This is one of my favourite reads so far this year! Vanessa Len takes an original spin on what makes monsters and heroes, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Joan discovers that her family aren't just eccentric, but have terrifying, hidden powers: they're monsters. Her cute co-worker Nick, it turns out, is a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down. Joan finds herself on the opposing side to her crush in this battle, forced to embrace being a monster and joining forces with Aaron Oliver, heir to a rival monster family.

I absolutely loved this book. The world building was great - I loved the alternative London setting, and the detail taken with outfits to fit into the timeline were a total blast from the past for me as a slightly older reader. The characters were complex, faced with moral dilemmas, and the banter between Joan and Aaron was great. I'm hoping to see more of Aaron in the sequel and can't wait to see where Len takes this story next!

in this story we follow Joan who is a 16 year old girl who is staying with her mothers side of the family for summer break like she does every year, she is surrounded by her cousins, aunt and uncle and her grandmother. she has a job at the historic Holland House where she volunteers with Noah, a co worker who like her, loves history. one day Noah asks Joan on a date, everything seems perfect.
after trying to do the right thing she is suddenly thrown into a situation that nobody could have foreseen and certainly nobody could deal with but Joan takes it all one and tries to right the wrongs.
this is where she finds out that her family, who she thought was just eccentric, are monsters. not in the ugly, evil sense. but the kind that have powers and live among humans. and nick? oh yeah, he's a monster hunter!

as she goes through the situation with Nick she is forced to work with Aaron Oliver. who is Aaron Oliver? he is the heir to the Oliver monster family but the kicker? his family is enemies with the Hunt family! so now they have to put aside their family issues to work together in dealing with Nick.

This book is absolutely amazing. I could not give this book a higher recommendation. Going into this story I didn't want to research about it much as I wanted to just delve into this story and I am so glad I did! every twist and turn made me sit on the edge of my seat. did I cry? ABSOLUTELY! I felt so sorry for Joan in so many parts of this story! Noah as a character is phenomenal. I went from loving him to hating him to fearing him to loving him to crying my eyes out at the ending.
The characters in this story are amazing. the plot of this story is one of the best stories I've ever read. I was so excited for this book to release this year and it exceeded my expectations! I cannot wait to see what Vanessa Len does next!

A fantastic debut for what promises to be an exciting series! I loved that the heroine is a 'monster' and it was interesting to see how her views changed as the plot progressed. I love the dynamic between her and Aaron, and am looking forward to discovering the secrets he alluded to in book one

Absolutely loved this, so happy too that I have a FairyLoot special edition now ! I can’t say too much about this without ruining the whole story and I don’t do spoilers, so this might be tricky. This is an excellent debut , I loved the characters so much, the story was so engrossing I really couldn’t put it down. I thought the worldbuilding was extraordinary, loved how the monsters spaces and society were mixed into the 'real' world. I thought this was one of the most imaginative and original fantasy novels I’ve read and I loved the play on monsters, the imagery and metaphors of human nature and the monster inside, so clever, can’t wait for more

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

'Only A Monster' by Vanessa Len tells the story of Joan, a half-monster and half-human girl, who has only recently discovered her family's hidden secret-- that they come from a long line of Monsters who steal from humans. This revelation forced Joan to come to terms with the fact that not everything is as it seems, and that maybe the cute guy from work isn't who he says he is. This book is the perfect mix of action, magic and romance that will have you captivated from the very first page.

I'm just going to say this now-- this is a 5-star read to me.

Time for another little story time. As I was browsing through NetGalley at 2 am in the morning, I had come across this book and was intruiged by the title. That slowly diminished as soon as I read "Monster" and "Monster-slayer" (lowkey scoffed and rolled my eyes), but I was craving a fantasy novel so what's one more book to add to that overused trope list? Also, in this book it's the heroine who is the "monster" which I thought was an interesting spin on the usual female-assassin trope.

