Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Only a Monster by Vanessa Len

21 reviews

grace_yin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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madbytheway's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book tore my heart out more times than once. I don't have the words to describe how I'm feeling right now but let me just say this: Altering time? The memory loss that follows? My kryptonite. My. Fucking. Kryptonite.

Seriously need the sequal now because that ending was oh-my-fucking-GOD levels of ... of whatever emotion I'm feeling right now.

I'll update this review tomorrow when I've had some time to process that ending and when it's not 12am. Because wow I need to collect my thoughts.
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kbairbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I am ✨ speechless ✨ that was amazing. The frozen feeling that I love so much when I figured out who Jaimie is to Tom, the moment I realized Aaron had feelings for Joan, the connection between Joan and Nick. I still have SO many questions and there ABSOLUTELY has to be more to this than this book but my GOODNESS. The tears, the loss, the SACRIFICE holy shit.
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lady_moon's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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sunlit_music's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book was so intense, oh my god. The world building is incredible - so well thought out and creative. I loved the way the book explained the magic system, time traveling, how monsters steal years off people's lives, and the differences and similarities between the monster world and the human world. 

The romance is absolutely heartbreaking. I would say the ending is bittersweet, because the main character Joan manages to
save her family members, but she is never able to see her love interest ever again.
The choices that Joan has to make to save the people she loves are gut wrenching. There are no truly good choices that save everyone. She has to choose between letting her family die, or taking years off strangers' lives to save her own family. 

I like how the book makes you sympathise with Joan and other morally grey characters, even when you don't always agree with them. That's the sign of a truly great writer. 

I would recommend this book for anyone who likes fast paced action, morally grey characters, main characters with supportive loving families, and characters who grow and evolve over time. 
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azrah786's review against another edition

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4.25

 [This review can also be found on my BLOG]

**I was gifted an ARC through the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

CW: violence, blood, murder, death, death of parents/family members, weapon use, brainwashing, interrogation, involuntary drug use, racist microaggressions, xenophobia
--

[AUGUST 2023]

Bumping my rating up to 4.25 Stars as I enjoyed this even more on the reread!
--

[FEBRUARY 2022] 

Full of high stakes, a dash of doomed romance and time travel shenanigans, Only A Monster introduces us to an all new version of our world and an unconventional take on monsters which absolutely blew me away!

Joan’s life changes forever when one summer while she is staying with her mum’s side of the family in London, she discovers that they are monsters who steal life from humans in order to travel through time. In fact there is a whole community of monster families with distinctive powers living in secret and as a member of the Hunt family, Joan is one of them.
To make matters worse the cute boy who she has been working over summer with and has finally managed to score a date with turns out to be a monster hunter from legend destined to purge the world of them all. And so Joan is forced to embrace who she is and reluctantly team up with a fellow monster from a family that hates her own in order to save not just her family but the whole of monster-kind.

“You’re a hero and I’m a monster,” she whispered. “There’s only one way that story ever ends.”


Vanessa Len has written an exciting and unique story about fighting for your loved ones whilst flipping some well-loved tropes in the best way.

There really aren’t enough books with a monster protagonist / hero antagonist storyline and I really enjoyed how the central themes of identity and morality were explored through the various characters we meet. The pacing from the get go is quite fast which did make for a slightly unsteady beginning but in a handful of chapters the narrative smooths out and the easy flowing plot and intriguing reveals keep you hooked.

The worldbuilding though quite simple and subtle was so effective. I will always be down for a story set in London because fictional characters running around a place you are familiar with is always a whole lot of fun, but what I loved in particular was the addition of history as a facet to the setting. I mean paranormal worlds secretly coexisting within our own with spots hidden from human eyes may not be anything new but places hidden within history!? I was instantly obsessed!

In fact I really loved that history was so embedded into the essence of the story what with Joan’s love for the subject and how the time travel allowed us to visit significant places of the past in such a cool way! I’m a sucker for time travel stories despite them having the tendency to sometimes be tricky to get your head around, but Len has woven together a storyline that is not too overly convoluted that I think worked so well!

"We can't change what we've done but... we don't have to be the people we were made into."


Another highlight of this book has got to be the banter between Joan and Aaron, I loved the relationship that formed between them so much! However, I’ve got to admit that some of the other relationships (the main romance included 👀) didn’t stand out as much for me..

Though everything does take a very interesting turn as we come to the end of this first book, which along with my curiosity to learn more about the other monster families has me eagerly awaiting the rest of the series!
Final Rating – 4/5 Stars 
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giulsfloris's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Monsters aren’t the villains in this amazingly written story. The hero is the enemy, monsters can travel in time and there’s a mystery to solve. I loved the found-family trope, one of my favorites, and the impossible heist was just *chef’s kiss*
I enjoyed the characters and how they interacted with each other. The story is both plot and character-driven. I hope it gets the hype and success it deserves!

Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Vanessa Len for the opportunity to read the ARC. I loved this novel and I can’t wait to read its sequel!
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annikareads_'s review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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nicamooch's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My jaw was not ready for the amount of twists in this book. I loved the fast pace and the way every emotion still packed a punch—this was an instantly unputdownable kind of book. The ending of chapter ONE had me reeling. 
The third act had me audibly gasping multiple times. I just absolutely adore the ride this book took me on. I love the twist on the good vs evil trope. The perspective of a monster vs a hero antagonist was so well done and felt so refreshing? 
Despite this story having time travel the stakes always felt serious—I was hooked until the very last page because I really didn’t know which way it would go. 

This is such a phenomenal debut book (I am absolutely looking forward to the rest of the trilogy) but this was such an adventure with an epic ending I honestly felt satisfied and content with it upon finishing 😂. But alas, I am team Aaron and must know what happens 😤. I also hope we get to see more of Joan’s family in the next books—Gran was such a delight 😂. 

I also love the humour in this. The banter between Joan and Aaron was golden! I loved every interaction between these two! I love love loved their dynamic 💛💛💛

Also, the absolute mastery involved to have me bawling over the relationship of two side characters within two pages 😭😭😭. I want those two to keep their HEA please 😭🙏. 
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soozn's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Well, this was a crazy ride. Monsters (literal and figurative), time travel, superpowers, a heist, first love. There’s a LOT going on. It’s very much its own kind of fairytale, with its morality lessons and the simple language Len uses. She could have started it with “Once upon a time” and it wouldn’t have felt out of place. 

 Joan has grown up being told that she’s a monster. She didn’t know that it was meant literally. She clearly has a strong moral compass and a conscience and always tries to do the right thing. It’s important to her to be a good person. But Joan’s mother’s family have a particular kind of supernatural power that allows them to take time from another person’s life and use it for themselves to travel in time. Joan sees this as a heinous, monstrous, unforgivable deed, to steal time from a person’s life. Time they won’t get back. Time that shortens their lifespan. So no matter who or what they are, and what they do with that extra time, they are literal and metaphorical monsters.

 To me, the moral dilemma Joan finds herself in was the most intriguing part of the book. (Which is saying something, considering everything that happens.) It tackles the perennial issue of the nature of right & wrong/good & evil. It turns everything on its head. The good guy is the bad guy? The bad guy is the good guy? Or maybe a little bit of both? Or neither? 

This is a horror scifi fantasy adventure thriller that takes off right out of the gate and never stops. I’m giving it 4 stars even though this ended up not really being my kinda thing because, well, it was just really well done. It’s a page turner, for sure. I enjoyed the characters and the resolution and everything it made me ponder. I can see this being a big YA Fantasy reader favorite! 
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