. When he notices the numbers scratched into the dirt, he calls his friend Arlen Peak, the owner of the lodge where the investigators are staying. Arlen brings pictures of the site to Reed and the sheriffs. The local deputy sheriff is dubious of the photo, but Reed knows that Beck is alive and leaving him clues.

Beck spends the morning bonding with Rachel by brushing the beast’s fur. While Beck’s attention is diverted, Reuben steals Beck’s leather jacket and the toilet paper tucked inside its pocket. Beck is devastated at losing her one remaining reminder of her humanity. Reuben runs into the woods, tearing the jacket apart and leaving trails of toilet paper amid the trees.

Reed and others strap individual GPS trackers to their arms and start the search again for Beck. They hear Reuben in the woods and find his trail of toilet paper. Over his walkie-talkie, Sheriff Mills tells the others that he’s spotted something big walking upright like a man. Before they get additional information, his transmission stops. In the woods, the men hear several screams, including that of a woman. Reed recognizes it as the same yelling he heard the night Beck disappeared. Reed, Pete and the others find Sheriff Mills’ torn body. He’s been killed in the same way as Randy Thompson and the logger.

The men continue their search as the Sasquatch hide in a thicket of trees. Rachel forces Beck to hide as well. As Reed approaches the thicket, Beck is terrified Jacob will attack and kill him. She remains silent as her husband searches for her, willing him to hear her thoughts and leave the area so he’ll be safe. Reed finds Beck’s torn and bloody jacket. Again, Beck wills him to hear that she is safe and not dead. Reed leaves the area, devastated at the evidence of his wife’s death.

Cap confronts the dean of the College of Sciences with his theory of Dr. Burkhardt’s experimentation with chimpanzees. While in the dean’s office, Cap steals his keys and uses them to get into Burkhardt’s office. It’s obvious the man has cleared out, although Cap finds the remains of a cage that had been chewed through and nearly destroyed. The dean calls security, and Cap is escorted off the campus.

Beck makes friends with Leah, the alpha female, by brushing her fur. Beck discovers that a large animal has bitten her; Leah has a wound similar to the one Beck had found on Rachel. Certain that Jacob wouldn’t have bitten Leah, Beck wonders what beast would have dared to attack both of them. Reuben tries to remove Beck from his mother, but both Beck and Leah stand up to him. Reuben sulks off into the woods. For the first time in a while, Beck feels empowered and unafraid.

Reed convinces Sing and Pete that Beck may still be alive. They set out more fruit as bait for the Sasquatch, this time including a GPS tracking device they hope Beck will find and turn on. Jimmy launches a hunt for what he still considers to be a bear. Everyone is warned to be extremely cautious and call for backup if anything is spotted.

Jacob returns to the Sasquatch group with fruit. Beck waits her turn to take a piece. As she reaches for an apple, she spots the GPS next to a pear. Before she can grab it, Leah examines it, then Rachel. Beck is beside herself when Rachel bites it before putting it down. As soon as Reuben realizes Beck wants the device, he takes it. Beck fights for it and is severely beaten for her effort. A distant gunshot causes the beasts to flee.

Jimmy and his crew have bagged a giant bear. When they cut it open, they find a piece of Beck’s jacket. The hunters, convinced that this is the animal that killed Beck and the others, call off the search for her remains. Sing asks for a piece of the bear meat before they leave the area. She, Pete and Reed burn the meat in an Indian ceremony honoring the dead.

Beck tries several different ploys to get the GPS away from Reuben, none of them successful. Finally she humiliates herself by stuffing her clothes with leaves to make herself appear bigger and then covering her body with mud and dung to change her appearance. The other Sasquatch are confused by her show of aggression. She closes quickly on Reuben, hitting him with a tree branch. Before Beck can grab the GPS, Leah charges to protect her offspring. This spurs Rachel to enter the fray. The two female Sasquatch battle. Rachel finally overpowers Leah. Beck summons the last of her strength to face Reuben again and is able to grab the GPS and turn it on before Rachel carries her away.

Back at lodge, Sing is packing her computers and gear. A sudden blip appears on her laptop. She calls to Reed. It is the GPS they’d hoped Beck would find. It’s been turned on, and whoever has it is moving quickly through the forest. Reed and Sing gather the few searchers still in the area, including three men — Max, Sam and Steve — who had assisted Jimmy in his hunt for the bear. They strap on the remaining GPS devices and set out to find Beck. All of them are wary when the same shrieking is heard that accompanied earlier fatal attacks.

