Winter is definitely hibernation weather so if you are looking for a fun, action packed fantasy thrill of a book to hunker down with, then I highly recommend Never A Hero from Vanessa Len.

The first book Only A Monster introduced us to Len’s crazy world of ‘Monsters’ and ‘Heroes’ and the brilliant protagonist Joan. At the end of the first book Joan made some sacrifices to save her family and friends, but in doing so sacrificed her own happiness. In this sequel those choices come back to haunt her.

This book is a non-stop fantastical ride, packed with originality. If you love time travel, secret family clans with their own mysterious powers, brilliant twists, heart wrenching decisions and healthy doses of romance then this is the book for you.

I couldn’t put the first book down and I’m glad to report that this is equally a page turner that made my fingers ache. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of five.

“𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚎𝚜. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛.”

💛💛💛💛/ 5

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Review:
Only a Monster was one of my top reads of 2022 so I absolutely leapt at a chance to be given an opportunity to receive an ARC of the incredible sequel!

I love how we got to remeet all my favourite characters, we got to see a deeper lever of them all and there is so much character growth for them all. I adore Joan and Aaron so so so much and I will FOREVER ship them🥹

I think about Only a Monster a lot, it lives rent free in my brain, I was really nervous that Never a Hero wouldn’t meet my expectations, but it absolutely blew my mind and had me shouting to myself in the bathroom while I watered my plants! The level of angst in this book was incredible, the journey Joan goes on regarding her relationship and feelings for both Nick and Aaron was incredible and I hope book 3 brings the story to the ending I’m praying for!

The ending absolutely blew my mind and now I shall be impatiently standing by my inbox waiting for book 3 to come out! I absolutely love Vanessa’s writing style and I absolutely devour anything she writes!

I honestly can’t say anymore without spoilers and this is a book EVERYONE NEEDS to read! It truly is incredible!

For lovers of:
- Chinese MC
- YA Fantasy
- Time Travel
- Historical London Setting

Never A Hero is the sequel to Vanessa Len’s incredible debut, Only A Monster, and follows Joan as she deals with the aftermath of unravelling the timeline to save her family in book one. Stuck with the painful memories of the previous timeline and her love and friendship for both Nick and Aaron, Joan is forced to dive back into the monster world and once again fight against the clock to save both her family and the world before everything descends into even greater unforeseen chaos.

Somehow, I think this book might be even better than the first. I adore Joan as a protagonist, and the story was just as fast-paced as I hoped, diving straight back into the monster world and re-visiting the characters that I loved so much in book one. The world is so unique that it’s become one of my favourite recent fantasy universes, and I’m so impressed that I fell even more in love with it in the second book.

Vanessa Len’s writing is completely captivating, and I found myself unable to put this down as soon as I started it. I’m upset that this duology is over but so satisfied with its conclusion, and I can’t wait to read anything at all the author writes next.

I was excited to read this after the cliff hanger in only a monster. And oh my gosh, i loved this book even more than the first one. the twists and characters and the story itself. eagerly waiting for the next one.

In Never a Hero, Joan, being half human and half monster, grapples with the expectation to align with a specific side. However, the complexity arises as compelling reasons exist on both fronts. Her naivety regarding Nick’s transformation into a human is evident, especially considering his dark past. Joan’s expectation for others to readily accept and assist Nick, despite his previous atrocities, appears insensitive. However, I believe that the people should acknowledge her inexperience with time travel and the intricacies of the monster world. Her trust in Nick’s change also showed an optimistic side that the jaded wouldn’t have.

A developing love triangle emerges as Joan reunites with Aaron and Nick. Since I’m not a huge fan of a love triangle, I’ll refrain from taking a stance about Joan, Aaron, and Nick. Regardless, I’ll be waiting to see how Vanessa Len wraps this up.

Never a Hero proves thoroughly entertaining as Vanessa Len delves into the histories of different families, explores characters beyond initial expectations, and gradually unveils the motives of the villain. Post the unmaking of Nick, Joan grapples with the burden of remembering the past timeline, facing guilt and pain as she realizes the consequences of her actions. Meanwhile, the world seems relentless in pulling her and Nick back together.

