Someone You Can Build a Nest in

"Do love stories often end this way?" "Why do you think it's over?"

Shesheshen has made a fatal mistake for a monster: she's fallen in love.

Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who usually resides as an amorphous lump in the swamp of a ruined manor, unless impolite monster hunters invade intent on murdering her. Through a chance encounter, she meets a different kind of human, warm-hearted Homily, who mistakes Shesheshen for a human in turn.

Shesheshen is loath to deceive, but just as she's about to confess her true identity, Homily reveals she's hunting the shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Shesheshen didn't curse anyone, but to give them both a chance at happiness, she must figure out why Homily's twisted family thinks she did. And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with the woman she loves.

A glorious, funny, occasionally slightly violent love story which asks us to examine - and re-examine - the meaning of legacy, family and love.

Readers love John Wiswell:

'Like a warm hug' - Goodreads reviewer on "Open House on Haunted Hill"

'So very sweet . . . a perfect little story' - Goodreads reviewer on 'Open House on Haunted Hill'

'Heart-aching . . . you shouldn't miss this one' - Goodreads reviewer on 'Open House on Haunted Hill'

'Cozy and charming and made my heart grow three sizes which cannot be healthy' - Goodreads reviewer on "Open House on Haunted Hill"

'Has such a unique view and voice in his writing that his work is literally incomparable. And I can't wait for what comes next' - Goodreads reviewer on 'Open House on Haunted Hill'