As the others search for Beck, Cap looks for evidence as to what kind of animal is actually in the woods. He breaks in Dr. Burkhardt’s cabin, which happens to be in the same vicinity where the logger was killed. Cap finds jars with the remains of unborn chimpanzees. Then, from a metal outbuilding, he hears the wailing of a woman. When he investigates, he finds mutated chimps in cages. One is smaller than him in height but much more muscular. Deranged, it fights against its cage and makes a sound like a woman in pain. Cap discovers that something has torn a gaping hole in the back of the building. The dean arrives with armed guards. Cap tries to get the dean to understand that Burkhardt’s mutations don’t prove anything about evolution and that the doctor fled the area because one of his creatures has escaped. Cap leaves to warn his friends about what exactly is in the woods.

As Reed tracks Beck, a conspiracy is uncovered. Max, one of his fellow searchers, is actually Dr. Burkhardt. Sam and Steve work for the doctor and are systematically killing off any of Burkhardt’s monsters that they find. Steve returns to the lodge and shoots Sing to foil the search, but Sing survives. She stabs Steve, and then re-establishes contact through the GPS with Reed. Reed kills his stalker, Sam, and then continues to search for Beck.

The Sasquatch flee from the wailing beast. Beck recognizes the place where she and Reed had camped. Rachel stops running, puts Beck down and explores the area until she finds the mutilated body of another Sasquatch. Beck realizes that the animal must have been Rachel’s child. Beck is the same size and has the same hair color as Rachel’s dead offspring. As Rachel howls in grief, the monster in the woods answers. Jacob forces Rachel to leave, but this time, Beck is not taken with them.

Beck turns on her GPS and calls out for help. Instead of aid, she catches the attention of the wailing beast. Beck flees, but the monster pursues her into a clearing. Before it can tear her apart, Dr. Burkhardt shoots it. The exhausted doctor confesses his crimes to Beck. She realizes he must kill her in order to keep his secret. As he attacks her, the Sasquatch return. Jacob flings the doctor away. Rachel embraces Beck and prepares to take her, but Reed enters the clearing. Through a series of grunts to Rachel and commands to Reed, Beck manages to make the Sasquatch understand that Reed is not a threat. As Reed bows in submission to Jacob, Beck limps toward him and the two embrace. Although obviously saddened, Rachel leaves with the other Sasquatch. Dr. Burkhardt staggers out of the trees, leveling his gun at Reed and Beck. Reed convinces the doctor not to kill them as they all hear the sound of an approaching rescue helicopter.

Dr. Burkhardt and the dean are imprisoned for their crimes. Cap lets his friends know that the university may restore his job as a research scientist. Jimmy thinks the Sasquatch were all Burkhardt’s mutations until Cap reminds him that one of the samples of hair showed clean primate DNA. Beck, who no longer stutters, returns to the forest and calls out a farewell to her Sasquatch family. From the distance, she hears a faint answer.

Christian Beliefs

Reed, Beck, Sing and Cap are Christians. Their faith is a part of their lives and comes out throughout their reaction to events in the story. On their way to the mountains, Sing tells Cap that weekends like this help them hear from God. Reed doesn’t think God would allow Beck to be killed by a bear. He prays for help to keep his head together. Beck cries out to God in fear. She also calls out to God in anger several times, questioning why He would allow her to have to suffer at the hands of the Sasquatch. Beck also names her new Sasquatch “family” after people in the Bible. Cap prays for God to keep him hidden from the janitor while in the university. Reed asks his friends to pray with him when they place the fruit and GPS tracker in a place where they hope to find Beck. Reed reminisces about meeting Beck in church and thinks that it is a good place to meet your wife. Cap has several conversations with his former colleagues in which they argue the validity of evolution.

Other Belief Systems

A Native American storeowner tells legends about the Sasquatch. Sing adds that when she was little, her parents would threaten her with a story about giants taking children away at night if they were bad. Sing burns a piece of the bear that she believes killed Beck. She chants a song in her native tongue that laments her grief.

Authority Roles

The sheriff and his deputies are all seen as hardworking and honest individuals. Most are respectful, even if they don’t agree with Reed’s theory that a Sasquatch took Beck. University authorities are seen as pompous and belittling of anything not agreeing with evolutionary theory.

