If you devoured Vanessa Len's "Only a Monster" and are hungry for more action, then buckle up for "Never a Hero," the thrilling sequel brought to life on audiobook by the amazing Vera Chok.

Vera Chok brilliantly captures Joan's spirit and internal struggles, making you cheer her on as she fights for her family, unravels dark secrets, and maybe even finds a little love along the way. Chok’s narration is spot-on, immersing you in the suspenseful, action-packed world that Len has crafted. You’ll be on the edge of your seat as Joan races against time, outwits villains, and uses her unique monster abilities.

Oh, and that cliffhanger! "Never a Hero" ends with a twist that will leave you desperate for more. I absolutely can’t wait for the final book in the trilogy to see what happens next!

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton, Vanessa Len and NetGalley for providing an audiobook-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC!

A great sequel!! :))

I enjoyed what I listened to of this, but struggled to keep up with it as I didn’t check and didn’t realise it was the second of a series! But I’m sure if I’d read the first I would have enjoyed it!

i feel very lucky to have read the book and now got to listen to it too .

wow wow wow i think this really helped to tell the story and helped me see the characters and world in a different light but in the best way .i felt more connected .

i loved the narrator they really knew how to suck you into this amazing story There were times i would be on the edge of my seat . My heart was beating fast even tho i had read it , i just felt hit differently .

this story is now living rent free in my mind forever .

5 starts for me

This is a wonderful sequel which had me captured right from the start. I adore this world and the magic system that exists within it. I think this was a wonderful way to continue the story whilst developing the characters and keeping it interesting. I’m so excited for book three because the ending was amazing and I can’t wait to see how this continues!

This was a great audiobook. I had actually planned on reading the first part prior to this but it worked well as a standalone. Loved the narration. The pacing and atmosphere was well done. Was completely drawn into the story. I loved how the timelines twisted and how the main characters all had grey streaks. Can’t wait for the next part. I do think the story should have been given a little more closure. Cliffhangers are understandable, but I really had wanted a little more to this book

This book was an amazing read that I gave 5 stars to. It follows on from Only a Monster with Joan in a world where she never met Aaron and Nick was never a hero.

This book allows you to come up with lots of ideas around what makes a villain and hero, as well as how choices can have unexpected consequences.

The book also opens up the topic of racism for discussion in a young person friendly way. How would you handle racism? What are more subtle ways of noticing racism? What is classed as racist etc.

Vanessa Len is an amazing author and really brings the world and characters to life. The book is perfect for young people and adults alike and is a definite recommendation to all.

This book was as good as first one. Seeing once again all the crew - Aaron, Ruth, Jamie, Nick and Tom. The plot was amazing, the timelines that character were are diffrent, and weve got to see more Nick than Aaron - heartbreaking bcs im #TeamAaron all along.

Im really excited for book 3 to come!

Having read this in physical format instead of ebook, I definitely feel like I identified more with the characters once listening to the ebook.
Never a Hero is a brilliant sequel to Only a Monster, following on with Joan's story as she deals with the fallout of changing her timeline. Brilliant written (and read by the narrator), this was a thoroughly enjoyable book.

I am so glad for this ARC! Thank you so much.

If it had not been for the ARC, I would have given up on this series after the first installment "Only a monster" which to me was ok at best. But this one, this was so good!

The setting, the twists, the world building - all of it just simply got me! I am still waiting for the third volume to be given a release date! Most of all because i want to see what is up with Aaron ;)

not as exciting as the first one (the first 150 pages were quite slow) but the it really pulled together for a compelling and exciting end! Overall a great instalment to the series will be continuing

This plot was so thick it was like cement - I felt instantly pulled back into this twisted world and I really felt that our characters flipped a massive 180 in this! I adored how it was filled with intricate twists and turns, each character felt like they had their own motive and had massively developed from the first book. I enjoyed the weaving of timelines and I just can't even explain the way I felt about Nick in this story... Aaron however... Well, lets not! Next book please?!

I audioed this alongside the physical and it was narrated so well, the pacing was on point and it just added that element to the story.

Such an action-packed addictive sequel! I enjoyed this book even more than the first and I can't wait to read the next to find out how things will end. The tension built between the characters was great (I am still such an Aaron stan though), the plot interesting and complex, and I loved the layered discussion of morality.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for this honest review.

It took me a while to get around to this, but i really enjoyed reading it. It was an amazing sequel to a book I already enjoyed, so i went in with pretty high expectations and i did not feel let down. Especially towards the ending.

Thank-you to the publishers and Netgalley for a copy of the audio arc in exchange of an honest review.

Read: 30th September 2023 - 2nd October 2023

Format: Audiobook

Narrator: Vera Chok

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (UK), HarperCollins (US)

Review:

So I had really high hopes for this book.
I genuinely really liked the first one and even went to the trouble of rereading the first one before starting this as I had forgotten some small details and wanted to do the book justice. Props to Vera Chok as a narrator because I really love her narration for both books.

