Only a Monster by Vanessa Len
Author: Vanessa Len
Release Date: 17/02/2022
Price: £14.99 at Waterstones.
Available in: Hardback, kindle and on audiobook
Rating: 5 stars!
Trigger Warnings: Violence, murder
Wow! This book, I loved it and devoured it over two days. I sincerely hope Only a Monster gets the recognition within the bookish community that it deserves.
In every story there is a hero and a monster.
It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother's eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. 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.
Then a Good Samaritan attempt gone wrong sends Joan spinning through time, and her life quickly begins to unravel. 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.
As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She'll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story... she is not the hero.
Dive deep into the world of Only a Monster, where the line between monster and hero is razor thin: hidden worlds dwell in the shadows, beautiful monsters with untold powers walk among humans, and secrets are the most powerful weapon of all.
The blurb definitely does not give too much away about the plot, in fact I was pleasantly surprised by how the story turns out. I think that's partly why I loved Only a Monster so much because it was truly unique, something that can be hard to accomplish so kudos to Lee! I'll be honest, when I first started reading Only a Monster I did wonder why the term monster was used but the more I read the more the term made sense. I won't spoilt it but I think I was expecting a more traditional monster but I enjoyed Lee's unique spin on monsters.
I loved Joan, I thought she was fab and I'm excited to see how her character develops throughout the series, I hope we see more of her family as well and I'd love to know more of the family histories as well. I liked that the romance wasn't the forefront of the story as well, but I'm intrigued to see if anything develops as the series continues. The characters featured in Only a Monster are absolutely the literal definition of morally grey, so if you like morally grey characters this book is for you!
I thought the worldbuilding was great, the descriptions of locations and buildings were vivid, it's a very fast paced story which I think helps to make it such a quick read, I cannot wait for the sequel!
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the E-Arc.
*Disclaimer - I received a copy of the E-Arc in exchange for a review, all opinions are my own*
0 comments