Profanity & Violence

H— is used several times with black minions of and the description h—ish . God’s name is used with help me, oh and honest to . Lord is also used with dear and as Lordy .

An unidentified hunter finds the body of a logger. The logger’s neck has been broken. Blood is dried around his mouth and nose. The hunter moves the body and covers it with logs to make it look like an accident, not an animal attack. Beck pulls down the dismembered body of Randy Thompson while trying to climb a tree. A female camper hits the mutated monster in the head with a frying pan. The monster kills Sheriff Mills. His body is found wrapped around a tree. The last third of the book is filled with conspirators stabbing and shooting witnesses to the monster. Steve shoots Sing in the head, but she survives. Her pain and suffering is graphically described as she prays for the strength to stop Steve from using her computers to find Reed and Beck. She first stabs Steve in the thigh. As he stumbles back, she plunges her knife into his heart, killing him.

Throughout the book, Burkhardt’s monster terrorizes the forest. It shrieks like a woman in pain and hunts the Sasquatch, biting them and killing Rachel’s offspring. The Sasquatch defend themselves. Jacob, Leah and Reuben threaten and beat Beck throughout the book. Beck suffers a sprained ankle, lots of bruising and what seems to be a concussion. The Sasquatch also fight among themselves, especially Leah and Rachel, trying to establish their place in the “family.” They hit, push and scratch each other.

Cap finds many grotesque and mutilated chimpanzee corpses in Dr. Burkhardt’s cabin. He is chased and captured by the dean and several armed men. After he convinces the guards that Dr. Burkhardt poses a threat to his friends, they allow him to leave. The dean grabs one of their guns and shoots wildly but misses Cap. Sam tries to shoot Reed. Reed disguises his friend Pete’s body to look like him so he can get away from Sam. Dr. Burkhardt’s monster chases Beck through the woods but is shot just before it can attack her. Dr. Burkhardt tries to strangle Beck but is pulled away and thrown into a tree by Jacob. Burkhardt threatens to shoot Beck and Reed.

Sexual Content

One of the volunteers hints that maybe Reed killed Beck because he is having an affair with another woman.

Discussion Topics

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Libraries are full of books about great cats. This one is special.

Caleb carr’s memoir, ‘my beloved monster,’ is a heart-rending tale of human-feline connection.

Over the years, my wife and I have been blessed with 15 cats, three rescued from the streets of Brooklyn, three from barns near our home in Vermont, one from a Canadian resort and the others from the nearby shelter, where my wife has volunteered as a “cat whisperer” for the most emotionally scarred of its feline inhabitants for years. Twelve of our beloved pets have died (usually in our arms), and we could lose any of our current three cats — whose combined age is roughly 52 — any day now. So, I am either the best person to offer an opinion on Caleb Carr’s memoir, “ My Beloved Monster ,” or the worst.

For the many who have read Carr’s 1994 novel, “The Alienist,” an atmospheric crime story set in 19th-century New York, or watched the Netflix series it inspired, Carr’s new book might come as something of a surprise. “My Beloved Monster” is a warm, wrenching love story about Carr and his cat, a half-wild rescue named Masha who, according to the subtitle of his book, in fact rescued Carr. The author is, by his own admission, a curmudgeon, scarred by childhood abuse, living alone and watching his health and his career go the way of all flesh.

What makes the book so moving is that it is not merely the saga of a great cat. Libraries are filled with books like that, some better than others. It’s the 17-year chronicle of Carr and Masha aging together, and the bond they forged in decline. (As Philip Roth observed, “Old age isn’t a battle; old age is a massacre.”) He chronicles their lives, beginning with the moment the animal shelter begs Carr to bring the young lioness home because the creature is so ferocious she unnerves the staff — “You have to take that cat!” one implores.

Interspersed throughout Carr’s account of his years with Masha are his recollections of all the other cats he has had in his life, going back to his youth in Manhattan. And there are a lot. Cats often provided him comfort after yet another torment his father, the writer Lucien Carr , and stepfather visited upon him. Moreover, Carr identifies so deeply with the species that as a small child he drew a self-portrait of a boy with a cat’s head. He knows a great deal about cats and is eager to share his knowledge, for instance about the Jacobson’s organ in the roof of their mouths that helps them decide if another creature is predator or prey. His observations are always astute: “Dogs tend to trust blindly, unless and until abuse teaches them discretion. … Cats, conversely, trust conditionally from the start.”

