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A review by asreadbykat
Only a Monster by Vanessa Len
3.0
True Rating: 3.75/5 Stars
Trigger/Content Warnings: Violence, Torture, Violent Conditioning
Overview: After having it on my shelves for months, I finally decided to read this in honor of pre-spooky season. I didn't have any real expectations for the book, so I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy it as much as I did. While by no means perfect (as evidenced by my rating), it was still a very enjoyable read and I definitely plan to read a sequel to see how the story continues.
What I Disliked:
The Main Romance
I have never, even as a pre-teen enjoyed Romeo and Juliet-style romances, and if I had been truly paying attention when I bought this book, I would have realized that's exactly what this romance was. It's made worse by the fact that, since the reader is dumped right in the middle of the romance, we don't really get to see the two interact before everything goes pear-shaped. It means that the romance doesn't really feel strong, and that I, as a reader, didn't really care about it. It also doesn't help that our monster heroine, Joan, has the opportunity to interact with someone else and by the end I was rooting for them more than the main pairing. The final nail in the coffin was the explanation for the main romance, which is also not my cup of tea. Readers less critical than I will probably not find this as big a problem, but considering this romance is part of the core story, I docked an entire star from my review because of it.
Shallow Exploration of Idea(l)s
The novel does a great job of introducing different moral and personal quandaries in our main character, which would do a great job of making the story more interesting -if they had been fully explored. The story is extremely fast-paced, which means we move from one scene to another quickly, with barely any time for Joan to truly get her thoughts together. So any time she really starts to think about her monster heritage and what it means about her family, we rush right on to the next scene before Joan can really question her feelings on it. Joan also never discusses her feelings on it with anyone other than the "hero," when having her confront one of the other monsters she knows would have been more interesting. Hopefully a sequel will solve this problem.
What I Liked:
The Worldbuilding/Lore
The author has created a truly interesting world. I like the idea of Joan's family and the others willingly calling themselves "monsters," and the use of their powers. I also enjoy that although all monsters can travel the same way, every family also has a different power, and those powers can always be misconstrued even by the families who use them. The author's attention to detail with her monsters and their world really is absorbing, and easily one of the best parts of the novel. Sadly it wasn't explored as much as I would have liked, but I'm hopeful a sequel will solve that problem.
Joan's Character
Joan is an extremely complex character. She's a rule-abider, a "goody two-shoes" who always tries to do what's right and tries to help others. So what happens when helping others means also hurting others? Joan's actions and choices always have that underlying complexity because of her own feelings and personal preferences, and it was heartbreaking to see her mourning her family while also being terrified of what she finds out about them. Again, these feelings aren't explored to their fullest in this first novel, but I'm looking forward to seeing if there's more in the future.
The Writing
An author's writing style can truly make or break a novel. No matter how interesting the plot and characters, it can be ruined by poor writing. Vanessa Len's writing is, luckily, very engaging. She knows when details are necessary and when to hold back. She allows our main character to be introspective without it going on too long. The writing itself is also easy to read, trying to tell a good story instead of trying to prove something or trying to sound "pretentious." I finished the book faster than I anticipated simply because the writing was so good I couldn't put the book down.
TL;DR: I'm personally not a fan of the main romance and wish some of the mentioned moral quandaries were developed more, but the writing, worldbuilding, and the main character herself helped me enjoy the book.
Trigger/Content Warnings: Violence, Torture, Violent Conditioning
Overview: After having it on my shelves for months, I finally decided to read this in honor of pre-spooky season. I didn't have any real expectations for the book, so I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy it as much as I did. While by no means perfect (as evidenced by my rating), it was still a very enjoyable read and I definitely plan to read a sequel to see how the story continues.
What I Disliked:
The Main Romance
I have never, even as a pre-teen enjoyed Romeo and Juliet-style romances, and if I had been truly paying attention when I bought this book, I would have realized that's exactly what this romance was. It's made worse by the fact that, since the reader is dumped right in the middle of the romance, we don't really get to see the two interact before everything goes pear-shaped. It means that the romance doesn't really feel strong, and that I, as a reader, didn't really care about it. It also doesn't help that our monster heroine, Joan, has the opportunity to interact with someone else and by the end I was rooting for them more than the main pairing. The final nail in the coffin was the explanation for the main romance, which is also not my cup of tea. Readers less critical than I will probably not find this as big a problem, but considering this romance is part of the core story, I docked an entire star from my review because of it.
Shallow Exploration of Idea(l)s
The novel does a great job of introducing different moral and personal quandaries in our main character, which would do a great job of making the story more interesting -if they had been fully explored. The story is extremely fast-paced, which means we move from one scene to another quickly, with barely any time for Joan to truly get her thoughts together. So any time she really starts to think about her monster heritage and what it means about her family, we rush right on to the next scene before Joan can really question her feelings on it. Joan also never discusses her feelings on it with anyone other than the "hero," when having her confront one of the other monsters she knows would have been more interesting. Hopefully a sequel will solve this problem.
What I Liked:
The Worldbuilding/Lore
The author has created a truly interesting world. I like the idea of Joan's family and the others willingly calling themselves "monsters," and the use of their powers. I also enjoy that although all monsters can travel the same way, every family also has a different power, and those powers can always be misconstrued even by the families who use them. The author's attention to detail with her monsters and their world really is absorbing, and easily one of the best parts of the novel. Sadly it wasn't explored as much as I would have liked, but I'm hopeful a sequel will solve that problem.
Joan's Character
Joan is an extremely complex character. She's a rule-abider, a "goody two-shoes" who always tries to do what's right and tries to help others. So what happens when helping others means also hurting others? Joan's actions and choices always have that underlying complexity because of her own feelings and personal preferences, and it was heartbreaking to see her mourning her family while also being terrified of what she finds out about them. Again, these feelings aren't explored to their fullest in this first novel, but I'm looking forward to seeing if there's more in the future.
The Writing
An author's writing style can truly make or break a novel. No matter how interesting the plot and characters, it can be ruined by poor writing. Vanessa Len's writing is, luckily, very engaging. She knows when details are necessary and when to hold back. She allows our main character to be introspective without it going on too long. The writing itself is also easy to read, trying to tell a good story instead of trying to prove something or trying to sound "pretentious." I finished the book faster than I anticipated simply because the writing was so good I couldn't put the book down.
TL;DR: I'm personally not a fan of the main romance and wish some of the mentioned moral quandaries were developed more, but the writing, worldbuilding, and the main character herself helped me enjoy the book.