The shocking ending adds another layer to the narrative. The revelation of the villain’s relationship with one of the characters is unexpected, and Vanessa Len skillfully ties it into the unfolding story. I appreciated the nuanced portrayal of the villain’s end goal, acknowledging the bittersweet nature of their actions. The conflicting emotions arise from understanding the trauma-driven motive while simultaneously recognizing the potential doom it poses to the world.

Overall, the review successfully captures the multifaceted nature of the characters and the intricate plot twists in Never a Hero. I need more information of the finale as soon as possible, this ending just left me dangling.

For those seeking a time-travel, urban fantasy experience with endearing characters, abundant action, mischief, and more, Never a Hero is a must-read. Unlike the pitfalls of second-book syndrome, this instalment is a thrilling and angst-filled ride, and the concluding chapters left me in awe. I wouldn't hesitate to delve into five more books in this series if Len chooses to continue expanding this captivating world.

Only A Monster was a middle of the road book for me, I wasn't crazy for it but it was definitely far from the worst book I've ever read, so I was a bit unsure and on the fence about this series when I started Never A Hero, but thankfully I really enjoyed it. I grew to love the characters a lot more as this book went on. Would recommend.

Never a Hero was a decent sequel, but ultimately fails to live up to the magic created by its predecessor.

At the time of writing this review, I finished Never a Hero almost 3 months ago. It was never my intention to leave this so late, but I was on holiday when I finished and after that, life got in the way. Unfortunately, over this time, my feelings towards this book have grown more... lukewarm. Also because it's been so long, this review probably won't be overly long or specific!

I liked spending more time with Joan and being back in the Monster world - if I'm honest, the worldbuilding was probably my favourite part of the first book, and that was definitely true here as well.

I really didn't like the way the romance subplot went, however. Granted, I should have seen it coming, given how much this book goes on (and on, and on, and on) about how Joan and Nick are fated to be together, but I was really rooting for Aaron (who was just... super poorly treated here) to win out. I can't understand why Joan and Nick are so desperate to be together. As other reviews - and the book itself - have pointed out, each time they try to be together, disaster happens. Surely they just need to accept that and move on? I'm all for a ship trying to beat the odds but it seems like the universe is trying to tell them something here!

I'm also not the biggest fan of Nick as a character. I liked him a little (a very, very little) bit more going into Never a Hero, having done a reread of the first book prior to starting, but I would have much rather Aaron been the primary/endgame love interest.

Generally, Never a Hero also suffered from slow pacing in parts and not having as many key plot points. I totally understand it's a character-driven series, but I was at least hoping for something more than what we got (which was basically just a big reveal at the end).

Overall, despite much of this review being negative, I had a decent time reading this instalment. Perhaps that was the excitement of reading a highly-anticipated release, who knows. Even though it's been months since I read Never a Hero, I still don't know if I'm going to read the third and final book in the series. I might, just to see how it all plays out, but I definitely won't be adding the Only a Monster series to my all-time favourites list. Given how much I absolutely adored the first book, I'm incredibly disappointed.

Thank you to Hodderscape for sending me an eARC via Netgalley!

↠ 3 stars

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this advanced copy.

It was good. Even better than the firt book

This plot was so thick it was like cement - I felt instantly pulled back into this twisted world and I really felt that our characters flipped a massive 180 in this! I adored how it was filled with intricate twists and turns, each character felt like they had their own motive and had massively developed from the first book. I enjoyed the weaving of timelines and I just can't even explain the way I felt about Nick in this story... Aaron however... Well, lets not! Next book please?!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for this honest review.

It took me a while to get around to this, but i really enjoyed reading it. It was an amazing sequel to a book I already enjoyed, so i went in with pretty high expectations and i did not feel let down. Especially towards the ending.

3.75 stars
Such an action-packed addictive sequel! I enjoyed this book even more than the first and I can't wait to read the next to find out how things will end. The tension built between the characters was great (I am still such an Aaron
fan though), the plot interesting and complex, and I loved the layered discussion of morality.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Hodder & Stoughton for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

TW: death, violence, mind control, racism, injury

“Never A Hero” carries on from the first book “Only A Monster” at a breakneck pace, continuing the story of Joan in the aftermath of her return to the present. Now that Nick, the boy she loved but who was the villain of her world, no longer remembers her and the events of the first book only exist in Joan’s memory, she’s starting to struggle to cope with the knowledge that her entire family was dead in her world. At the same time, her powers yearn to throw her back through time, even though she knows the difficulty of making it back. However, after Joan is attacked and Nick is caught up in the crossfire it becomes clear that it isn’t all over, especially when Aaron (her inherent enemy turned friend and possibly more, who remembers nothing) is the one hunting her down. Going on the run, Joan tries to hide the truth from Nick while also learning more secrets about the kind of monster she’s supposed to be, even as she gathers former allies together to face this new threat, despite none of them remembering it.

