Monarch, Candice Wuehle
Monarch, Candice Wuehle
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Monarch

Author: Candice Wuehle

Narrator: Rebecca Lowman

Unabridged: 8 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/22/2022


Synopsis

The cryptic worlds of Hanna and Stranger Things mingle with the dark humor of Dare Me in this debut audiobook about a teen beauty queen who discovers she’s been a sleeper agent in a deep state government program

After waking up with a strange taste in her mouth and mysterious bruises, former child pageant star Jessica Clink unwittingly begins an investigation into a nefarious deep state underworld. Equipped with the eccentric education of her father, Dr. Clink (a professor of Boredom Studies and the founder of an elite study group known as the Devil’s Workshop), Jessica uncovers a disquieting connection between her former life as a beauty queen and an offshoot of Project MKUltra known as MONARCH.
 
As Jessica moves closer to the truth, she begins to suspect the involvement of everyone around her, including her own mother, Grethe (a Norwegian pageant queen turned occult American wellness guru for suburban housewives). With the help of Christine (her black-lipsticked riot grrrl babysitter and confidante), Jessica sets out to take down Project MONARCH. More importantly, she must discover if her first love, fellow teen queen Veronica Marshall, was genuine or yet another deep state plant.
 
Merging iconic true crime stories of the ’90s (Lorena Bobbitt, Nicole Brown Simpson, and JonBenét Ramsey) with theories of human consciousness, folklore, and a perennial cultural fixation with dead girls, MONARCH questions the shadow sides of self-concept: Who are you if you don’t know yourself?

About The Author

Candice Wuehle is the author of the poetry collections Fidelitoria: Fixed or Fluxed, BOUND, and Death Industrial Complex, shortlisted for the Believer Book Award. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she holds a PhD in literary studies and creative writing from the University of Kansas.


Reviews

Goodreads review by CJ

What!!!!! I guess being a woman is like being in a deep state trance lol. Sticky!!!!! I have never read a book like this ever......more

Goodreads review by Alanna

This is the best book I have read in MONTHS! I think I only understood about 70% of it, but Wuehle's psychological examination of the nature of the self and identity really struck me, even when my little pea brain didn't fully get it. I also absolutely adored the 90s camp femme energy and subtle pop......more

4.5* this was such a bizarre experience because it was equally pretentious as it was cartoonish-ly naive (villians exposing the entirety of what happened so you aren't left to speculate even if you were confused at first ) and i don't think i've had this much fun reading a book in such a long time.......more