Thanks to H&S for granting me access to this one. The premise of time travel and a monster protagonist is one of the strongest parts of this book, and it starts out strongly. Unfortunately I feel it loses its way for a good chunk of the book, picking up only at the end. Items were introduced as important to Joan (the key, the brooch) that would be immediately confiscated the next scene. We never met Conrad. Aaron's softening towards Joan came slightly out of nowhere.
I did appreciate the ending. Very Buffy season 2.
Overall, good premise that wasn't completely executed.

3.5* from me.

Headlines:
Families, rivarlty and time
Complex plot
So clever and twisty

I'm really impressed with this story that kept me gripped in a work week. I was eager to pick this up every evening. While it is a complex plot that builds and builds, it's not too heavy, if that makes sense.

Joan and the Hunt family were not the bunch of regular humans they seemed at first glance. The reader was quickly introduced to the concept of 'monsters' and it took a good portion of the book to find out why they earned that name. They weren't necessarily the kind of monstrostity I'd initally thought. Everything about how this concept, the world, the time and time jumps were constructed, was incredibly clever. I just went with the flow and found myself pretty enamoured with the creation.

Some of the characters were vile, especially in the earlier part of the story but there were many characters I came to love. June, the protagonist, was out of the loop in her new found power but she was quick to catch on. There was something unique about her amongst her kind because she looked at everything with fresh eyes and she wasn't overly bound by the rules or impossibilites; this idea fed into the plot well. I really came to like Aaron and Tom but I went back and forth over Nick; his story had so much to unpick.

This story felt very much like a YA fantasy thriller, lots of tension, peril, plot-puzzling and the hint of a triangle. I am so glad there's more to come from this world and characters, I'm ready to see things turned on their heads again.

Thank you to Hodder Books for the early review copy.

I really enjoyed this. After the very start which didn't quite work for me this settled into a interesting story of family, concepts of good and evil, predestination and time.

Joan was a bit reckless and impulsive but this kept the plot moving. I didn't find this predictable and I enjoyed the descriptions of real places. The London setting was strong, the relationships well defined and I was genuinely gripped and surprised at the ending.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

one of the best fantasy books i’ve ever read! When i started reading it I literally knew straight away that this was gonna be unputdownable and an instant favourite. Now i’ve got to sit in the corner crying waiting for the next book to come out… also Aaron and Nick.. i want them both

Only A Monster is the debut fantasy novel by Vanessa Len and I am completely addicted. I read it in two days, finding it very hard to put it down. Not only it’s very well-written, but there is magic, time-traveling, a protagonist who is not the hero of the story, and a hero who… I don’t know how to talk about him without spoiling. The plot is action-packed and intriguing, full of twists, and romance.

The protagonist is Joan, a sixteen-year-old who loves spending the summer with her mother’s family in London. She always thought they were a bit strange and eccentric. She also thought her grandmother joked when she called her a monster, but the night she shared her first kiss with the boy she’d been having a crush on all summer, she finds out that her grandmother wasn’t joking. She is really a monster, there are more monsters like her, and there is also monster slayer who won’t stop until he kills them all. The night ends deadly, but Joan is determined to change her fate and the fate of her family, no matter the cost.

This is a great debut novel. The characters are incredible. I really liked them… Joan, Ruth, Aaron… Joan is a fantastic protagonist. She’s a normal teenager who suddenly is thrown in a dangerous world where she has the fate of many people on her hands. She is torn between the love for her family and doing what’s right and not always she makes the right or wise choice.

The world-building is fascinating and very well-thought and the story is so engrossing that I didn’t even notice I was reaching the end. I am so happy that Only A Monster is the first of a trilogy because I can’t wait to go back to this world and see what happens next!

Thank you to @netgalley and @hodderbooks for giving me access to this book✨

“It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place.

But she soon learns the truth. Her family aren’t just eccentric: they’re monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And Nick isn’t just a cute boy: he’s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down.”