Maybe that was the wrong choice as I need not have reread the book - this book recaps all of it. So. Many. Times. You know how most books try to give us a 'previously on Supernatural...' at the beginning of the next book. This went to the NEXT level.
I don’t think there was a five-page span where the book didn’t tell us about what happened in the first book like I didn’t read it already. I can only assume the publishers told the author to make sure someone could read book 2 without book 1 because there were times when entire scenes from the first book were recounted for us by Joan to other characters. I know...I was there, Joan!

Maybe I should have read it without the reread because it wouldn’t have been as glaringly obvious, but I do feel books should be able to be read right after or after a while.

I also will give some credit that a certain amount of recap was needed when you have a time travel book with different timelines and everyone but you and one other person in your group forgot everything, and even that other guy only remembered small bits. However, it only needed to be in plot-heavy sections where it was important…like just summarise it the rest of the time i.e, "I sat with Ruth and told her everything" and then move on. Joan needs to learn how to be concise and focus on her GCSE English, I guess.

I have to say, for a kid who didn't know about monsters until last summer, she seems mainly unconcerned about her family and friends who aren't in eyeline. I hoped we'd get a chance to get to know more of Joan's family this time around since they're...you know, not dead. But we don't. Gran is missing and everyone else is...unknown? It seems pointless for them to have existed as strong plot points I was supposed to be sad about them dying in book 1, only to never actually get any time with them on the page.

Next, this series now has me convinced it’s based on Back to the Future. MC goes back in time and is stuck 30 years in the past and trying to revolve things so they can go home to how things were before. She ends up back in her own time in a different timeline where things are different but not bad, though to be fair they're not better either. It's just small bad things she doesn't notice at first like how her favourite teacher isn't there and people she remembers are no longer around.

In the second (movie) we go forward in time and things are different ™️. But then things happen and oh no there’s a bad timeline! I am now waiting for Joan and Aaron to end up in the Wild West in book 3 and if it doesn’t happen I’ll be mad.

Also just wanna point out that they’ve never gone anywhere other than London but the book hasn’t explained if you have to be in the same location or if you can travel to other countries from the place you’re currently in?
I know people do it but we never get told if they need to be in the locale to travel...I assume not, but maybe since Joan sucks at using her power they just keep to the easier stuff. Also, I'm not sure if the author ever lived in the UK, I have to assume they did or they did good research, but it seems odd to me to have it set in the UK when the author is Australian. This may be why everything seems like a short jaunt around London when actually it's huge. I do enjoy the descriptions of London but sometimes I am suspicious of how easy it is for them to walk places.

One small complaint is that Joan, Nick and Aaron never suffer without their phones. Most specifically Nick and Joan. These characters are 16/17 years old, they were literally born around 2005 and they barely use technology or miss the absence of it. I know technology can age your novel, but when you place characters in a specific timeline it has already become mired in an era. The fact that these teenagers never have to google anything and just know the easiest train routes to London from Milton Keynes baffles me? I don't know which trains to get places and I've lived in London my whole life...yet Joan and Nick know with no internet that if they walk to a town several miles away there's a direct train to a different station in London (I believe it's Liverpool street). How?

Also, Joan's voicemail still works on her phone that hasn't been connected for 6 years...but she has no signal and travelled through time with it, so unless she got that before they time travelled and didn't see, she shouldn't have any messages on her phone in the time since, as she doesn't have the signal to receive the messages as it's been disconnected.

Right now onto the romance:

I guess people complained in the first book that Joan and Nick being in love didn’t make any sense since we don’t see their relationship develop at all and we are just told they’re soul mates. I was very much under the impression Nick would be gone forever in the next book but no, he’s back. He is also now on the run with Joan and knows nothing about monsters and I honestly have to tell you…Nick has no personality other than being good and good-looking, liking football, and being nice to his siblings. I genuinely would find wet tissue paper more interesting. He’s not a real human, he is a quest NPC pretending to be a player character. Not only that but all of Joan’s actions and opinions are based on her relationship and feelings for Nick. It’s very frustrating because I know she has a spine and a brain attached but it seems to have stayed in the old timeline. All she thinks about is Nick and how handsome Nick is and how guilty she is for killing him etc etc. He just doesn't live up to the hype train that Joan is putting him on...is this a commentary on first crushes and how bad your taste is at 16?

The villain:

I was glad to see an actual interesting villain develop, and the reasoning behind her villain is actually not something I expected during the first book. I expected something more generic I am bad muwahaha. So that was nice and became less faceless. I do think it would have been better if we had actually had more time to get to understand Eeleanor and the Demon King, too.

Once again I will argue this series has become back to the future but less good. I will also argue that Joan has no real moral quandary with the monsters and what they do really because she still does it, and only really objects when Nick does and I wonder if she would care if it weren’t for the fact she fancies the pants off Nick (why?). Also if you’re going to tell me the hero draws the eye and people want to follow him etc, you need to give me a bit more personality and actions. I do think this book suffers from telling not showing.

I also felt a little let down by the fact that so many Liu Family remembered the previous timeline since that was not the case with the true timeline. Why would only a handful remember before and they’re not believed but now loads of people do? Seems weird to me. I am glad we got to actually know Jamie and had more time with a slightly softer Tom in this novel.

