Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Only a Monster

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.

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

There is so much to like about this book! Not only does it have great characters and an interesting, refreshing premise, but it also moves along at a good pace. It's easy to jump into the story and you're immediately hooked, right from the beginning. While it does use some typical YA fantasy tropes, the world and the characters make up for it, 100%.

The only reason this isn't getting a full five stars is because time travel and "the one true timeline" thing always throws me a for a loop. Time travel is confusing! But other than that, this was definitely an enjoyable read. And I'd recommend the audio because the narrator does a great job!

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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
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[AUGUST 2023]

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