I want to talk a little bit more about Vanessa Len's writing. I can't seem to put my finger on it but there's just something about the way she wrote this book that had me completely entranced that I ended up missing 2 law lectures so I can keep reading without stopping (Oops!). It could be her stylistic choices where she incorporates imagery through lots of descriptive language, and adds sights and sounds to make the readers feel like they are right in the middle of all the action-- the action scenes, in particular, were incredibly well-written. However, the author does not feel the need to use complex vocabulary to build on the fantasy because the rest of the elements of the story do it for her. This is one of those books that you can pick up and fly through without needing to memorise complicated names and mythical beings. I also love how setting is in London because I can recognise a lot of the landmarks and places mentioned throughout the book.

I was left with such a good and warm feeling by the end. The realisation that I had discovered another amazing book that ticks all of my boxes is the best kind of feeling, and I am so glad that this book is one of them. As soon as I had closed the book, I cannot explain to you just how quickly I searched up any plans of a second book/sequel-- pleased to announce that there is one scheduled to be released in 2023! This book was a wild rollercoaster from start to finish, and one that I absolutely do not regret going on. 'Only A Monster' by Vanessa Len is a gem in the YA fantasy genre, and I highly urge you to read it ASAP!

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Soughton for this ARC of 'Only A Monster' by Vanessa Len in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for gifting me a copy of this ARC.
This was a fast paced, YA fantasy with a really interesting plot but unfortunately this wasn’t a favourite of mine.
While I felt the writing itself was good, due to the fast paced nature of the novel, there were plot points I felt that weren’t developed enough for me to form an emotional connection to them. Particularly, I would have liked to see more of Joan and Nick’s relationship before their doomed date in the first chapter, as for me it just felt like we heard a lot about how they were soulmates without actually getting to see it for ourselves.
Some parts of the story seemed a bit too convenient as well, there is a point toward the end where Joan realises her own power but not much is written about how she figured this out for herself, which I feel would have engaged the reader more.
I definitely am intrigued by the storyline, it feels unique to other YA novels out there, and I would be interested to see what happens in future novels if this is made into a series, however, for me, this wasn’t the strongest opening novel.

I honestly don’t think this book was for me. I tried reading it, I even restarted it but I could never seem to finish it. I don’t even think I reached 50%.
I just find that the plot wasn’t fully investing, and the character /MC, Joan really annoying and I just couldn’t withstand her POV or her thoughts.
This just wasn’t for me.

I love book featuring an alternate London where not everything is what it seems. Somehow it reminded me of Simon R Green's Secret Histories, a compliment as I'm a huge fan of Green.
There's an interesting world building and Joan evolution is quite interesting. I didn't like her at the beginning but she grew on me.
The characters are interesting and the plot is faced and action packed.
Can't wait to read another book by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

When our main character is six years old she's told that she's a monster, as is the rest of her family. Ten years later there's a brutal massacre and she has to figure out how to use her monster abilities to try and save them.

This is a YA urban fantasy with an enemies to soul mates vibe. Essentially being a monster means you have the ability to take time off of humans lives to use to time travel.

I don't know if I was maybe expecting more from this having seen some quite positive reviews. The main character doesn't really know anything about the monster world and doesn't really attempt to better inform herself. Instead she does a lot of running away (and into trouble) and crying.

This has a heist in it and is the worst, most poorly planned heist I've ever read She knows nothing - not what they're looking for, how they'll get it or how they'll get out - but pushes for it anyway which is a bit frustrating.

The soul mates angle feels like a bit of a shortcut as you don't really get to see the relationship since the male half is the "hero" and is off page for most of the book. A relationship with one of the other characters would have been more interesting for me.

Also the monsters just aren't very monstrous which isn't what I expected for a monsters vs heroes from the monster pov book.

From a plot point of view, I definitely came away with some questions. Like to travel thousands of years and not get caught by the guards for taking too much from a certain population subset how long are you spending brushing the necks of tourists?! I also don't really understand how her other power works - what she does also works backwards through time so that loco therefore never worked? Also both using your power too much and not enough can wear your power out - this seems very precarious for the monsters.

This is the first in a planned trilogy but you could read this as a standalone if you ignore the fact there is no explanation for who is behind it all, how they did it or why!