Carr, now 68, was a much younger man when he adopted Masha. Soon, however, they were joined at the hip. As the two of them bonded, the writer found himself marveling at what he believed were their shared childhood traumas, which move between horrifying and, in Carr’s hands, morbidly hilarious: “I began to accept my father’s behavior in the spirit with which he intended it … he was trying to kill me.” Man and cat shared the same physical ailments, including arthritis and neuropathy, possibly caused by physical violence in both cases. Carr allowed Masha, a Siberian forest cat, to go outside, a decision many cat owners may decry, but he defends it: “Masha was an entirely different kind of feline,” and keeping her inside “would have killed her just as certainly as any bear or dog.” Indeed, Masha took on fishers and bears (yes, bears!) on Carr’s wooded property in Upstate New York.

But bears and dogs are humdrum fare compared with cancer and old age, which come for both the novelist and his cat. Carr’s diagnosis came first, and his first concern was whether he would outlive Masha. (The existence of the book gives us the answer he didn’t have at the time.) Illness adds new intensity to the human-feline connection: “Coming back from a hospital or a medical facility to Masha was always particularly heartening,” Carr writes, “not just because she’d been worried and was glad to see me, but because she seemed to know exactly what had been going on … and also because she was so anxious to show that she hadn’t been scared, that she’d held the fort bravely.”

Sometimes, perhaps, Carr anthropomorphizes too much and exaggerates Masha’s language comprehension, or gives her more human emotion than she had. But maybe not. Heaven knows, I see a lot behind my own cats’ eyes. Moreover, it’s hard to argue with a passage as beautiful as this: “In each other’s company, nothing seemed insurmountable. We were left with outward scars. … But the only wounds that really mattered to either of us were the psychic wounds caused by the occasional possibility of losing each other; and those did heal, always, blending and dissolving back into joy.”

Like all good memoirs — and this is an excellent one — “My Beloved Monster” is not always for the faint of heart. Because life is not for the faint of heart. But it is worth the emotional investment, and the tissues you will need by the end, to spend time with a writer and cat duo as extraordinary as Masha and Carr.

Chris Bohjalian is the best-selling author of 24 books. His most recent novel, “The Princess of Las Vegas,” was published last month.

My Beloved Monster

Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me

By Caleb Carr

Little, Brown. 435 pp. $29

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors.

Kelvin Harrison Jr., Jeffrey Wright , Jennifer Hudson , Jennifer Ehle , John David Washington , Tim Blake Nelson , Jharrel Jerome , A$AP Rocky, and Nas are among the incredible cast whose talents woefully go to waste in the frustrating courtroom drama “Monster.”

This is a movie that’s been sitting around for a while, having premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018. Since then, several of its key stars have gone onto great things. Harrison has shown impressive range between “ Luce ” and “ Waves .” Jerome won universal acclaim for his crucial role in the Ava DuVernay miniseries “ When They See Us .” And Washington has starred in a couple of little movies called “ BlacKkKlansman ” and “ Tenet .” Watching them here, in a time capsule of sorts as they were all on the verge of exploding into the culture, is one of the film’s few pleasures.

The debut feature from veteran commercial and music video director Anthony Mandler —whose prolific output includes working frequently with Rihanna, Jay-Z, Drake and the Jonas Brothers, among many other top acts and brands—offers some visual flair, but it’s distractingly clunky and self-aware. Based on the 1999 book of the same name by Walter Dean Myers , “Monster” is simultaneously heavy-handed and inert. It spells out all its messages about the injustices young, black men too often suffer at the hands of police and the court system—an all-too necessary and relevant topic, sadly—yet there’s very little to its characters, rendering their struggle superficial and hollow.

Maybe the first-person narrative structure worked better on the page. In adapting Myers’ Young Adult novel, Radha Blank (the creative powerhouse behind “The 40-Year-Old Version”), Colen Wiley, and Janece Shaffer have maintained the device of having the lead character, a 17-year-old aspiring filmmaker, describe his day as if it were a screenplay, complete with scene headings like: “INT. Courtroom.”

“In the light, during the day, it felt like a movie. This is that movie. My story, written, directed, and starring Steve Harmon,” Harrison says as part of the film’s extensive use of voiceover. Often, we’re forced to hear Steve explain what we can see with our own eyes without offering any sort of insight or sardonic twist. The approach repeatedly draws attention to itself and away from the legitimate drama he’s experiencing.

