I really wanted to like this book, but there was just something about it that was off for me. None of the characters felt well fleshed out, especially the side characters - they felt vague. I wasn't a huge fan of Joan either. At one point she questions why everyone was blindly following her orders, and I had to agree. Also, I wasn't very impressed by how disempowered I felt Joan to be of her powers throughout. She comes to recognize it fully at the very end. I would have liked her to feel that inner strength a bit more.

However, this book did really well with casual representation. It was really diverse without making a big deal of it or couching the diversity in long winded explanatory monologues like some other authors do.

Finally, though there was plenty of foreshadowing, I was so disappointing by the ending. My little heart couldn't take it! There were a lot of unanswered questions, which would set the book up well for a sequel, but I like that this one didn't rely on it.

Source of book: NetGalley (thank you!)
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.

Okay, the balance of the universe has been restored. After my last YA, where the hero dug up bodies, I am once again back into “love interest is a mass murderer” territory. Although to give Only A Monster credit, it is pretty clear that this is kind of a romantic impediment. Not least because “the heroine’s entire family” is included within the mass murder thing.

And in case my point hasn’t just made itself: holy fuck me, this book is dark. Brilliant but, oh my God, is it dark. Like, read until 5am in a state of heart-gripped anxiety and flailing emosh dark. I don’t know if it’s my lack of familiarity with YA in general that keeps leaving me stranded in what feel like incredibly intense books but … YA seems to be doing SOME THINGS at the moment. I mean, can someone tell me, are the kids all right? I don’t think the kids are all right.

In any case, Only A Monster is one hell of a ride. Its bones feel familiar enough—heroine comes from a family with mysterious powers, there’s a cute boy, there’s an aloof boy, there’s a myth about the past or the future, the heroine might have a special power that is beyond all the other special powers—but when it comes to stories like this, it’s not about the tropes, it’s about how you use them. And this book deploys them masterfully, twists them masterfully, shows you new sides of them, and then totally wrecks you with them. The bastard.

I don’t actually want to talk too much what’s going on here because Only A Monster is super well-structured, doling out knowledge to the reader alongside its heroine at exactly the right pace, and discovering the details of the world, uncovering its mysteries, and being taken aback by everything you didn’t quite put together, is part of the pleasure of the journey. Narratives like this—where the world we recognise sitting alongside a vast and magical one with its own rules and history—are not exactly uncommon (there’s an irritatingly famous example though it’s far from the first or only) but they’re endlessly compelling when they’re done right. For my money, Only A Monster does it very, very right. I would even go so far as to say it knocks said irritatingly famous example out of the park. It’s not fucking twee, for a start, and self-aware, willing to interrogate its own complexities and inequities. Plus it’s effortlessly diverse in a very real and natural way. Queer characters are queer on page, the cast includes multiple people of colour, and the heroine is herself mixed race. Oh, and as a sidenote, it’s set in a London that feels recognisably and specifically like London. I love UK books that make the UK feel like the UK, y’know?

Also: time-travel. There’s motherfucking time-travel in this. If there’s one trope, apart from “this unit has a soul” that kills me absolutely dead in the heart department it’s the whole “we must save the world, but it will make us forget what we are to each other” thing. God. Help. My emotions.

There’s so much to admire in Only A Monster: the world-building, the setting, the plot that doesn’t let up for a moment. But the writing (which is witty and engaging enough to keep the whole thing from spiralling down a plughole of desolation) needs a notable shout out, as does the character work. Joan is a great heroine, out of her depth, but resourceful and determined, the supporting cast are all intriguing and repay emotional investment, and I found myself surprisingly sympathetic to Joan’s two potential love interests. Even though one is a complicatedly damaged poshboy and the other is a complicatedly damaged MASS MURDERER.

