A review by aglittercobra
Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

 ***5 Stars*** 

Overall, 

I received an audiobook of this from Netgalley and the first thing I can tell you is that it was long at 672 pages. I generally prefer to read longer books because I can read faster than I can listen. With that said I really enjoyed this book. It was incredibly original and interesting and pretty dark at times. It is a bit slow paced at parts and there are a lot of POVs with a lot of characters thinking and doing different things. This is where the audio really helped because the narrator did a phenomenal job of distinguishing between characters. 

It is kind of difficult to describe this book without adding any spoilers but I will give it a shot. The overall story takes place in the late 1800s, mostly in the UK but there is travel to the US and Asia. It consists of two young boys (talents) who are rescued by “detectives” who belong to a school in Scotland. The school is a refuge for Talents, that is the name given to people with unique abilities. Throughout the book the POV shifts from several adults and some of the children depending on what is happening. They are being chased by a bad guy who is a very strong talent and his motivations are unclear. The story does answer a lot of questions by the end but still leaves you hanging on what will happen next. I have seen some sources count this as dark academia, I would not. While there is a school it is barely a blip in the overall story. 

Narration 

The book was Narrated by Ben Onwukwe, who, like I said before did a phenomenal job. I listened to most of the book on 1.3x or 1.5x speed, and that has nothing to do with the narration, that is just my preference. If you like Audiobooks and are unsure of this book I would definitely recommend this audio, it was well done, I could (and did) listen to Bens voice for hours. 

Cover 

The cover is kind of plain and to be honest I am not sure why there is a raven (or crow?) on it. However, it does get the vibe of this book pretty well. 

Recommendation 

Please check trigger warnings before reading this book, there is some child abuse, racism and violence in this book and if that is not for you then I do not recommend it. For those who love original stories, and dark fantasy set in the real world I would recommend this to you. I hesitate to compare this book to others because in my opinion there really isn’t anything that comes close enough to it. I really loved this book, and I believe J.M. Miro plans on a trilogy, which I am excited about. 

 **I received an Audio ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my free and honest review. Thank you Flatiron Books and MacMillian Audio Production  for the opportunity to read this book.** #Ordinary Monsters #Netgalley 
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