What Steve’s going through is harrowing, to be sure. He’s a likable, goodhearted and conscientious student at the prestigious Stuyvesant High School in New York City with a bright future. All that gets thrown into jeopardy when he’s wrongly accused of being part of a deadly bodega robbery in Harlem. Mandler begins the film with grainy security camera footage of two men storming into the convenience store and killing the clerk before running away. Steve, in the wrong place at the wrong time on the way home from school, gets swept up with the suspects (played by Washington and A$AP Rocky, credited here as Rakim Mayers)—acquaintances from the neighborhood—and charged with felony murder. Witnesses during the trial merely see a bunch of young, black men and are quick to condemn them all.

Hudson and Wright as his parents—a questionable casting choice, given that Hudson is only 13 years older than Harrison—are understandably devastated, but their fear is all that defines them. Ehle is steely and wise as always as the public defender assigned to his case, and she’s consistently a standout regardless of the material. But she can only do so much with generic lines like: “He’s not who you think he is,” in response to a plea deal from the bulldog prosecutor ( Paul Ben-Victor ). He, too, is a cliché as he relentlessly paces the courtroom to an overbearing drum solo, branding Steve with the label that gives the film its title.

Mandler flashes back and forth between Steve’s trial and incarceration, rendered in bleak grays, and joyous, colorful memories of his freedom, including the time he’s spent with his girlfriend (the captivating “ Selah and the Spades ” star Lovie Simone ). Besides being beautiful and flirty, there’s not much to her, either.

“We see Steve before, riding his bike on the way to school,” Steve tells us as he’s ... riding his bike on the way to school. He also recalls the lessons he’s learned in his high school film club, where Nelson as his teacher and mentor literally shows the group “ Rashomon ,” as if we couldn’t figure out for ourselves what “Monster” is aiming for in exploring the unreliable nature of memory. “I just want to know who’s telling the truth,” one classmate comments. “You think there’s only one truth, Alexandra?” he responds. It’s cringe-inducing in its obviousness.

Despite the slick variety of shadings and textures Mandler employs to bring the story to life, the ending feels anticlimactic, like the tidy wrap-up at the conclusion of a TV procedural. Harrison is so charismatic, and his character is so abidingly decent, there’s never any doubt about his innocence or tension as to his fate. In retrospect, the comparison to Kurosawa probably wasn’t the best idea.

Now available on Netflix.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

Monster (2021)

Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Steve Harmon

John David Washington as Richard 'Bobo' Evans

Jeffrey Wright as Mr. Harmon

Jennifer Hudson as Mrs. Harmon

Tim Blake Nelson as Leroy Sawicki

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For Caleb Carr, Salvation Arrived on Little Cat’s Feet

As he struggled with writing and illness, the “Alienist” author found comfort in the feline companions he recalls in a new memoir, “My Beloved Monster.”

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MY BELOVED MONSTER: Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me, by Caleb Carr

J. Alfred Prufrock measured his life out in coffee spoons . Caleb Carr has done so in cats.

Carr is best known for his 1994 best-selling novel “ The Alienist ,” about the search for a serial killer of boy prostitutes, and his work as a military historian. You have to prod the old brain folds a little more to remember that he is the middle son of Lucien Carr , the Beat Generation figure convicted of manslaughter as a 19-year-old Columbia student after stabbing his infatuated former Boy Scout leader and rolling the body into the Hudson.

This crime is only fleetingly alluded to in “My Beloved Monster,” which tracks Carr’s intimate relationship with a blond Siberian feline he names Masha — but his father haunts the book, as fathers will, more sinisterly than most.

After a short prison term, Lucien went on to become a respectable longtime editor for United Press International. He was a drunk — no surprise there, with famous dissolute-author pals like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg hanging around the house. But that he regularly beat Caleb and threw him down flights of stairs, causing not just psychological but physical injuries that persist into adult life, adds further dark shadings to this particular chapter of literary history.

In a boyhood marred by abuse, neglect and the upheaval of his parents’ divorce, cats were there to comfort and commune with Caleb. Indeed, he long believed he was one in a previous life, “ imperfectly or incompletely reincarnated ” as human, he writes.