•Maybe my expectations for this book were a bit too high, or I am starting to outgrow my YA phase, sadly…
While I enjoyed it and gave it 3.5 stars, I was not fully convinced.

•The writing fell a bit flat for me, it was good and kept me entertained and wanting more however, it was not ground breaking, but that is only my opinion.

•I highly liked each of the characters and Aaron was easily my fave (who doesn’t like the “mean” one…). I took more interest in Aaron and his mysterious dark family and their past rather than our main character as I found some of her trials to be a bit "repetitive" unfortunately.

•I enjoyed the world building, the travelling and the different family powers. The dynamic between all of these elements truly is what kept me going for most parts as I was eager to discover more💛

•The ending ( no spoiler) I did not expect and to be honest I am not too sure what to make of it just yet🤔 It was different to most YA fantasy which I really appreciated but I will need a bit more time to have a proper opinion… But I need to keep in mind it is the first book of a trilogy :)

•I will definitely pick up the next book as I am really intrigued! While I was not fully convinced, a 3.5 star rating for me is still a good rating!

Only a Monster is the debut of Vanessa Len. It’s YA urban fantasy set in modern London about Joan, sixteen, who is spending summer with her maternal grandmother while volunteering at a manor house turned a museum. She has a huge crush on Nick, a fellow volunteer, but on the day of their first date something odd happens and she loses a whole day in a blink of an eye.

From her grandmother she learns that it’s because her family are monsters, people who can time travel by stealing time from humans. But before Joan can learn anything more, like how to do that and why they exist, the hero of the title butchers her entire family and some other monsters too. (It all happens within the first couple of chapters so it’s not much of a spoiler.)

The only survivors are Joan and Aaron from an enemy family of Joan’s, and she gets a crash-course on being a monster from him, like how the monsters are grouped into families with special abilities, and about safe places for all time travellers that seemed to exist outside time and be undetected by humans, though it wasn’t properly explained.

Since they can travel through time, Joan insists they go back and prevent the deaths from happening, but apparently that isn’t possible. She doesn’t believe Aaron, and sets out to do the impossible.

This was a good book. The idea of monsters was intriguing, though the world could have been explained a lot better. The story flowed in a brisk pace, and while it was highly illogical and at times felt like the author didn’t have a grasp on different timelines and people jumping in from whenever, it wasn’t anything I got stuck with. The narrative was a bit repetitive, some facts were told over and again, while some important plot points seemed to spring from nowhere. Joan was both utterly clueless and seemed to possess information she couldn’t possibly have, as if the author had forgotten that Joan was the narrator and not omniscient.

I did have issues with Joan who was irritating and too stupid to live. We get many hints of a mystery about her dead mother and a recurring nightmare for example, but her character and backstory remained annoyingly vague.

Why wasn’t Joan even a little curious about her family’s special skills? Why was she half-Malaysian, if that had no impact on her life as human or a monster? Couldn’t her unique skill have come from that side, for example? The monster families seemed fairly inbred, so it would’ve made sense, yet the father had been conveniently cleaned away from the story. And if her grandmother knew about her special skill, why had she kept the monsters a secret from her? The explanation about her being a half human wasn’t convincing. I think the story would’ve been stronger if Joan hadn’t been going into it blindly.

The side characters remained vague. I didn’t feel Nick as the love-interest, as Joan’s crush on him had happened before the book began and I only got to witness who he was now. Aaron would’ve had an interesting story that would’ve brought depth to the plot had it been woven into it for Joan’s purposes (couldn’t the prisoner have been the reason he was cast out from his family, for example?) But Joan isn’t even a little curious about him and his role remains that of a reluctant teacher. The pivotal character springs out of nowhere. I can only hope that he has a greater role in the upcoming books, because he was ill-served in this one.

The ending was satisfying and nothing I saw coming, despite the title of the book. It left Joan in a good place, if this remains the sole book in the planned trilogy, but the open questions and especially Aaron are reason enough to continue with the series.

What a great and unique story. I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to read anything else this author comes up with.

