Joan is the only person who remembers that her boyfriend killed her family for the crime of being monsters. But her work isn't over - by changing the timeline, she has potentially caused even more death and has a target on her back.

Like with the first book, I have a lot of questions about the world building (to be expected with this amount of time travel!). However, that doesn't detract from an excellently written fantasy with characters I adore (Aaron > Nick). And after that ending, I cannot wait for the next book!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

This sequel was WORTH the wait! 🤩
SO SO good!
The story starts off with Joan watching Nick, a different Nick, a Nick that doesn't remember her. Something draws them together though and what Joan did catches up to her. Her destroying the human protector, the Hero, had consequences and soon she and Nick are yanked back into the Monster world.
This time Aaron is after her, on behalf of the Monster Court. Nick doesn't understand a lot of things and it kinda broke my heart that he went from a bad@ss who could kill Monsters to a normal human who was weak against them. And yet....the Monsters feared him. It was a fascinating paradox.
Truths come out and the answer to Joan's forbidden/different power is revealed! Those chapters had me like....what?! 🙀
Only thing I didn't like was....Joan. I don't hate her but I couldn't stand how she was treating Nick even though he proved trust worthy again and again, never reacting the way she expects and pretty calm in spite of everything done to him. Nick though, I absolutely LOVED 😍
I know I'm in the minority here but I'm a huge Nick fan 😂 He's just so....complex and good and tough and...perfect haha
Joan's choices just make things worse even though she's trying to save everyone and now Nick made a choice that affects them all and we are left with a timeline once again needing fixing.
The plot twists! The descriptions! The Monster lore! The action! The struggles and emotions evoked.....this book was just EPIC! Absolutely worth the wait. Can't wait for book 3 🤩

Wow wow wow, that ending!! I need the next book right now. Expected publication is 2024…. It better be summer ‘24 (or earlier of course!) because I can’t wait another year and a half like I did last time.

The book started a bit slow compared to what I remembered from the first book. However I was drawn in again and especially around the 60% mark it started to get difficult to put the book down. The last 20% or so was even better and I just wanted to keep on reading and reading. And now I need to next book haha. Just like the first book we got a pretty mindblowing ending, although this one was less surprising.

A big part of this book was Joan convincing people of something they had done or said in the previous timeline. This made for some really emotional moments. And while I do think the first half of the book was a bit slow, I also think that made for a bigger payoff in the end. We’re learning more about the world and meet some new families with powers we hadn’t seen before. I always love that.

My favorite characters were back and they had some great moments. In my review of Only A Monster I said I didn’t think my ship would be endgame but after this book I’m feeling a bit more hopeful. Even though there are big hints that point the other way I’m holding out hope!

i loved the first book and fell completely for the story so i had very high expectations for the sequel and it blew my mind cause after finishing it in 12 hours i just wanted book 3

The book one left us with so many questions and theories to ramble and so many new things are told here!!

I love the universe that the author created, i have read many books but the plot and characteristics here are so unique and different
Vanessa Len tell me your ways shjejejejdr cause this blew my mind

As for characters, i loved them for the most part but at certain times Joan annoyed me but i guess that supports the plot as well and for my bbg Aaron, i just wanna hug him and keep in my pocket and massive. At the end all the characters are beautifully written with the lil flaws, strengths and morals making them well rounded. Even the new characters and their actions felt so justified ( if u read it uk who i am talking abt) and it was so good to read about my babies again!!!

So yes read this book or I'll make you!!/j
And now I die again waiting for third book

I. Am. Conflicted……

In the absolute BEST way possible!😍

This book had me tearing up, laughing, frowning with questions, and smiling! I loved all of the characters to begin with. Yes, I had my favorites-as well all do-but I will not lie….it got tricky sometimes on staying or even WANTING to choose a “side.”

Because I just want happiness for ALL!

Minus the villain of course….

Which leads me to the next point: This series overall is a GREAT example of how “monsters” and “humans”, “good” and “evil” are not easily described as they are spelled. There’s so much more, so much backstory on both sides. If we really think about it—deep dive and make it personal—it’s exactly like real life. Through this YA fantasy series—this second book—we get those feelings. We get to see the reasons behind it all. All while being able to breeze through the story and keep searching for answers when twists and turns are revealed!