A beautiful monster story with a heart, Wiswell treats his outcasts as heroes. He is an author the world desperately needs J.R. Dawson, author of The First Bright Thing
Someone You Can Build a Nest In is charming, horrifying, sweet, and funny - everything I could have wanted from John Wiswell's debut novel and more! With the perfect blend of humor and darkness, it's a wholly fresh take on a monster story A.C. Wise, author of Hooked
Someone You Can Build a Nest In is the future of fantasy: a fairy tale with boundaries, an imaginative world created in the shape of collective values rather than the boring old id, a portal to a place you've really never seen before instead of just a princess in a different outfit. This novel is going to change the entire genre Meg Elison, Hugo and Locus award-winning author of The Book of the Unnamed Midwife
Horror blends with heart and whimsy in Wiswell's trope-twisting debut. It's monstrously fun! Beth Cato, author of A Thousand Recipes For Revenge
Quirky, heartfelt, funny, and absolutely brimming with gore, just my sort of book! Marianne Gordon, author of The Gilded Crown
The coziest, most unexpectedly wholesome love story about a monster who devours humans and wears their bones that I've ever read! Naomi Kritzer, Hugo Award-winning author of Catfishing on CatNet
'Oozing with - among other things - Wiswell's inimitable charm and tenderness, this is a monstrous love story like nothing I've ever read before' Premee Mohamed, author of Beneath the Rising
Someone You Can Build a Nest In is sweetly furious, darkly funny, and gruesomely wholesome. It's a love story for the unloved, a happily-ever-after with a higher-than-average body count. I just adored it Alix E. Harrow, New York Times-bestselling author of Starling House
This novel is for anyone who has ever felt like an outcast-or been bewildered by society's absurdities. I fell in love with Shesheshen's wry voice and dark sense of humor Ray Nayler, Locus Award-winning author of The Mountain in the Sea
I love the wonder and the darkly enchanting danger of this story. It makes me think of fairy tales, but John Wiswell understands what so many have forgotten: that true fairy tales are gruesome and magical at the same time, and he nails it here C.L. Polk, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Witchmark and Midnight Bargain
It is perhaps a little weird to say that a book with as much body horror as this has would also be warm, cozy, and sweet, but that's perhaps appropriate: it's a weird book. I mean that in the most positive way possible. Wiswell has crafted a story in which the monsters aren't nearly as terrible as the humans who are both their hunters and their prey, and yet Shesheshen is also unapologetically monstrous. I've never seen anyone pull that off with a fraction of the skill shown here. Besides being a masterful inversion of fantasy monster-slaying tropes, this is a fantastic examination of what it means to be family, and how that trust can be horrifically misused Jenn Lyons, author of The Ruin of Kings
This book is pure Wiswell. A monstrous, protagonist, lovingly and thoughtfully rendered. Sly, fun and darkly humorous with a bloody, beating heart. And always keenly aware of what is truly monstrous in all of us. Wole Talabi, Hugo-nominated author of Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon
John Wiswell's remarkable ability to turn expectations upside down and present new, delightful, gruesome, thoughtful viewpoints on narrative is on full display in this debut. Someone You Can Build a Nest in is the best kind of horrifying, beautiful, by turns hilarious and heart-wrenching, and entirely unforgettable: a story about what makes a monster, what makes a person, the scars of trauma, and the transformative (and sometimes traumatic) act of falling in love. Vivian Shaw, author of Strange Practice
A good book is a predator and this one had no problem dragging me off, kicking and hooting, into the tall grasses to make a meal amidst my ribs before finally taking my heart for its own Jordan Shiveley, author of Hot Singles in Your Area
Imagine Grendel and Beowulf setting aside their differences and deciding to shack up together and you'll have some idea of the flavour of this novel, which balances a sweet, sly sense of humour with some lovingly rendered scenes of gore Financial Times
This unusual queer romance is a heartfelt fable about disability and the possibility of reconciling conflicting needs through love and understanding The Guardian
This is a charming story with plenty of snort-worthy lines and a gripping plot Fantasy Hive
Deeply funny and weird . . . a surprisingly sweet - and very gory - love story SFX
Nothing [can] prepare you for the gentle silliness of Wiswell's wonderful science fiction debut (one draped in the aesthetics of fantasy) Charlie Jane Anders writing for THE WASHINGTON POST
Wiswell raises the bar on the outcast as protagonist . . . the ultimate monster slayer story, if the monster is just a misunderstood creature searching for love Kristi Chadwick, Library Journal (starred review)
A romp that's both bloody and sweet Nicole Brinkley, Bookpage (starred review)
Surprisingly sweet, unsurprisingly horrific, and entirely humane- only John Wiswell could have written this monster and her book, and I'm so very glad he did Arkady Martine, Hugo Award-winning author of A Memory Called Empire
This is a fast-paced and gloriously weird novel, full of explosive shenanigans and touching sentiment. It also manages to be an exploration of the queerness and the surprising fragility of monstrous bodies, as well as their resilience . . . a remarkably accomplished debut Liz Bourke, Locus Magazine
Wriggly, heartfelt, and carnivorous Max Gladstone, co-author of This is How You Lose the Time War
Inventive enough to push the boundaries of romance and dark fantasy . . . A wonderfully weird horror romance Kirkus Reviews
The wonderful thing about Wiswell's monster, Shesheshen, is her sensible vulnerability . . . I can guarantee you won't ever forget Shesheshen and Homily, and will be warmed inside forever. Julie E. Czerneda, Aurora Award-winning author of the Night’s Edge series
Clever, funny, and oddly gentle for a book about a man-eating monster, John Wiswell's debut delivers a surprising blend of fantasy, romance, and horror. Make sure this is on your TBR if you want those squishy-warm feelings of falling in love . . . and those squishy-in-general feelings of viscera, gore, and other things humans prefer to keep on the inside Jodi Meadows, co-author of My Lady Jane
Someone You Can Build a Nest in is the most original monster story I've read in years. The star of this novel, Shesheshen, is a truly terrifying and other-worldly shapeshifter who absorbs human bones and organs to craft her own body-and has now fallen in love with a woman pledged to kill her. John Wiswell expertly blends horror, humor, romance, and bloody disembowelments in a story about a monster who will not only swallow your heart, but make it her own Jason Sanford, author of Plague Birds, finalist for the Nebula and Philip K. Dick Awards
A delightful debut. It is weird in all the best ways, combining poetic writing with unexpected characters . . . The writing is gorgeous, with many passages that inspire the reader to consider the deeper truths they tell Track of Words
Cozy and charming and made my heart grow three sizes which cannot be healthy Goodreads reviewer on "Open House on Haunted Hill"
As much as I am a cynical, non-hugging beast of a human, I am also a big emotional softie and this almost made me tear up a bit. Goodreads reviewer on "Open House on Haunted Hill"
To take something normally so frightening and evil and turn it into the most endearing, lovable, cuddle-worthy (if one could cuddle a house) characters is nothing short of miraculous. And yet, it's completely this author's jam. Goodreads reviewer on "Open House on Haunted Hill"
Like a warm hug. Goodreads reviewer on "Open House on Haunted Hill"
The coziest, most unexpectedly wholesome love story about a monster who devours humans and wears their bones that I've ever read! Naomi Kritzer, Hugo Award-winning author of Catfishing on CatNet
Imagine Grendel and Beowulf setting aside their differences and deciding to shack up totether and you'll have some idea of the flavour of this novel, which balances a sweet, sly sense of humour with some lovingly rendered scenes of gore Financial Times
Nothing [can] prepare you for the gentle silliness of Wiswell's wonderful science fiction debut (one draped in teh aesthetics of fantasy) . . . Charlie Jane Anders writing for The Washington Post

John Wiswell won the Nebula Award for his short story 'Open House on Haunted Hill' and won the Locus Award for his novelette 'That Story Isn't The Story'. He has also been a finalist for the Hugo Award, World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, and Locus Award. His work has appeared in acclaimed publications like Uncanny Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Tor.com, Nightmare Magazine, and others, as well as numerous podcasts, including LeVar Burton Reads, NoSleep, Podcastle, and Escape Pod. He was most recently a finalist of the Hugo Award a second time in 2022 for Best Novelette.

You can find him on X @Wiswell and online at

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