Only a Monster by Vanessa Len is subtly mind-blowing. A very fast-paced story, this book left me completely bewildered and stunned for hours after finishing it. I am overwhelmed by the world that Len has created, with characters so tangible and the most beautifully structured magic system. I think this book will appeal to a very wide variety of readers no matter their genre preference, as it combines contemporary, fantasy, romance and historical elements so seamlessly. Len masterfully presents nuanced and challenging conversations on morality, prejudice, fate and so much more. That said, I think it would prompt a lot of great discussions particularly amongst younger YA readers.

A huge thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for this e-arc!

Here's the basic plot of this book - Our MC believes that she is a normal, average teenager, albeit, with a slightly eccentric family.
One day, she finds out that she, and everyone from her maternal side of the family, can travel through time. But there is a steep cost for that time travel.

Now this revelation literally opens a can of worms for our MC. Things go horribly wrong right in first 10% of the book and our MC is trying to fix these wrongs throughout the story.

I loved the concept of "Hero" and "Monster" explored in this story and the possibility of a love between them. The lines between "Hero" and "Monster" are blurred. I was left wondering who exactly could be labelled as the "Hero" and as the "Monster" here, as we are dealing with several morally grey characters.

The entire concept of Time Travel is developed in an interesting manner and is left fluid enough to allow the theory to evolve as the plot progresses.

There are quite a lot of twists in the story but it mostly progressed in the way I was expecting it to go.

This is a book that you will keep thinking about for several days after you have finished reading it. You will think about what happened, why it happened, how it happened. Could it have happened any other way? What next? Is there a next? Is this how it ends?

I think my main problem was the ending. It left me with so many unanswered questions. Many things are left unexplained and I got a feeling that vague metaphors were used throughout the ending, but I was unable to understand them.

I am someone who need things to be tied up at the end. There should atleast be some logical explanation as to why and how things happened. Or there should be some foundation to upcoming sequels (if any).
I did not get a proper closure that I was expecting here. This left me more confused with the plot of the book.

Is there going to be a part 2? If yes, then I look forward to it, because I need to know more about these characters and this world of Monsters.

I started this book a couple days ago and absolutely devoured it! This was such a action packed, fast paced book and once I started reading I could not stop!

I loved that we got to see from the perspective of the “monster” and how maybe everything isn’t as black and white as it may always seem.

Joan was a great MC but I ended up completely loving Aaron and how considerate and thoughtful he was but always trying to hide behind a snarky demeanour.
We get hints of his past and I cannot wait for book 2 to learn more about him!
We don’t get to see as much of Nick though so I hope we get to learn more about him in book 2!

This book is set in a secret world within London where monsters live among humans but steal their days to time travel. I loved learning about the world and how it all works.

This book is full of twists and some I was not expecting at all and especially that ending and the final conversation between Joan and Aaron left me needing the next book immediately!

If you love morally grey characters, time travel and secret worlds then I highly recommend picking up this book!

I adored this book, it was nothing like I was expecting and ten times better. It features such a unique take on time travel that I had never experienced in a book before. I went into this book with almost no idea of the plot and I definitely think that's the best way to approach Only A Monster. The main character of this novel, Joan, is wholly ignorant of the world she lives in so you learn about monsters and heroes, secrets and lies alongside her in this brilliant story. I loved learning about each Monster family that's mentioned in the story, it was all so fascinating! Bring on book 2!!

So I didn't really gel with this book to be honest and I really had to push myself to finish it. While the premise was really interesting and many friends had read it and loved it...I just didn't feel fully invested. There were moments and elements I liked but I just felt it missed the mark for me and didn't hook me like I thought it would. I just don't really know what was missing that would have made me enjoy it more. Just wasn't my cup of tea. Thank you for the arc thought.

This book really took me by surprise! I requested it on Netgalley because I liked the title and the tag line. And after seeing it had something to do with time travel I knew it might be something I’d enjoy. But I have to admit, I figured it would just be a me-book but it probably wouldn’t blow up. After reading it though… This better be the next big thing because it’s amazing and I need everyone to read it!

I don’t want to say too much about the storyline as I think it’s best to experience it for yourself. There were some great twists I didn’t see coming and I appreciate that so much. During my buddyread I texted with my friend multiple times about the direction the book was going in and that we just weren’t expecting it at all. I really liked were to story took us and I was yelling out loud when I read the ending! And I was immediately reminded about the downside of reading eARC’s haha, now I have to wait so long for the sequel.