This book kicks off immediately, bringing us alongside Joan as she struggles to adapt to living in a world where her memory is a liar. Having escaped with her life in book one at the cost of her family, she can no longer look at them without seeing their deaths, so she’s been avoiding that part of her life the best she can. Likewise, her relationship with Nick is entirely different- here he never lost everything, so we see a lighter side of his personality missing from his character earlier. I didn’t hugely enjoy their romance in the first book but here it’s more appealing, especially because we’re seeing another aspect of him and a greater depth. Aaron was my favourite character in the first book and he doesn’t disappoint here either- he’s a hardened soldier hunting Joan down for his father, showing none of the kindness shown when he and Joan worked together earlier; all of their scenes were my favourites, especially the one where Joan explained about their history. I could genuinely read an entire book about them. I loved the theme of memory and the impact it can have on the only person who recalls it, while also raising strong questions about what it means to be a monster and what makes a person good. This series uses multiple timelines and time travel so well, weaving together a thrilling adventure mixed with romance and identity. I can’t wait for the third book to see what comes next, especially after that ending!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Len has created a really interesting world for this series, and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book. Her concept of 'monsters' is pretty unique, and the ability it gives her to question the assumptions of good and evil, hero and villain, makes for a very thought-provoking read, though she keeps the narrative driving throughout. I definitely didn't see the twist at the end coming! I also think the love triangle element is well-handled without getting too OTT (though maybe it will in the final chapter!).

*Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape and NetGalley for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review.*

I really loved this book although I think that I liked the first one better. Never a hero was a little repetitive at some point and I felt that at some point it dragged. Other than that it was really good and I love Vanessa Len's writing style, so I definitely want to read anything she writes.

Do you know when you are a little scared to read book 2 because you loved book 1? Well this book did not disappoint in the slightest! If you have not read these books yet then do it! Desperate for the new one!

Talk about a sequel that is action packed from start to finish. With second books in a trilogy, there's always a fear it'll be a bit of a filler. A one step forward three steps back, but that is so far from the case for Never a Hero. This sequel is thrilling and had me screaming at the ending. Seriously. Wait with me in my angst bubble when you're done ok? First of all, I love Joan. I'd fight for her and with her. The grief and loss she feels combined with the isolation, makes my heart weep.

There's this distance between her life, her home, her family, her friends, and what she sees everyday. Haunted by these memories, nothing will ever be the same for Joan. And this introduces one of the main themes: who we are. When we become someone else, have different experiences, who do we become? Is there a shred of us, a universal piece of us, that remains?

Ich habe die Geschichte sehr gemocht. Es war einfach zu lesen und man war sehr schnell in der Geschichte gefangen. Absolut empfehlenswert.

Definitely recommend this book. I cant wait for more from this author. Five stars all the way!!!!!!!

After the dramatic finale of Only a Monster, Joan’s life seems to return to normal. Her family is alive and well, but she is the only one to remember the other timeline and the dangers still threatening her world. Moreover, she cannot stop herself from observing Nick, who is now an average teenager and treats her as a stranger. When a dangerous turn of events brings Joan and Nick back into the monsters’ world, they become fugitives, hunted by a group led by Aaron...

Never a Hero was a thrilling and captivating read. The pace is fast, and this novel has twists and surprises. I loved how Joan’s character developed, and watching her deal with the consequences of her actions from the first book was sometimes painful but always fascinating. The book also adds to the world-building, giving us more details about different monster families and history. All that was delivered in a form that made me even more interested in Joan’s story. I was also happy to see more of Jamie Liu, who became one of the favourites in Only a Monster despite his brief appearance. The romantic theme made me smile while reading, as I realised that Joan thought only of Nick while travelling with Aaron, and now she misses Aaron when Nick is at hand. And let me admit that I adored some of the Joan and Aaron scenes later in the book.
Thank you, NetGalley and publisher, for providing the arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.