All of which said, I have the mixed-est feelings about this being the first book in a trilogy. Part of what’s so successful about Only A Monster is that it feels like a complete (albeit wildly tragic) arc, rather than the first part of a really long three-part story that has just been lopped off from the whole. And, as a reader, I super appreciated that: I’m a bit tired of planned trilogies that leave you with the narrative equivalent of blue balls after book one. This, by contrast, just left me curious and emotionally fulfilled. Which, yes. Thank you for respecting my time and investment, Only A Monster. I can’t deny, however, that there’s part of me, the deranged masochist part, that kind of … likes is a hard word for a conclusion so brutal and compromised, but there’s a powerful coherence to the book’s arc as it currently stands. On the other hand, there is clearly so much more of this world to explore—antagonists as yet unmasked, much still unknown, carefully established themes to be developed—that I will be running not walking the moment book two is available.

I also suggest you run not walk for this one. It's an incredible read.

(Do be wary of the content guidance, though, and protect yourself: I am not kidding when I said this book goes to some places and takes on some stuff).

Wow! What an amazing book! I was so immersed in the story that I could not put this book down and read it in one sitting. Without giving too much away, I'll just tell you that I loved the MC from the start, her character was well thought out and developed. The unique magic system and anti hero pov was a nice surprise. I can’t wait for the next book to find out what happens next.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review.

4.5/5
This book was such a good surprise!!

So many things pleased me, so here we go.
First of all, Joan as the main character was great, her determination and bravery really stood out. She won’t let anyone or anything prevent her from doing what she needs to do. If you love morally gray characters, this book delivers.
The novel takes place in London - aka my favorite city - and it was so good to revisit some places at different period of times.
The magic system was so intriguing and rich. I’m sure there is still so much to learn.
We’re introduced to powerful families that don’t like each other and have very different and original abilities - which means rivalry, condescension, feud and we love it.
Last but not least, everything can happen - not only because the stakes are high but also thanks to the time travel concept that offers so many possibilities for the rest of the series. I’m living for those books that play with my emotions and nerves.

The only downside is that it comes out in February and I already need the sequel right now - I have so many questions!

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I cannot fathom how much I loved this book and how much I want the next book in the series now. The day I finished the book I was just me pure screaming and crying and ranting to people to go add this amazing book in their tbr
I was so amazed by the plot of the story since it's unlike anything I have ever read before. The writing was perfect and descriptive and the pace of the book was perfect and fast as well.

The pitch for this book had been so pulling like - villain pov, Captain America like hero, enemies to lover and monster heists- , And the book has it all and that too done exceptionally well. 
The plot of this book is so rich and descriptive and so many layers and the more you read the more you get to know about the monster world and secret they have. The story revolves around in England during different times and the main character is revealed the truth about her own identity, also the parallels between Joan's biracial identity as a Half-British and Half-Chinese and also Half- Human and Half- Monster The cliffhangers and ending had me gawking and my anticipation for the sequels are so much more now.The romance in the book was interesting to read and I liked it and the slow burn enemies to lover has my heart. I can't wait for the upcoming books and to see more of these characters and the relationships.

Joan was just mesmerizing to read about, her growth as a person during the book was amazing, even though she was naïve during the start she was kind, hopeful and would have done anything for her family.

I AM A SIMP FOR AARON OLIVER I DON'T MAKE THE RULES. That really sums up my feelings for this character. Hot ruthless monster boy and likes to banter and actually has a soft heart and his last scene made me almost tear up.

Nick as a person I may not be the biggest fan of, but I loved his story and how his character came to be. (if you wanna know what i am talking about go pre order now)
In conclusion this book is awesome and would definitely recommend this to everyone!! the plot, the characters and everything is so well balanced and I just can't wait to see more!!

If you ever get a chance to get your hands on this book, just do it. It is really good, thrilling and original. The magic system is unique and it's exciting to be on the monsters side.
I had a great time reading it, I still have so many questions and therefore I will read the second book with pleasure.