We get a really exciting magic system in this book. I loved that there were clear rules and those rules made it harder for the characters to do what they needed to do. The system also raises some moral questions which made the book darker and just exactly what I was hoping for with a title like this. We read about ‘monsters’ and our main character is questioning whether she is one all throughout the story.

That brings us to the characters. I loved reading about Joan. She was a bit naive at first but I loved her development. As I said, she questioned her morality all throughout the story and I really liked that journey for her. She kept insisting she wasn’t a monster but at the same time wondering if her decisions proved otherwise. The side characters were great too, I still don’t really know who to trust haha. I have a suspicion we can’t trust someone and I can’t wait to see if I’m right in the sequel. Hopefully Joan ends up with my favorite romantically speaking but I’m afraid the author is going to go a different route.

All in all I really liked this book if you couldn’t tell already. It’s definitely a book I would love to have on my shelves and I’m already looking forward to the sequel. I have high hopes for it!

Only A Monster was such an incredible YA fantasy novel. Fraught with adventure, full of strong characters with such complex layering and dynamics, as well as themes of morality, identity and family was so resonant. Time travel, monsters and soulmates immediately sucked me into the story, and I can't wait to see what Len writes in the future!

Only a monster is the debut of Vanessa Len and the first in a trilogy. It’s not only a fantastic debut, but also the beginning to an amazing ya fantasy series.

The protagonist Joan visits her family for the summer, but this time she finds out that she is half a monster. Monsters have the ability to steal time from humans by touching them and they can use this to time travel to the past. This magical concept is absolutely amazing and unique, but on a moral level quite bad and that is partly where the monster aspect plays in.

Joan quickly has to adapt to this new world and soon also faces a new reality as her world is in agony and chaos. She is a very strong female protagonist who just wants her world to be normal again, but that is not possible. But at least Joan tries everything and doesn’t give up. I liked her dedication, but sometimes she was a bit too optimistic.

Joan is accompanied by her cousin Ruth whom I adore and Aaron who is from a rival family, but rescues her and helps her navigate as a monster. I also really like Aaron and I feel like so far he is still a bit mysterious and I’m very excited to see more of him in the next installment. There is also the soul mate and enemies-to-lovers trope and those are my favs and they were done really well in this book.

The book is set in my favorite city London and I loved to see that. Especially because you also get to see it in a past time. This in combination with the darker atmosphere was just stunning.

I needed the first fifth to fully immerse in this story, but then the plot was super captivating and intriguing and with every page I fell in love more with this world and story. I already can’t wait for the next installment and have so many questions.

Overall, Only a monster is a stunning ya fantasy debut with a strong protagonist who needs to face her monster side and I can definitely recommend this. 4 stars.

(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

"Only a Monster" is a new kind of story for young readers. It has a unique concept of a time-stealing monster family, a quirky and vibrant set of characters as well as a relatable heroine. Joan is a bit reckless and naive but she's also a teenager who has all the time to grow up and therefore is more sympathetic and charming. I hope the sequel delves deeper into the world and we get to see more fascinating monster families. I would also like the author to develop the romance a little better because I wasn't the biggest fan of the pair in this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Len has written an interesting take on the traditional monster novel, complicating the ideas of 'hero' and 'villain' by turning them on their heads and focusing on what would usually be termed the villain characters. The taking time, time travel concept is a welcome new twist on time travel and allows Len to flip her story between the present day and a more nostalgic view of the 90s. Joan, Aaron and Nick are all interesting characters and I'd definitely want to read the next book to see what happens.

This book.... Twilight meets Harry Potter and they are off on a hell of an adventure.

I am not an expert on YA fantasy but I know when I read a great book. The story, the characters, the twists - everything is carefully planned and clicks. You are swooped up by this novel from page one, and it doesn't let you go until you are done with the last word of the epilogue. I feel like 18 again, and cannot wait the next book in the series to know what happens to Joan, and of course, the hero!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this amazing ARC.