Reviews - Ordinary Monsters

2.35k reviews for:

This is a historical fiction / urban fantasy blend with a sprinkle of horror. J.M. Miro invites us to journey through the late 19th century, taking us from the deep south of post civil war United States to the bustling chaos of Victorian London, and the enchanting backstreets of Meji Tokyo. Through these setpieces we follow the 'talents', special children with supernatural abilities. They get adopted as orphans from an institute that raises and guides them. But life as a talent is dangerous, and they are threatened by unearthly evils.

This is a decent book that could have been a great book with a few tweaks. I firmly believe that a book should be as long as necessary and as short as possible. Ordinary Monsters is bloated, at least 25% too long and for me, not knowing when to stop writing is an author's cardinal sin.

It's a shame that Miro fumbled the ball like that because he tells an engaging story that started off extremely strong and I enjoyed it in the first half. I loved the setting and the character introductions, his cast boasts several whom I found intriguing to follow. The primary villain is annoying at times, he has a sad boy vibe that aims at making you feel sorry for him which didn't work for me at all. His motivation was unclear for a long time but towards the end I understood it better.

The plot often diverges to backstories which I initially enjoyed. It offered context and enriched the world building but he didn't know when to stop. These interludes took too long and often felt like a novelette wedged between chapters. The core plot itself becomes tedious in the second half and slowed down to a point that I found myself zoning out often and feeling fatigue. This book isn't egregiously long but could have been much shorter and be better for it.

Ordinary Monsters has a lot of merits and is not a bad book. I see talent in Miro's character writing and composing of tense moments. The premise reminded me of X-Men a little too often to take it entirely serious but he gave it some creative twists. He just needs to get to the point faster, because sometimes less is more.

freezeveganpolice's review against another edition

3.0

This was an exceptionally strange reading experience for me because the opening gripped me and then I was SO bored for the next 200 pages I nearly DNFed. But something about the characters gripped me and the second we took a detour to Tokyo and learned a bit more about our shadowy villain I was invested again and stayed caught in it the rest of the time. Not sure if that's just where the author really found their stride or what, but all the action thereafter (and my beloved keywrasse) kept me hooked in and I finished the final third of it on a plane. Two weeks ago I'd have said I wouldn't read a sequel but damn if I didn't immediately Google a release date and damn if I'm not already theorizing about what's to come.

Anyway. Pacing left much to be desired, writing sometimes beautiful and sometimes bland, world building sometimes incredible and sometimes predictable. Altogether 3 stars but still fun.

adlivv's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

meghan_rose21's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 ⭐️ I LOVED this book to start out — the setting was perfect, the world building was rich, the characters were fascinating, the writing was superb, etc. And then it just got really, really dark in a way where it felt like the entire book was about the darkness and evilness with hardly any hope or great moments getting to know the protagonists to counterbalance it.

micho_macho_nick's review against another edition

4.0

slow-paced

juniperbranches's review against another edition

4.0

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: Yes

dodge_this's review against another edition

4.75

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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: No

The book is set in a dark and gritty world, the “magic” is very unique. It has a slow beginning but it sets up a beautifully crafted world where everything mentioned has a reason. There are a few mysteries left I feel were left unresolved which only adds to the world, I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.