This book was an absolute gem . From the unique magic system, time travel battle to anti hero pov everything was brilliant. Vanessa Len was successful in created something where I was rooting for the monster side and not the usual hero . Joan is now one of my favorite main characters with her bold and rebellious personality, she was a treat to read .
I honestly believe this is one of the best debut I have read and everyone should give it a try as well .

Thank you netgalley and hodder and stoughton for providing me an arc of this amazing book . I'll post in detail review of this book on different platforms closer to the release date.

Well this book was amazing, it was a breath of fresh air. I loved how this book was so different, how the 'monster' is so up for interpretation. The magic system, while at the beginning did confuse me, was fab. Honestly, I can't think of a bad thing to say from this bok. I cannot wait for this to come out so I can discuss it with others! I've preordered it, and early await the next installment.

The first in a planned trilogy, and one I'll definitely be continuing - Only A Monster takes the time travel trope and turns it on its head. I loved the mechanics of the travelling, simple to understand but still engaging. Definitely appeals to the more YA side of things, but this isn't a bad thing. The book ends in a tantalising note that leaves me keen to see where (and when) the author is going to take us next.

Only a Monster is a YA contemporary fantasy with elements of urban fantasy, dystopia, and historical fantasy. It’s the first in a trilogy, but as it stands, it can be read as a stand-alone.
The book starts out strong, with a short prologue and then mysterious circumstances soon after, immediately creating an atmosphere of intrigue. It carries on at a good pace from there on, with good story progression and very intriguing (albeit slightly spotty) world building.
The author’s writing is slightly plainer than I expected based on the general tones of her story, but she does a good job playing to her strengths, creating vivid imagery and effectively conveying the characters’s emotional state at any given moment and throughout the story, without any flowery prose. Most of the characters could have been better fleshed-out, but it’s YA and the first in a trilogy, so I overall I think the author did a good job giving us enough to give dimension to their roles in the story and enough for us to connect with, which is no small task.

Where I felt the book failed to deliver a bit was world-building and atmosphere.
The mythology and magic system in this world is original and intriguing, with a “secret society” aspect and entire families carrying on this whole “monster” society for hundreds of years, and yet with all the details and all the variations in powers, they’ve somehow never come up with a better name for themselves than “monsters”?! That seems a little unbelievable. This society of supernatural beings with special powers and a sophisticated societal structure referring to themselves as “monsters” over and over felt childish and poorly fitting, and pulled me out of the narrative a number of times. The dichotomy between hero and monster could have easily been kept and carried on regardless, and the world building would have seemed more polished had the author given them a name. It’s a natural instinct to name one’s group so not doing so here feels contrived.
I also found the atmosphere a bit lacking, which was a little disappointing considering the themes and locations; and there were a few instances where I didn’t feel the sense of urgency and suspense the circumstances should have conveyed.
But I liked the way the reveals and resolution were handled, and I really liked the characters — Aaron and Ruth are definitely my favorites, and if I decide to grab the sequel it’ll be largely due to wanting to know how their stories go on!

Overall this was a smooth read and a pretty good debut; not quite as well-developed as it could have been, but there is a lot of really cool stuff in it that will hopefully be explored better in the sequels.

3 1/2 stars.

Darkly delicious fun. If you've been looking for your newest YA urban fantasy obsession - you've found it.

I FINISHED IT AND OH MY GOD- NO hear me out seriously, I thought I knew what was coming, I thought I was prepared but HELL NO. I was not, like every damn book.

Joan was having her perfect summer, living with her mother's family in London, who was kind of eccentric but still loved her a lot. She was volunteering at Holland House and was going on a date with her crush and co-worker Nick. Perfect isn't it? But perfect is just oblivion, suddenly Joan is thrust into the battle between Monsters and Monster Hunters, good vs. evil. And this time she was not the hearo, instead she was the monsters whom Nick was destined to kill. Her perfect might turn into the worst nightmare for her family as well as the entire monster community.