In Never a Hero, we are able to dive deeper into the world and where things are happening. It was just enough to give us a vision-a throwback-into the past while not making it too complicated or forcing all of our minds to hold the same image.

The pacing was a bit slow at the start of book two. However, I can not, will not, complain about it! Because in those slow moments, I was able to take in several of my favorite characters and be torn and pulled apart all over again by reminders of the first book and what was/is to come! The pacing also took advantage of being able to introduce us to new characters and plot twists to-of course-leave us wanting more!

The characters are evolving; the story is taking full shape. And our hearts are bracing themselves for impact!

Mine certainly is! 🥹

Thank you Vanessa Len so much for this book that STILL has me torn😭 (In the best way possible!)
And thank you to NetGalley for allowing me this opportunity to read this FANTASTIC piece of work before it officially comes out August 29, 2023!

This book is high stakes throughout and very well paced. The last 20% of the book is nail-biting and that’s all I’m going to say about that.
In this instalment secrets are revealed but we are also left needing more. I’m definitely invested and need book three now.
The memory loss everyone suffers due to the timeline change, apart from Joan, causes much angst, which I love a bit of! There’s more of both Nick and Aaron and I’m still not sure who I prefer. Great character development is seen in everyone, which you don’t always get in a YA.
Aside from the characters London is portrayed so well in the different timelines and this really adds to the book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an E-ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Spoiler Free Review

I didn't expect Never A Hero to be this good. Once again, Len's writing is superb and amazing.

Following Only A Monster, Joan is suddenly a fugitive and must now figure out how to fix everything as well as save everyone she loves.

Perfect for fans of enemies to lovers, enemy soulmates, time travel and race against time situations.

When I read only a monster, I was heartbroken about how it ended and really enjoyed the idea of timey wimey stuff and Never a hero does not disappoint with where it left off in the first book, we get to see Joan, Nick and Aaron navigate the world that Joan herself created with the events that happened in the first book, how do they deal with it. The answer not well, because they begin to realise that even when something has been done to prevent people together, they still find their way into each other’s lives. Is this something we would call Fate?
This book was tension filled with the same amount of pace and intrigued as the first one did but I feel that at times it was ramped up in this one and you were at times confused just like the characters what was going on. I will say I cried a couple of times in the book because I felt what Joan went through especially at the beginning of the book and how she is struggling with what she had happened in the last year where she is the only one who remembers it.
It also asks many questions about time, how one moment changes and creates multiple timelines except for the main timeline and how people who are meant to be together in the timeline we come together all the time and there is no way of stopping it from happening. I am now waiting for the third book because I need to know what is going to happen. Are the two who are meant to be together going to be together and okay because I will be really upset if they do not end up together in the end after all they have been through in multiple timelines.
If you enjoyed the first book you will love this one and I cannot wait to be able to discuss this with others because it is something I am glad, I picked up and then got so engrossed in it.

Best book I've read all year.

It's hard for me to find a book series where I find the second book better than the first one, because when I really like a book one my expectations gets higher, but this book was the exception.

This book is perfection, the pace, the world building, and my favorite thing, the characters. I think the characters are so well written, so complex, you can see how all of them play an important role in the story.

And finally I want to talk about the magic system, I think is so original, we got to see it on the first book but on this sequel you can fill all the question you might have had and complements it beautifully.

Thank you so mych Vanessa Len, Hodderscape and Netgalley for letting me read a ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.

Beautiful writing , the world building is as perfection and the live triangle will forever me my favorite 😍 the cover is gorgeous, she really gave us some great characters, their development and depth were really put together. Also , team Aaron !