I liked the inclusion that the original timeline was wiped to remove a family I think that’s interesting and I would love to see what that version looked like. I almost feel like a cooler concept would have been to give us a second book but from Eleanor’s POV and give us what happened in the original timeline and then reveal later it’s Nick and Joan.

I am slightly confused about how Eleanor and Nick can be siblings in either timeline since it doesn’t seem like they had different fathers in the original timeline. But the fact that we know nothing of Joan’s grandfather shows us that he must have been a Grave and been forgotten in some way. I like these little details but they bring up questions and more questions. Or was Joan not always half-human? Did Joan's mum just leave Eleanor in this timeline? Why does Eleanor remember everything, why did Joan escape the King's notice, and how did her grandmother know about the Grave power?

Final thoughts:

Overall, the best part of this series is Aaron Oliver. I love him so much, he really is hilarious and a sweetie-pie deep down. The fact that he believes Joan and helps her despite thinking he would never help her in an alt timeline shows he’s better than he thinks. I do however think I will riot if Nick and Joan end up together. They’re not soulmates. In my opinion, Aaron and Joan are meant to be together because we’ve seen their feelings develop for each other twice and Nick and Joan have been nothing but a problem for each other in all timelines. Or better yet what about a throuple? Just date both of them Joan. I assume Len will end with Noan as canon because she wants them to have peace at the end but I say…be brave. Make Aaron the hero, and kill off Nick forever in book 3.

Will I read book 3? Yes.

Why? Aaron.

Rating: 3/5

This book doesn't pass the Bechdel test.

What an interesting book 2 in what looks to be a 3 book series.
I did enjoy the narrator, her voice was easy to listen to and the pronunciations were all on point.
The storyline picks up where book 1 left off and feels a tad slow at times, honestly thinking that this could have been condensed so we had a duology instead.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton, Vanessa Len and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

"Never a Hero" by Vanessa Len, narrated by Vera Chok, is a captivating sequel that delves deeper into the intricacies of a world where monsters walk among humans and manipulate time. Following the events of the first book, Joan grapples with the consequences of her actions as she becomes an outcast in a world she never fully understood. Len skillfully continues to build her unique universe, expanding on monster lore and introducing new layers of complexity. Vera Chok's narration complements the story beautifully, capturing the emotions and action with precision. The pacing keeps you engaged, and the plot twists, especially the one near the end, add an intriguing layer of complexity to this fantastical world. Although Joan can be a bit frustrating at times, her journey is relatable as she grapples with her evolving identity. Overall, "Never a Hero" is a fantastic listen, and the anticipation for the third book in the series is high. Vera Chok's performance enhances the story, making it a must-listen for fans of this enthralling YA fantasy series.

Vera Chok's narration brings "Never a Hero" by Vanessa Len to life, allowing listeners to immerse themselves in a world where monsters hide among humans and manipulate time. This sequel picks up the story as Joan, the protagonist, faces the consequences of her actions, which have far-reaching implications. The world-building remains impressive, deepening the lore of monsters and their unique abilities. While Joan's character may occasionally be frustrating, her personal journey adds a relatable dimension to the story. Len's engaging narrative style and Chok's evocative narration ensure that the plot's pacing keeps listeners engaged. The unexpected plot twists, particularly one near the conclusion, contribute to the overall complexity of this fantastical world. "Never a Hero" is a must-listen for fans of this mesmerizing YA fantasy series, and it sets the stage for eager anticipation of the third installment.

Excellent narrator. Great follow up to the first book in this series. The storyline was great and I really loved watching the characters developed. I can’t wait to see what this author gives us next!

I adored book one and was hyped to learn about this sequel. This universe is just so fantastic and I loved getting to spend more time in it.

The first half of this is much slower than book one though, and follows very similar themes and in some places feels almost repetitive. I think it’s purposeful given how it all plays out, but it’s frustrating and I can see many people not getting on with it because of that.

However, it’s worth it as in the second half / last third it definitely picks up and we see the story split more from the original themes. I adored all the twists and that ending!! I have QUESTIONS though. Will be needing book 3 asap lol!!

Eleanor is a great villain and was fun seeing Joan struggle against knowing things others don’t. I’d have liked her to have more chance to tell Nick the full story and to see him get a little more agency in this. And always want more Tom and Jamie 💙

Four stars, not quite as good as book one but very promising for book three!

This was a really strong second book in the series. I enjoyed book 1 and was curious about what could happen next, but I wasn't really ready for it.

It was a jam-packed pact with mystery and more time travel (of course). The world building again was so well done, and luckily, I was slightly less confused than I was in book 1.

I really liked learning more about Joan and Nick's story from the previous timelines. It was enjoyable to see all the characters from book 1 come back for another round (especially frankie <3)! The characters are getting more complex, and I honestly can't tell which side I am on!

And the plot twist at the end?? I did not expect that.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I think the narrator did a brilliant job bringing the story to life. I will 100% be listening to book three. (book 3 better have more Aaron in it please)

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with the audiobook!