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sarahsbooklife's review against another edition
- 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
Great book, loved it, I thought was a very good sequel.
After how the fire book ended I had no idea where this book would be going. I mean Joan
I loved that this book went further into how time travel worked in this world and the morality of how monster travel affects Joan throughout the book.
So glad that this book showed even more of the monster world and a bit more of the politics of it as well. I would've loved to have seen more of the Hunts though, like Joan's gran, after all that she went through in the first book to bring them back.
Also... I'm team Aaron. I like Nick, he's a nice guy. But that's kinda it. I feel like the author wants us to like him and root for him and Joan, but I just find them kinda boring. Whereas Joan and Aaron I find so much more fun!
I'm really excited to see what the next book will be like. Especially as I think it's the last one.
Each book so far has had a different timeline; book 1 = the king's timeline, book 2 = Joan's timeline, and then book 3 will have Eleanor's twisted timeline. I can't wait to see what that world is going to be like. I'm slightly scared that one of the main character's is going to die in the last book. Or they become erased from the timeline.
I'm really hoping that there'll be a happy ending. Or at least one that is a bit bittersweet if not completely happy.
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Confinement, and Blood
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Police brutality, and Animal death
Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
sarahsbooklife's review against another edition
- 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
After how the fire book ended I had no idea where this book would be going. I mean Joan
I loved that this book went further into how time travel worked in this world and the morality of how monster travel affects Joan throughout the book.
So glad that this book showed even more of the monster world and a bit more of the politics of it as well. I would've loved to have seen more of the Hunts though, like Joan's gran, after all that she went through in the first book to bring them back.
Also... I'm team Aaron. I like Nick, he's a nice guy. But that's kinda it. I feel like the author wants us to like him and root for him and Joan, but I just find them kinda boring. Whereas Joan and Aaron I find so much more fun!
I'm really excited to see what the next book will be like. Especially as I think it's the last one.
Each book so far has had a different timeline; book 1 = the king's timeline, book 2 = Joan's timeline, and then book 3 will have Eleanor's twisted timeline. I can't wait to see what that world is going to be like. I'm slightly scared that one of the main character's is going to die in the last book. Or they become erased from the timeline.
I'm really hoping that there'll be a happy ending. Or at least one that is a bit bittersweet if not completely happy.
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Confinement
Moderate: Police brutality, Death, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
ruebranch's review
- 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
Moderate: Torture, Grief, Death, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
Minor: War, Kidnapping, and Racism
taryn_g's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Death, Confinement, Murder, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Violence
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I can only take so many love triangles! This definitely felt like a filler book in the way that it’s hoping to convince readers that Nick is a viable partner for Joan. It really just felt like the thesis: making a case for Nick! Lol. Anyway, it was entertaining enough and I will finish the series but I’m not convinced on Nick!!!!!! 😭
Graphic: Racism, Death, Violence, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Confinement
cardanrry's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Torture
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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
Something I appreciate is that Joan cares intensely for both Nick and Aaron without any attempts to frame it as a choice between two guys. So much is in flux, and their stories are so complicated that I could be happy with an end stage for the trilogy, where she’s together with either, neither, or both of them in some fashion. She cares about their well-being, but not specifically in relation to her. This is very obvious early on with Nick, where she’s been trying to stay away from him so he could have a normal human life, not a hero. For Aaron, she’s trying to understand his history, and why exactly he’s so hated. She seen good and bad sides of him in the previous timeline, but she finds him understandable and relatable in ways that are difficult to articulate to the others. Her efforts to convince Ruth of Aaron’s potential goodness are repeatedly stymied by Ruth’s loyalty as a Hunt, and by her insular tendencies, disliking the very idea of trusting members of other families.
I like Jamie and Tom as a couple. There’s a lot of care and attentiveness between them that comes through even though the narrative isn’t told from either of their perspectives. Jamie has the Liu power of remembering, which in his case means he remembers how he was tortured in the previous timeline. Tom doesn’t remember his own efforts get Jamie back, but he has lived with Jamie’s nightmares as they intensifying in step with what previous iterations suffered.
One of the nice things about a great book where only a handful of characters remember what happened in the previous one is that it’s very easy on me as a reader who read the first book a year ago. I vaguely remembered what happened in ONLY A MONSTER as I began NEVER A HERO, remembering the ending, who most of the characters were, and what was driving Joan. The timeline reset creates this interesting zone where someone who wanted to align more with Nick’s perspective could try starting with NEVER A HERO, but they wouldn't understand what Joann is talking about. This does mean that this is one of the few trilogies I’ve read where someone could have a good and interesting experience starting with book two, but it’ll be a fundamentally different kind of story experience.
The main mysteries left from ONLY A MONSTER are the identity of the villain who turned Nick into the hero, as well as the shape of her current plan. NEVER A HERO does a great job of answering both, with the characters piecing together their best understanding of what’s happening, and then eventually getting clarification during the villain speech. This is a new storyline from the previous book because the timeline change means their tactics and goals must be different. I’m not sure if anything is technically both introduced and resolved in this book, as the wobbly and overlapping nature of the narrative in the timeline means that things are answered which were questions in the first, and questions are raised here that have yet to be resolved. Joan’s narration is consistent with the first book, the biggest change is that unlike the first time, she already knows how monster powers work.
I loved everything about this! I became very emotionally invested to the point that it was stressful to read at times because I didn’t know how things would resolve. The ending works very well for the second book of three, and I want to know what happens next.
Graphic: Confinement and Kidnapping
Moderate: Grief, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Death, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Death of parent and Child death
amyslittlebooknook's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Kidnapping
Minor: Violence and Death of parent