Before you summon Shirley MacLaine to convene 2024’s weirdest author panel, consider the new ground “My Beloved Monster” breaks just by existing. Even leaving aside the countless novels about them, dogs have long been thought valid subjects for book-length treatment, from Virginia Woolf’s “ Flush ,” about Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s cocker spaniel, to John Grogan’s “ Marley and Me .” Meow-moirs are thinner on the ground.

It’s taken a younger generation of feminists, and probably the boredom and anxiety of quarantine, to destigmatize (and in some cases monetize ) being owned by a cat. Male cat fanciers, however, have long been stereotyped as epicene or eccentric, though their number has included such national pillars of machismo as Ernest Hemingway and Marlon Brando . When one male lawyer accidentally showed up to a civil forfeiture hearing behind a kitten filter on Zoom in 2021, America went wild with the incongruity.

Carr, though he’s a big one for research, doesn’t waste much time, as I just have, throat-clearing about cats’ perch in the culture. He’s suffered from one painful illness after another — neuropathy, pancreatitis, peritonitis, Covid or something Covid-like, cancer; and endured multiple treatments and surgeries, some “botched” — and his writing has the forthrightness and gravity of someone who wants to maximize his remaining time on Earth.

He capitalizes not only Earth, but the Sun, the Moon and the roles played by various important anonymous humans in his life, which gives his story a sometimes ponderous mythic tone: there’s the Mentor, the Lady Vet (a homage to Preston Sturges’ “The Lady Eve”; Carr is a classic movie buff), the Spinal Guru and so forth.

Names are reserved for a succession of cats, who have seemingly been as important to Carr as lovers or human friends, if not more so. (At least one ex felt shortchanged by comparison.) Masha is his spirit animal, a feminine counterpart better than any you could find in the old New York Review of Books personals . She eats, he notes admiringly, “like a barbarian queen”; she enjoys the music of Mahler, Sibelius, Rachmaninoff and Wagner (“nothing — and I’ll include catnip in this statement,” he writes, “made her as visibly overjoyed as the Prelude from ‘Das Rheingold’”); she has a really great set of whiskers.

Before Masha there was Suki, blond as well, but a bewitching emerald-eyed shorthair who chomped delicately around rodents’ organs and disappeared one night. Suki was preceded by Echo, a part-Abyssinian with an adorable-sounding penchant for sticking his head in Carr’s shirtfront pocket. Echo was preceded by Chimene, a tabby-splotched white tomcat the adolescent Caleb nurses miraculously through distemper. Chimene was preceded by Ching-ling, whose third litter of kittens suffer a deeply upsetting fate. And before Ching-ling there was Zorro, a white-socked “superlative mouser” who once stole an entire roast chicken from the top of the Carr family’s refrigerator.

To put it mildly, “My Beloved Monster” is no Fancy Feast commercial. All of the cats in it, city and country — Carr has lived in both, though the action is centered at his house on a foothill of Misery Mountain in Rensselaer County, N.Y— are semi-feral creatures themselves at constant risk of gruesome predation. Masha, rescued from a shelter, had also been likely abused, at the very least abandoned in a locked apartment, and Carr is immediately, keenly attuned to her need for wandering free.

This, of course, will put her at risk. The tension between keeping her safe and allowing her to roam, out there with bears, coyotes and fearsome-sounding creatures called fisher weasels, is the central vein of “My Beloved Monster,” and the foreboding is as thick as her triple-layered fur coat. More so when you learn Carr keeps a hunting rifle by one of his easy chairs.

But the book is also about Carr’s devotion to a line of work he likens to “professional gambling.” Despite his best sellers, Hollywood commissions and conscious decision not to have children to stop the “cycle of abuse,” Carr has faced money troubles. The I.R.S. comes to tape a placard to his door and he’s forced to sell vintage guitars to afford Masha’s medications, for she has begun in eerie parallel to develop ailments of her own.

“My Beloved Monster’ is a loving and lovely, lay-it-all-on-the-line explication of one man’s fierce attachment. If you love cats and feel slightly sheepish about it, it’s a sturdy defense weapon. If you hate them, well, there’s no hope for you.

MY BELOVED MONSTER : Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me | By Caleb Carr | Little, Brown | 352 pp. | $32

Alexandra Jacobs is a Times book critic and occasional features writer. She joined The Times in 2010. More about Alexandra Jacobs

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SUMMARY Of My Beloved Monster (A Guide To Caleb Carr's Book‪)‬

Masha, the half-wild rescue cat who rescued me, publisher description.