If I were to describe the book in a few lines, it'd be like
"A story filled with agony, yearning, hope, and pain. A squad that has everything on-line, if they don't succeed, they might lose everything. Time is running out and their enemies are every step ahead, the world might collapse. The world needs saving, but this time..hero is not leading the story"

Now y'all, let's start with the checklist, shall we?
Enemies-to-Lovers ✔
Angst, loads of it ✔
A squad on a mission ✔
Story breaking your heart into fragments in first half ✔
YEARNING AND AGONY ✔
Time-Travel ✔
Queer rep (not the main character, but the side couple) ✔
Begging on your knees for the second book, even though the first hasn't been released yet? ✔

Only A Monster follows Joan, a teenage girl sent to stay with her mother’s side of the family, who finds out that there’s more to them – and herself – than she ever realised. Namely, that they’re monsters, and that means she’s half-monster too.

If that wasn’t enough, Joan then discovers that the cute boy that she’s been volunteering with, crushing on and generally obsessing over, isn’t just a human either: Nick’s a monster hunter, fabled as the only one who can unravel the hidden world that they’ve created.

When Joan suffers an unimaginable tragedy at the hands of the boy she’s in love with, she’s forced to team up with her worst enemy in an attempt to repair the damage that Nick’s done, before it’s too late.

I’ve read so many YA books that have flipped tropes and age-old stories on their heads, but I’ve never read anything that does it quite like Only A Monster. It’s a typical hero story except, for the first time ever, I had to root against the hero, and the moral-greyness of it all was completely flawless.

It definitely took time for me to connect with the three main characters – Joan, Nick, or Joan’s now-ally, Aaron – and I was worried initially that I wasn’t entirely rooting for any of them but, somewhere in the middle, I became completely obsessed with all three. Joan developed into a strong-willed fierce heroine (villain??), Aaron became the newest addition to a long line of arrogant, fictional posh boys that are super easy to fall in love with, and Nick got more and more complex until I genuinely couldn’t figure out how I felt about his mission.

The story was fairly fast-paced, but there was so much world-building included too that the hidden monster world within our own was completely believable and fully developed. It was so easy towards the end to get completely sucked into Joan’s world that I found myself anxiously turning the pages, genuinely concerned about what would happen next, until the very last chapter. Even during the times when the story was slightly slower, I was already so invested that I couldn’t stop reading for even a second.

I had high hopes for this book, and yet it took me completely by surprise how wholly I got sucked into it. I have so many questions that I want answering in the next book and, honestly, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get this book out of my head until then.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this arc.

This was on my list for one of the books that I am most looking forward to in 2022. The story follows Joan, who learns that her family are monsters and the boy that she has fallen for is the hero who is meant to slay monsters. This is a unique storyline and just from the blurb I had a lot of questions about how the story would go!
This was a super fast action filled book that I read in one sitting as I couldn't put it down. I really loved the world, the characters, the different families and cannot wait to read more to see how the rest of the story will play out.

☆☆☆½

I was really excited for this book and whilst it was still a good book it just wasn’t what I thought it would be.

This book grabbed my attention because of its interesting and unique angle. I can't remember reading a YA fantasy novel from the point of view of the bad guys, or in this case, monsters. Definitely an intruiging concept!
The story was also interesting and I finished the book in a day, lying to myself that I'll stop after the next chapter all the way until the last one.

Why then am I giving Only a Monster 3 stars? Well, there's a few reasons:

1. I was missing the actual scariness of the monsters. They could've been a lot more terrifying with maybe their appereance or powers. And as bad as stealing time from people is, it's not scary enough to label someone a "monster". I imagen them having a secret terrifying look that they hide behind the mask of looking like a human. Or having some evil powers that make them mortifying. Or at least harder to kill.
Maybe I'm just in the mood to be properly scared since it's Halloween when I'm writing this review but I was left dissapointed by all the mosters and their abilities.

2. I wish we got to understand more about the families and their relationships. All we got is a rhyme about what each family's power is. Yes, we delved into a few of them but it would've been interesting to know what makes the Olivers so hated and why do the Hunts are always hiding.

