She feels very strongly about what’s right and wrong but sometimes she also can’t help herself. She’s very smart with a big heart and a big dose of determination. The story is so complex and has so many facettes that it really keeps you on edge, throwing in twists and turns at every possible moment. The monsters and what makes them monstrous were well thought out, the way time plays a role in it all was so interesting and had me glued to the pages while simultaneously keeping my brain in action, trying to keep everything I read inside it and to remember the important details. Not only plot- or characterwise but also when it comes to morals and how we understand the world. Only a Monster was fantastically written. It’s a classic story of good and evil – or is it? It is, but we get it from the perspective of the monsters that makes the reader question: Who are the monsters, really? What defines as good or evil?

īook: Only a Monster | Series: Only a Monster | Author: Vanessa Len | Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton | Published: | Pages: 416 | Genre: YA Urban Fantasy | Rep: Chinese-English MC and side characters, mlm side characters | TW: blood, death of loved ones, death, murder, alcohol, torture She’ll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Her family aren’t just eccentric: they’re monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers.And Nick isn’t just a cute boy: he’s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down.Īs she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. Then a Good Samaritan attempt gone wrong sends Joan spinning through time, and her life quickly begins to unravel. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place. Sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. Note: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

How often have I found myself rooting for the monsters and the supposed villains of a story? How often have I said the words “cool motive, still murder” and “wow I’d love to read that from the villain’s POV”? Well, with Only a Monster, my wishes seem to have been heard.

Only a monster vanessa len