DISCLAIMER! This is an independent publication by Gary V. Norris that summarizes Caleb Carr's Book in detail. The content provided in this summary book is based solely on the information available at the time of writing. While the author strives for accuracy and takes utmost care in summarizing the original material, he does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information contained herein. It is essential to cross-reference the information provided with the original work or consult additional sources before making any decisions based on the content of this summary book. The information presented in this summary book is intended to provide an overview and understanding of the original work, but it should not replace actual reading or engagement with the complete source material. Interpretation of any ideas, concepts, or theories from this summary book is subjective and should be considered solely as the opinion of the summarizer. The content in this summary book should not be considered professional advice, such as legal, financial, medical, or psychological advice. Any actions taken based on the information provided in this summary book are at your own risk. Always seek appropriate professional advice or consult licensed experts in the relevant fields for specific concerns or inquiries. In no event shall the summarizer, contributors, or distributors of this summary book be held liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of the use or inability to use the content contained herein. The author shall not be responsible for any loss, damage, injury, or inconvenience caused by reliance on the information provided in this summary book. HAPPY READING!!!

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Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) Review

The 2024 asus rog zephyrus g14 is the best laptop, period.

Updated April 19, 2024

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About the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)

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Fantastic performance

Gorgeous OLED screen

12-hour battery life

Soldered on memory

Fewer graphics card configurations than previous years

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The 2024 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a 14-inch gaming laptop that comes in 3 major hardware configurations and two colors: silver and black. We tested the silver unit.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 specs

The 2024 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and G16 come with a new unibody aluminum design, including a simplified RGB slash on the back.

• Price as configured: $1,600
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor (8 cores, 16 threads at 4GHz (up to 5.2 GHz))
• Graphics: Nvidia RTX 4060 mobile (discrete), AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics
• Memory: 16GB DDR5 at 6400MHz (non-replaceable)
• Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD
• Display: 14-inch, 2880 x 1800 at 120Hz OLED panel, 500 nits (rated), 410 nits (measured), 100% DCI-P3, 0.2ms response time, Nvidia G-Sync compatible, supports Dolby Vision HDR
• Webcam: 1080p
• Ports: 1x Type C USB 4 with power delivery, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1x HDMI 2.1 FRL, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x card reader (microSD) (UHS-II), 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Battery: 73Whr battery
• Weight: 3.30 pounds (1.49 kilograms)
• Dimensions: 12.24 x 8.66 x 0.63 inches
• Warranty: 1-year limited warranty
• Special Features: Windows Hello facial recognition, included GPU overclocking software

Stunning performance in a small form factor

It can run new games at high resolutions and frame rates.

However, the laptops that outperform the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 are also larger and heavier. More portable gaming laptops like the Razer Blade 14 and the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 scored on par with the ROG Zephyrus G14.

If you opt for the middle-of-the-line Zephyrus G14 with an RTX 4060, expect to see a little over 70 frames per second in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p ultra graphics settings with ray tracing disabled (and 33 fps with ray tracing enabled). Total War: Warhammer 3 runs at 67 fps at 1080p ultra graphics, and less graphically intense games run even faster; Shadow of the Tomb Raider , an older game from 2017, runs at 133 fps at 1080p with maxed-out graphic settings.

Its battery lasts as long as a MacBook’s

With battery life just shy of 12 hours, the 2024 ROG Zephyrus G14 is a standout among gaming and productivity laptops alike. The 2023 model’s battery life hit a respectable 6 hours, but this year’s lower-powered graphics card options, more efficient processor, and power-efficient OLED display push the battery life to new heights.

The Ryzen 8000-series processors have neural processing units (NPUs), which offload common machine learning tasks like image upscaling and webcam facial recognition from the CPU and GPU. In short, these dedicated processors are more power-efficient than a CPU or GPU would be at performing AI-dependent calculations and can help manage how power is allocated while in use.

Compared to the 2023 model, the 2024 model’s CPU is just as powerful when it needs to be, but it also knows when to conserve energy (i.e. during our battery test, where the laptop cycles through web pages until it dies). The NPU is likely part of the secret, but the Zephyrus G14’s overall power management is overall more refined and better at suspending inactive tasks.

Great ergonomics and build quality

Its slim and lightweight design provides excellent portability.