A masterful time travel story with a clever twist, this book grabbed me and would not let me go. At first I was merely intrigued by the concept but within the first few chapters I was wholly invested and could hardly bear to put it down until I reached the end.

This story cleverly subverts a lot of the YA fantasy/sci-fi tropes, in such a way that at first a lot of the story set up feels familiar, right up until it doesn't. I loved the way the author humanised the monsters, whilst never letting go of the fact that elements of their powers truly were monstrous. There was no clear delineation between good and evil, the monsters should have been the bad guys and yet the characterisation was so good that they didn't feel that way at all, meaning that when the true cost of their powers kept coming as a bit of a shock to me, time and time again.

The story was well-paced and gripping, and I raced to the end, which, without sharing any spoilers, managed to make me gasp out loud.

I will be waiting ever so keenly for the sequel, whenever it comes!

this book was a complete surprise. i did not expect to like it so much. the monster side of a story was an interesting idea but to see it done so well... i loved it. i also loved the romance, and the potential love triangle (and i usually don't like love triangles) because both sides were really fascinating. the only thing i did not like was how fast this book was, how can i wait for the next one? after that ending?

This book was one of my most anticipated releases of this year, and I'm grateful that it didn't disappoint! I had so much fun with this book!
I actually can't believe my luck. Last year, pretty much all of my anticipated fantasy releases were disappointing. But this year I'm actually quite enjoying these new releases. I've read three new releases so far, they're all fantasy, and they were all good? I can't believe it!

Anyway let's get to the story. so what's this about?

Basically the MC is running through time to fix a terrible accident, and in the mean time constantly meeting her ex who has killed a lot of people like her ( monsters ) and based on his own moral compass should probably kill her too, but sort of can't, because he's sort of in love with her and he's also sort of in denial about the said love. If that sounds interesting then you should really give this book a try.

My excitement for this book was mostly because of the promised angsty romance. But surprisingly, I ended up loving the author's take on time travel. So fun fact, I'm actually not a big fan of time travel trope. It's not that I have anything against this trope, it's just that its execution is almost always mediocre. I don't know how to explain it, in most time travel stories before this, I used to feel that there was something missing, except I couldn't say exactly what.

I think part of the reason that I liked this take so much was that all the rules around the whole time travel were so well-developed that they made it actually more believable. The other reason is of course, the emotional element. I feel like this aspect has been missing from pretty much most time travel stories that I've read or watched so far. You can't tell me that going back in time and seeing your loved ones who aren't quite the people you remember, isn't emotionally daunting. Worse yet, what if you get to see a loved one who is dead in your own time? and they don't know you yet? there is one particular story line that really touched me.

I just really really liked the whole world-building, magic rules and traditions of monster families.

Now let's address the elephant in the room. I think most of the hype around this book was because of the promised romance. I think the concept of lovers to enemies to lovers again is very cool and I think that's what the author is aiming for here. But if I'm being honest, I wasn't that crazy about the ship. I actually shipped her mostly with Aaron, but I'm fairly certain they won't be endgame.

Now don't get me wrong, the main ship isn't that bad. It's just that I like a slow-burn way more than soul-mates trope.
But they have their moments. the final scene between them is especially very good. And of course there's the angst. I liked the way they ran into each other through time, ( there is actually a good explanation for that ) and I also liked the final scene between them. I think that's the point when I got super invested, because I could see how much he'd changed.

Also, I have to mention this. Even though this is a series, the book has actually a very satisfying ending. This is something that I don't get with a lot of non-standalone books, given how much of them end on cliff-hangers, so I thought I should mention it!
Anyway, this book is great! It's a solid first book in what I'm hoping would be an amazing series. And I think if the synopsis interests you, you should definitely give it a try.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc!

This was great! I can’t wait for my copies to arrive so I can own this masterpiece. I do have a soft spot for monstrous main characters!

So so unbelievably good and heart wrenching. I don’t know if I have the words to explain how I’m feeling and what this book did to me.