3. The ending... I understand that this is only the first of three books but it could've easily be a stand-alone since the ending gave no cliffhander whatsoever. There's a lot of unaswered questions and lots of interesting directions this story can take but I was hoping for a cliffhanger that'll make me want the next book as soon as possible. Instead I got a pretty okay ending with no hint at what might be coming next.

Overall, I enjoyed Only a Monster - it is a breath of fresh air, it is well written and entertaining. But the three points I made kept on bugging me when I was thinking about my score. That said, I'm looking forward to see how Vanessa Len will continue this story but can we please agree on more Aaron in the next book?

3.5 stars - thanks to NetGalley for my ARC!

What first attracted me was the tagline <i>Only a Monster... can kill a hero</i>. I really liked the idea that for a change, the protagonist would be the 'conventionally evil' monster as opposed to the hero. This played out through the book in an interesting way and the author did a great job of demonstrating how even heroes can be seen as monstrous.

Joan <i>knew</i> she was just an ordinary 16 year old, right up until she sets out for a date with Nick and somehow skips hours ahead into the future. From then it was a fast-paced plot which revealed she and her entire maternal family were monsters, and Nick is a hero fated to kill them all.

Where the book fell down a bit for me was the lack of character development. Joan felt fairly bizarrely not curious - apparently never questioning that some of her family could make objects appear or disappear out of thin air - and although her character ARC was interesting, it didn't feel fully developed. I also felt that many of the other 'main' characters felt quite 2D which again made it difficult to feel fully invested in the plot and the danger they faced.

I liked the worldbuilding and what the monster abilities were - again, I would have liked this to be fleshed out a bit more. The references to a King didn't really give enough detail about how the monarchy of monsters worked, and Joan's lack of curiosity meant the reader doesn't find out about many of these potentially interesting areas.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would definitely try the next one in the trilogy. This one felt as though it was fairly self-contained but a future sequel will hopefully build on the world this book began to explore.

"Real monsters look like me and you"

I adored this book, it's everything I wanted it to be and more, filled with morally grey characters whom you often forget are monsters despite their actions and way they work being worthy of the description, and a unique magic system this book will sweep you off your feet.

Dealing with time travel, morality, self-acceptance, this novel plays with the question are monsters born or made, I promise this book lives up to the hype. Expect twists and turns, emotional outcomes and get ready for your new favourite read.

I need book 2 and 3 now.

https://www.instagram.com/charley.therabbithole/

The pacing and writing style was phenomenal and broke me out of a reading slump (!). The character arcs played out well and I particularly adored Nick even though he didn't appear as much as I would've liked. The romance element was a bit confusing and I hope this will be touched upon in the second book. On that note, the magic system was a bit bonkers in my opinion and I couldn't understand how anything function most of the time. To give credit where credit is due, the diversity present made me want to cry because it was SO CASUAL. Full review to come on my blog.

Only a Monster is a fun, fast-paced YA urban fantasy with enough plot twists to keep you hooked on the story. However, while I would recommend this book to younger/YA readers looking for an original urban fantasy novel with interesting world-building and characters, personally I had a little trouble getting into this book.

The plot kicks off quite quickly, which at first I appreciated. However, as the story progressed, I realised that because of this, we didn't get much time at the beginning of the story to really establish many of the characters, and Joan's relationships with them. This meant that some of the later scenes fell a bit flat to me, and I had trouble really caring about many of the characters or the stakes of the novel, because we were basically just told why these people were important to Joan, but the emotional stakes behind these connections weren't really there.

However, I did enjoy the ending of this novel, and I also liked how Joan's biracial heritage related to her being half-monster and half-human. But overall, I felt that while I liked many of the ideas the author had, in general I had trouble connecting/caring about many of the characters and the story.

I would recommend this book for younger readers though, as I think they would probably enjoy it more than I did.