Someone You Can Build a Nest In

In Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell dismantles the traditional monster narrative to argue that monstrosity is not an inherent quality but a social label that is imposed by those in power to justify cruelty and reinforce their dominance. Told from the perspective Shesheshen, a shapeshifting creature who is hunted simply for existing, the novel reframes monstrosity by revealing how so-called civilized humans engage in behavior that is far more violent and self-serving than the monster they claim to fear. This inversion challenges conventional definitions of monstrosity by questioning who the real monsters are and why society labels certain individuals as “monstrous.”

The human society of Underlook demonstrates how the label of “monster” is a tool for social and economic control. The town profits financially from Shesheshen’s existence, as the merchant Laurent explains that the legend of the “Wyrm of Underlook is a hoax” used to scare travelers into spending money on protections (28). Simultaneously, the citizens celebrate her supposed death by burning effigies in a bonfire, revealing their deep hypocrisy. Meanwhile, individuals like Catharsis Wulfyre embody the casual cruelty that masquerades as heroism: Upon meeting Shesheshen in her disguised form as a helpless girl, he immediately decides to use her as bait to catch the wyrm, dismissing her as a “useless commoner.