This book breathes new life into the anti-hero theme by asking what happens when you are the monster in the story? What happens when your friends, family and loved ones are the ones being hunted? Sure you can be evil but still have love, empathy, compassion and general goodwill for your community. The Monsters in this book are very real and they feed off humans, but they aren’t purely evil - shades of grey, and entire families of them are being massacred by our Hero.

It is dark and twisty and takes you through the wringer in the best possible way. This is my favorite kind of YA. I absolutely loved it. I can’t say any more for spoilers but I can’t recommend it enough. If there are any negatives - it would be that it starts off a little slow and it felt like it would read young especially with the initial setting. I kept reading and next thing I knew I was 40% in and couldn’t put it down. I am thrilled it is a series as even though it’s not a cliff hanger there are a few open questions that are left hanging.

An amazing 4.5/5 stars - cannot wait for the next book.

How often have I found myself rooting for the monsters and the supposed villains of a story? How often have I said the words „cool motive, still murder“ and „wow I’d love to read that from the villain’s POV“? Well, with Only a Monster, my wishes seem to have been heard. Let’s see how I liked it, shall we?

Yes, my wishes have truly been heard. I got exactly the book I wished for. It’s a classic story of good and evil – or is it? It is, but we get it from the perspective of the monsters that makes the reader question: Who are the monsters, really? What defines as good or evil?

I ENJOYED

Only a Monster was fantastically written. Not only plot- or characterwise but also when it comes to morals and how we understand the world. It gives so much to think about. The monsters and what makes them monstrous were well thought out, the way time plays a role in it all was so interesting and had me glued to the pages while simultaneously keeping my brain in action, trying to keep everything I read inside it and to remember the important details.
The story is so complex and has so many facettes that it really keeps you on edge, throwing in twists and turns at every possible moment.

I also enjoyed the characters a lot. Especially Joan, the protagonist. She’s very smart with a big heart and a big dose of determination. She feels very strongly about what’s right and wrong but sometimes she also can’t help herself. She has flaws while also being good at what she does, even though she is sometimes too impulsive for her own good. I loved her narrative voice and how she sees the world and discovers that there is so much more to it than she thought.
Aaron I probably wouldn’t like much if I met him in person, but I enjoyed him as a character. There is so much potential to him, something he himself probably hasn’t realized yet. Sometimes he acts cowardly which Joan throws at him from time to time. Aaron’s sense of self preservation is quite high, and his flight or fight response is usually set on „flight“ but you know what? That also makes him cautious and since he is from a family of influence he also has a lot of knowledge.
I also liked Ruth, Joan’s cousin, and Tom, a companion they pick up along the way to help them in their quest. I really liked the group and their dynamics, the tentative trust, the caution but also the friendships developing.

And then there’s Nick. A hero. A monster of a whole other kind? Good? The whole time I was so torn between liking him and not liking him, I was torn between rooting for him and wanting something else. But to be truthful, I ended up liking him so much. Not only because he is very well written but I loved his goodness and how he couldn’t help but stay true to himself despite the struggles and the trauma he went and is still going through.

I DID NOT ENJOY

I don’t know??? I enjoyed the book from start to finish and just want more of it.

Everything about Only a Monster was just amazing. The characters, the concepts of time and space, the discussions about monsters and heroes. While these things shine through during the story, the book really made me wonder how monsters are defined. Especially when it’s someone else defining you. I really liked how Vanessa Len plays with morals and the understanding of good and bad and grey zones and mixed all that with a lot of action, magic and a romance. Only a Monster is a truly wonderful book and I can’t wait for more of it because there are still secrets and unsolved mysteries I need an answer to.

Drop everything you are doing, because you need to read the outstanding Only A Monster, debut YA fantasy from Vanessa Len. In a book world where we are deluged by YA fantasy books it takes a lot to stand out, but this book swings and knocks it out of the park.

