Scan barcode
sandwiiche's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
i like the concept of this but was bored and confused for most of the book, plus the characters felt a little flat for me. the last part of the book was where the plot got interesting, but i still felt like something was missing.
i also wasn't a huge fan of the writing style as well. i think this book read more like middle grade rather than young adult, and it was missing that extra little finesse. however, i'll cut the author some slack since this is a debut novel - so props to her!!
i also wasn't a huge fan of the writing style as well. i think this book read more like middle grade rather than young adult, and it was missing that extra little finesse. however, i'll cut the author some slack since this is a debut novel - so props to her!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death
Minor: Racism
fionamatilda's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Xenophobia and Grief
blackheart's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
This book was not what I expected. I enjoyed the time traveler aspect and couldn't guess where the story was going to go.
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, War, Violence, Murder, and Grief
taryn_g's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
zoeelora's review
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Murder, Alcohol, Death, Stalking, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Physical abuse
thaliareads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.0
I loved the concept and the premise of the book. The entire lore and development of monsters was very well done and I found it incredibly interesting.
I enjoyed the majority of the plot with the exception of the ending. While I understand why it had to end the way it did, the whole ending just felt off.
I enjoyed the majority of the plot with the exception of the ending. While I understand why it had to end the way it did, the whole ending just felt off.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Torture
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Confinement, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
The book does start with the death of everyone Joan cares about, and leaving her injured. We also find out that Nick does have a tragic origin story involving the death of his parents and the corresponding torture he endured. Finally, on their mission the group does encounter the location where a friend of theirs had been held after essentially being kidnapped.nagathemanatoo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I adored this book. Especially in terms of its writing style and how it executes its story, it feels like it's wonderfully done and an excellent example of how to hold a reader's attention with breathtaking pacing. The author's development into the reveals never felt cheap or like they were easy to predict and see coming as can sometimes happen in books. Especially as you start to expose yourself to more and more of a certain genre.
Her technical expertise in this regard is flooring.
But where the storyline does struggle is not in the development of the plot, but in the interpersonal development of the characters and their relationships with each other. Everything is one of those situations where it is chock full of potential to be something amazing, but falls just shy of landing that last punch that it needs to hook readers and make the investment worth it. The emotional tones struggle to feel realistic, and that can take a person out.
It says a lot that the relationship that I felt was strongest was entirely devoted to a set of side characters that we don't spend nearly the entirety of the book with the way that we do with the relationship that is set-up for the main character.
It's the sort of book that would really benefit from being okay with letting its plot push out longer, and leaning into the strengths of its plot.
You won't walk away feeling disappointed either with this book. While it may struggle to really develop the relationships of characters with each other, it flawlessly understands the relationship of characters with themselves and who and what they are written to be.
It was unafraid to make plot decisions I think other authors would have shied away from, and I think that there is truly so much more good that we can expect to see from this author as she continues on her path.
Her technical expertise in this regard is flooring.
But where the storyline does struggle is not in the development of the plot, but in the interpersonal development of the characters and their relationships with each other. Everything is one of those situations where it is chock full of potential to be something amazing, but falls just shy of landing that last punch that it needs to hook readers and make the investment worth it. The emotional tones struggle to feel realistic, and that can take a person out.
It says a lot that the relationship that I felt was strongest was entirely devoted to a set of side characters that we don't spend nearly the entirety of the book with the way that we do with the relationship that is set-up for the main character.
It's the sort of book that would really benefit from being okay with letting its plot push out longer, and leaning into the strengths of its plot.
You won't walk away feeling disappointed either with this book. While it may struggle to really develop the relationships of characters with each other, it flawlessly understands the relationship of characters with themselves and who and what they are written to be.
It was unafraid to make plot decisions I think other authors would have shied away from, and I think that there is truly so much more good that we can expect to see from this author as she continues on her path.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Death
begovicj's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
jkneebone's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Only A Monster follows sixteen-year-old biracial teen Joan, who thinks she is in for a fun summer working at a historical London house with her crush, only to find out that her families' jokes and stories about being 'monsters' are real. Joan is half-human, and has been kept out of the loop about her late mother's family's powers (time travel); however, when it turns out that her crush Nick is actually a fabled hero bent on destroying all monster-kind, Joan teams up with the son of an enemy monster family to defeat him. Throughout the story, Joan (and us readers) meet members of many of the different monster families of London, each of whom have family-specific additional powers and outlooks on monster customs and society. Joan and co. time travel to the nineties in pursuit of their goals, which is also a fun (& trendy) twist.
All the kudos to Vanessa Len for the worldbuilding in Only A Monster!! I thought this was such a unique approach to fantasy and time travel - it was like nothing I've read recently, and I was totally engrossed with all the details. The details about all the different monster families, to the point that they have differing myths from family to family, were so interesting and creative. I would have read another two hundred pages just to find out more about this world. In that same vein, I also enjoyed that the main characters all came from different families and backgrounds, and I felt that they were all pretty well developed for the amount of page time they had.
My only issue with this book was that it is very much the first in a series. The plot definitely came second to the worldbuilding and set up of the dynamics between monsters, etc. and while I enjoyed the worldbuilding, I wish it had been more integrated into the plot. I'd prefer that a first book in a series has it's own adventure plot that is resolved at the end of the book, even if there is a larger arc or 'big bad' that still needs to be tackled - instead, Only A Monster very much felt like a set-up book, and did one of my least favorite things a conclusion can do (spoiler!!):undoing the entire plot of the first installment at the end of it!! I liked that Joan was faced with and made that choice at the end, and I thought it worked for her character arc, but it's a huge pet peeve of mine in general because now we are going into the second book with essentially a blank slate, at least for everyone other than Joan. It was done better here than other times, but it's still a pet peeve. I also wish a few things had been explained sooner or better - Joan is learning about the monster world and cultural norms along with the reader, which mostly works really well, but I did have a few head-scratcher moments (Joan never believed her family were really monsters...but everyone in her family can pull things out of thin air?? Joan.).
Despite that critique, I will probably read the second book when it comes out because I do want to learn more about these characters and the world!! It's hard to do time travel well and this was really well done. A creative, fun read, especially if you're a fan of a series!
All the kudos to Vanessa Len for the worldbuilding in Only A Monster!! I thought this was such a unique approach to fantasy and time travel - it was like nothing I've read recently, and I was totally engrossed with all the details. The details about all the different monster families, to the point that they have differing myths from family to family, were so interesting and creative. I would have read another two hundred pages just to find out more about this world. In that same vein, I also enjoyed that the main characters all came from different families and backgrounds, and I felt that they were all pretty well developed for the amount of page time they had.
My only issue with this book was that it is very much the first in a series. The plot definitely came second to the worldbuilding and set up of the dynamics between monsters, etc. and while I enjoyed the worldbuilding, I wish it had been more integrated into the plot. I'd prefer that a first book in a series has it's own adventure plot that is resolved at the end of the book, even if there is a larger arc or 'big bad' that still needs to be tackled - instead, Only A Monster very much felt like a set-up book, and did one of my least favorite things a conclusion can do (spoiler!!):
Despite that critique, I will probably read the second book when it comes out because I do want to learn more about these characters and the world!! It's hard to do time travel well and this was really well done. A creative, fun read, especially if you're a fan of a series!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Death
lena_correia's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Death of parent