The keyboard is practically the same as the older ROG Zephyrus G14, and that’s a good thing. However, this year’s model has a larger trackpad—it’s bigger than my hand. Swiping from one end to the other strains my wrist because it’s such a wide surface. Thankfully, it wasn’t an issue to just rest my palm on the trackpad since palm rejection is top-notch.

The port selection this year is also fantastic, as it includes a dedicated full-sized HDMI 2.1 port, a USB-C 4 port, and a microSD port. I wish it had more than two USB-A and USB-C ports and an ethernet port, but most laptops coming out in 2024 persist on 2 to 4 total ports.

On the other hand, you won’t need to use up a USB-C port just to charge the Zephyrus G14. The laptop has a new dedicated power delivery port that can fast-charge the battery from 0 to 50% in 30 minutes.

But despite all the smaller upgrades, the change that stands out the most is the weight. At 3.3 pounds, the Zephyrus G14 is easy to slip into a backpack and forget about. It is no different in form factor or convenience to the standard productivity notebooks we’ve gotten used to this decade, slim enough to fit in laptop pockets and stylish enough to proudly display on a conference table.

The new body has a diagonal slash running across the lid, a changeup from the diffusing light grid that made the original Zephyrus laptop so visually distinct. However, I wouldn’t say the slash is subtle, as the glossy metal finish and LED lighting draw attention to it in a way that few productivity laptops would ever dare.

If you’re not a big fan of aggressive lighting, you can change the lid and keyboard lighting in Armoury Crate. There are 15 pre-programmed modes and you can create custom modes or turn the LEDs off altogether.

The cheaper models are held back by 16GB of RAM

The port selection will likely be good enough for most people.

While the RAM on both the 2023 and 2024 models is soldered to the motherboard, the 2023 model includes a discrete SO-DIMM slot so you can add your own RAM should the included 16GB prove insufficient. The 2024 model nixes the SO-DIMM slot, so the only way to get 32GB of RAM on your laptop is to shell out for the RTX 4070 variant.

This is a disappointment for such an expensive laptop since it impacts performance. We tested the RTX 4060 variant with 16GB of RAM, and despite having the same processor as the RTX 4070 variant, we saw lower processing benchmark scores across the board compared to the RTX 4070 model (although in most cases it was under 10%).

Similarly, the 2024 ROG Zephyrus G14 performed worse in our benchmarks than the 2023 unit despite the 2024 unit having a technically better processor. The 2024 model (which has 16GB of RAM) outscored the 2023 model (with 32GB of RAM) in single-core processing benchmarks by about 7%, but scored worse on multi-core processing tasks by up to 10%. Our 2024 unit would likely have outperformed the 2023 unit if its RAM matched to the 2023 unit, but we’ll never know for sure since there is no way to add more.

The OLED screen is the best ROG Zephyrus display yet… mostly

The ROG Zephyrus display can hit true black, and it covers more than the entirety of the DCI-P3 color spectrum—in other words, it’s more than HDR capable. It registered 0.00 nits luminance on black levels thanks to the ability of OLED displays to turn individual pixels off when not in use.

The snag with this year's display is its maximum brightness and refresh rate. While the display is rated for 500 nits of peak brightness, my unit’s display peaked at 410 nits. Other reviewers had the same issue. It’s a bit of a bummer that it doesn’t deliver on its promised specs, especially when the 2023 model has a peak brightness of 608 nits (although it does have lighter black levels than the 2024 model).

If you’re an online competitive FPS player, you might have noticed that the 2024 display caps out at 120Hz, but the 2023 model’s display maxed out at 165Hz. That’s still plenty fast for most games (and even for VR), but when a millisecond is the difference between victory and defeat, a 240Hz or higher panel is preferred.

Yes, it’s amazing for long business trips and weekend gaming raids alike

Overall, the 2024 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is one of the, if not the singular, best laptops you can buy right now.

It’s really, really hard to imagine anyone who wouldn’t be happy with the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. It’s an exceptional laptop by every metric, and the best-in-class laptops sacrifice more than they gain to beat the Zephyrus G14 in their niche.

The 2024 ROG Zephyrus G14 is the perfect union of performance and convenience.

Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

Meet the tester

Adrien Ramirez

Staff Writer

Adrien is the PC staff writer for Reviewed with over 4 years of experience covering laptops, desktops, software, games, and more.

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