Only A Monster plunges you straight into the action of its time travelling monsters, mysterious families, hidden secrets, prophesised hero’s, magical markets, and a dose of Romeo and Juliet-esq romance. You won’t be able to put this book down. Vanessa Len does an awesome job creating a world that is stunningly unique and packed full of strong, diverse characters and a spectacular new protagonist in Joan
I loved the unique spin on the Monster vs Hero trope. It poses a moral conundrum, setting the reader lots of questions. What constitutes a Hero? Can a Monster still be good if what they are doing is inherently bad?’ and ‘Can a hero be good if what they are doing is bad?’. Interesting stuff.

A book to be devoured. Pure YA Fantasy class. 5 out of 5

Thanks to Hodder and Stoughton and Vanessa Len for my advanced copy in exchange for my review.
I loved this book! So many of my favourite things in one place, angst, enemies to lovers, time travel, and all the things that make me adore YA so much. Cannot wait for the next book!

A fast-paced twIsting turning time travel dark romantic fantasy.

This was an unexpected and super easy read. At first, I was a bit unsure about the writing, as I wasn't used to such an easy-reading style. The sentences are all pretty short and simple, but that just means that this book would make a great transition read from Middle Grade to Young Adult, with romantic, finding-out-who-you-are themes, with a dark side, but with no real adult content beyond a few swear words.

As soon as Joan leaves her home, the setting of the main character set-up, the plot soon took over, I loved the idea of the time travel, and hidden London, and the author avoided many of the more obvious cliches that I had thought were coming, and really explored the hero-villain dynamic. There was magic, monsters, murder, and mayhem, forbidden romance, and even time for a heist, and a mystery to solve. There were unexpected shocks, some slightly more expected plot twists, and a slow-burn gentle romance, that again did not veer into the overly obvious enemy-to-lover trope.

I can't wait for the next instalment!

I was looking forward to read this book as the storyline about villains and timetravel sounded unique and intriguing.
The book was certainly worth a read. The concept is interesting and the characters likable. However, the storyline remained shallow and the characters lacked depth. The "epic" time defying love story was not quite belivable or at least failed to convey the feeling to me. The concept of the story and the promise of this new world is much more interesting than the execution in this book, but maybe there is more to come.

Thank you hodderscape for the ARC. I recieved it through NetGalley in return for my honest review.*

Only A Monster by Vanessa Len will literally take you back in time. I mean it not just in the plot per se, but because the vibe of the writing feels very similar to the YA books of early 2010s.

Here we follow a girl, who will find out she was actually something else (other than human), and that she will be in absolute danger without knowledge of the world, so the whole journey will be her finding out more about the other she wasn’t told about. Plot seems familiar? Well, here’s how it’s different.

IT HAS LOVERS TO ENEMIES, AND ENEMIES TO FRIENDS TO LOVERS(?). I have to hype this up because it’s literally what kept me going when I read it. The first chapters were hell, but when this info was given, I couldn’t stop reading anymore. So bad, though, that I was a little disappointed. I mean, yes, it was a new thing for me in YA (I haven’t read much of these tropes I’m sorry), but this book’s worldbuilding was sloppy. It’s like it spent more time building up a world (for future sequels maybe?) and forgot to actually work on the plot.

The way things ended also wasn’t satisfying at all. There was so many info I stored and for what cause? Most of them didn’t even come up. There were really ups and downs in the writing too, some parts boring some not.

I do admire the main character for not giving up on her family. However, nah, it just wasn’t a good trip over all, in my opinion. It could’ve been better too if the romance part didn’t feel squeezed. If this is going to be a series, of course. But if it’s a stand-alone, then it’s just good. However, if it is in fact, a standalone, I’d rate it lower because of that messy plot (I’ll research before posting this review I swear).

Final verdict: 2.5 stars. There were good times, but over-all, disappointing.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton in the UK for the chance to review this book. Rest assured, this does not affect my thoughts and my opinions are my own.

i think my taste for YA fantasy has been mostly spent, because while there's nothing objectively bad about this book, the characters are solid, the plot is brisk, i just couldn't get into it fully. a 3.5 rounded up