Perhaps the best so far in the series.it has the trademark blend of gore & poetry that makes the series so appealing. The occasional touché s of macabre humor make for a quick and enjoyable read ( )

I simply cannot express how brilliant, how moving, and how horrific this series is, nor how much I will miss it, now that the trilogy appears to be over. I have fallen in love with Dr. Pellinor Warthrop and his monstrumologist ways -- although he was not my type back when the series began -- and he has joined the ranks of the never-to-be-consummated relationships I've sighed over since adolescence.

I hope to God Yancey changes his mind. ( )

Wow. I read this and then the next book in the series back to back and that is all I have to say right now. Wow. Rick Yancey blew my mind. Let's focus on book #3 right now though.

Will Henry is now 13 (still small) and still serving the doctor. He starts to realize that a part of himself is becoming cold and hard due to the things he has seen and the things he has done. We once again get shifting perspectives of Will as the writer at 13 and Will as an old man looking back.

"The Isle of Blood" starts with Will Henry and the doctor receiving a man who was poisoned by John Kearns (from book #1) and realize that the man has a package that the doctor (Warthrop) will be most interested in. This man's appearance leads to Will Henry becoming infected and causes the doctor to become afraid that his lifestyle may end up killing his young charge. For all of the talk of Will Henry that the doctor doesn't love him and he doesn't love the doctor, you start to realize that the Will Henry looking back into his life may have his own reasons for saying that and needing to believe it.

Will Henry and the doctor being separated leaves Will Henry floundering under the care of Abram von Helrung and then Helrung's niece Emily Bates, mother to Lilian (who we are introduced to in book #2). Will is able to see a different life for himself away from the doctor, but resists it, because he finds himself bound to the doctor and knows the doctor needs him to keep the darkness at bay. But what of the darkness in Will Henry?

Will at times with his interaction with Emily and Lilian Bates you can see how things could potentially change for the better for him. In this book, Will keenly feels the loss of his father and his mother and all he wants to do is be with them. In the end, Will decides serving the doctor is what he is meant for and all he wants to do.

When Will realizes there is a traitor in their midst, he once again is made to witness things no 13 year old boy should witness. You see the hardening of Will and him deciding if he has to be a man more like Torrance and Kearns that is fine with him. He refuses to be left behind by the doctor again.

This book moves so fast. It is really long, but I honestly didn't notice that at all. The writing was so lyrical at times and also I laughed more while reading this book than the previous 2 books. We also have Yancey inserting real life people like Arthur Conan Doyle and Arthur Rimbauld. We also have reappearances of several monstrumologists like Jacob Torrance. And we also get to see the dark in Jack Kearns which I thought was very important for what is coming our way for book #3.

The writing does get a bit gruesome per usual, and a few times I felt my stomach heave (Yancey can describe things in such a way you can feel it, smell it, and even taste it). I thought this book was more about finding the monsters within us all and when the doctor and others do finally find the biggest monster ever in monstrumology, the reveal of what it really is should not be surprising to us who have read through three books at this point.

The setting of the book moves from New Jerusalem, to New York, to London, and to the so-called Isle of Blood, and even Venice.

The ending made me sad, because in the end we can see that though the doctor wants to keep Will Henry safe, he may have ultimately failed. ( )

Dies ist der dritte Band einer Reihe, die sich um den Monstrumologen Dr. Pellinore Warthrop und seinen jungen Assistenten Will Henry dreht. Warthrop ist Doktor der anomalen Biologie und widmet sein Leben ganz der Erforschung von Monstern: ihre Herkunft,ihre Eigenarten, ihr Aufbau und Struktur und ihre Lebensweise. Und oftmals sieht er sich im Kampf mit eben diesen Wesen wieder.

Eines Nachts klopft es an die Tür und ein Bote bringt ein mysteriöses Päckchen zum Doktor. Dieses setzt Warthrop in höchste Erregung. Niemanden war es gestattet den Inhalt des Päckchens anzufassen, doch wie sich noch in dieser Nacht herausstellen soll, konnte der Bote der Versuchung nicht widerstehen. Und während Will Henry Wache über diesen Mann halten muss, verwandelt dieser sich in etwas unmenschlich Verfaultes und greift den Lehrling an. Nur durch den Einsatz Warthrops und sein Handeln kann Will überleben.
Die Neugier des Doktors ist geweckt und er begibt sich mit seinem Assistenten auf die Suche nach dem Gral der Monstrumologie:
Dem Magnificium.

Beim Lesen jeder einzelnen Zeile war ich begeistert und gefesselt. Lange hatte ich auf eine Fortsetzung der Bände „Der Monstrumologe“ und „Der Monstrumologe und der Fluch des Wendigo“ gewartet. Das erste Buch kaufte ich mir nur aufgrund des wunderbar gestalteten Covers. Auch beinhalten die Bücher einige Zeichnungen, die perfekt die Stimmung der Geschichte unterstützen.
In diesem speziellen Band merkt man, wie Will heranwächst und sich der Folgen, die die Arbeit beim Doktor, in die er mehr oder freiwillig verwickelt worden ist, mit sich bringt, bewusst wird. Denn die Monstrumologie ist gefährlich und man begibt sich an den Rand der Dunkelheit und nur wenige wagen sich hinein und – was vielleicht noch viel wichtiger ist – kommen geistig gesund wieder heraus.

Absolut begeisternd. Spannend bis zur letzten Seite. Mehr davon. ( )

A bizarre blood nest arrives at Pellinore Warthrop's house with the power to change people into cannibalistic monsters. It's a creation of the Holy Grail of monstrumology, the Faceless One. Of course Warthrop is going to rush off to find it and possibly capture it along with his new eager apprentice, abandoning Will Henry without a word. After months of absence, Will Henry receives word that Warthrop is dead, but he knows something isn't write. He and a ragtag band of monstrumologists and friends will rescue Warthrop. Then it's a race to get to the Faceless One first before others who would use it as a weapon instead of for study and monstrumological advancement.

Rick Yancey's Monstrumologist series is one of the best teen horror series I've ever read. Each book brings something slightly different while all feature fantastical and realistic monsters. This installment takes our heroes around the world: the US, Venice, England, Egypt, and Yemen. The fantastical monsters are horrific and transform people into mutated, cannibalistic monsters with the possibility of passing on the condition to someone else. Infected people may not even know they are sick because even the disgusting blood nest sent to Warthrop can infect people with a touch. These monsters have super strength, extreme bone growth, and insatiable lust for flesh, even consuming their own when they've eaten everything around them. This is a different creature than I've ever seen and it's frightening.

The human monsters here can be just as horrific as the fantastical ones. Throughout the novel, Russian government agents are dogging Warthrop's and Will Henry's every step. They show in no uncertain terms that they are willing to murder to get what they want. Jack Kearns although at times an ally is very unpredictable and could turn around and kill them whenever the mood struck him. Will Henry assumes some darkness of his own. He's abandoned by Warthrop at the beginning of the novel and has to choose between a conventional teen's life or the dangerous life of a monstrumologist. He predictably chooses the latter. The life he's chosen changes him forever in profound ways, first when he's forced to kill humans for survival, but then when hebecomes more willing to kill people for what he perceives to be the best. He doesn't come out of this installment unmarked inside and out.

The Isle of Blood continues an amazing story with pitch dark horror and fantasy, advanture, friendship, danger, and a bit of humor. This installment has the most humor with Pellinore being committed and having his friends pose as his family, ineptly weaving a convoluted story to release him. I'm a little disappointed that there's only one installment left with a very final title. I don't want one of the best horror series ever to end. ( )