“The monster world was full of wonders. But it was as terrible as it was beautiful.”
.
Never A Hero is the sequel to Only A Monster and as that was one of my favourite reads last year I was so excited for the sequel and it did not disappoint!
.
The book starts a little while after the events of the end of book one and we start to see the consequences of Joan’s actions and how it is caused unknown changes in the timeline and how everyone she knows has been affected by it.
.
Then Joan and Nick are attacked and all hell breaks loose. Poor Joan and the rest of the gang do not get a moment of rest for this whole book as things progressively get worse for them on their hunt for answers and evading being captured buy the “monsters” that are hunting them.
.
We meet all the characters we knew in the first book but because of the timeline change they are different too and don’t remember what happened before Joan changed the timeline so it was interesting to see these characters that are the same but also different and Vanessa wrote this really well.
.
I felt Joan’s anguish and pain at the people she has come to love and trust but they aren’t the same so she has to tread a careful path and also relearn if she can trust them.
The way I was stressed at Aaron being different and not knowing Joan especially after I loved him in book 1 but it was still interesting to read this version of him.
.
The ending and revelations had me shook even though I had sort of figured some things out and then we are left with THAT ending and now I am once again in pain and desperately waiting for the next book
.
If you haven’t read these books I highly recommend them! Fast paced and action packed and you will absolutely not be able to put the book down!
You get the “monster” pov, morally grey characters, time travel and found family!

Adored the first one and this one is just as good! The concept is still so refreshingly original and I can’t wait to get my special edition I pre ordered, as I know this would be great!

This was fantastic, probably the best second book in a trilogy I've read in a long time. It kept my reading non-stop, the tension, the stakes so high from the beginning that I couldn't stop reading. The revelations, seriously I didn't see that coming, I spent all the book predicting the ending and when I wasn't entirely wrong, I just couldn't have ever imagined the actual facts. The ending left me literally wishing I was a monster, so I could still someone time to travel to the future to read the next book right now. 
The characters' development was fantastic, counting they are the same old friends from book one, but at the same time they are not the same. I wished to have seen more Aaron in the book, but the wait for him is worth it. And you get to fall in love with this version of Nick, too. And it was so interesting to see the tables turned where the one who was the "good guy" is now the "bad guy" and the "bad guy" is the "good guy" now. 
I said this before in the review of only a monster, I am very picky with my time travel, most stories with it are disappointing to me, but much like Dr. Who this story is complicated and intricate enough to be top-notch time travel.

I received a free e-arc and free audio arc from Netgalley all opinions are my own.

This review will contain some spoilers, so read with caution.

I really liked Only A Monster and was so happy and excited to be approved for the sequel!

I honestly have so many thoughts to this book, but I will try not to make it too spoilery.

I really enjoyed the audiobook. I really like Vera Choks voice. I liked the different voices she made for the characters. I don't have anything bad to say about the audiobook, it's so good, and I would definitely listen to it again. It's captivating and really pulled me in!

I still really enjoyed the writing style.
I love the time travel system, it's honestly so cool. Especially when the different timelines appear ect.

I was really annoyed with Joan. Her family died in the first book, and she managed to get them back. But then she just ignores them instead of spending time with them. I was like girl you got your family back, and you're wasting it!!

Also it really annoyed me that she didn't tell Nick anything. If she had told him things from the start instead of keeping the past from him, then he wouldn't have mistrusted her!
I understand it's all for the plot. But come on, don't keep secrets that's literally the worst thing you can do!

I absolutely love Aaron and I really hope that Joan ends up with him, but I'm most likely wrong..
Nick is just boring..

I really liked the adventure and all the characters.
The plot twist had my mouth gaping. I REALLY didn't expect that!!

Also the ending had me!! I'm really looking forward to the next book!!!

DNF at 50%.

This book takes place quite soon after the events of book one, but I feel like a lot of things that happened in the first book weren't really addressed in this book, and if they were, they were just sort of glossed over.

As with the first book, I really enjoyed the concept of this story and the world, and I tried so hard to love it, but ultimately, the execution was lacking, and I realised this book wasn't for me, so I decided not to keep reading. I found myself getting bored and I realised halfway through that I simply didn't care enough about the characters of the plot to keep reading.

I know that all of this may sound harsh, but it's really not a bad book! The writing was solid, and I can definitely see the author's potential. I just don't think that this book was the right fit for me.

Headlines:
Time jump complexity
Making and unmaking
Who can be trusted

I’m still processing this fast paced and gripping sequel to Only a Monster and I’ve written myself some notes for when I jump into the final instalment because this was rather complex in terms of plot. Joan and her world of monsters hidden from humans and the timeline focus took on a further depth with multiple time jumps while meeting different people (friends and foes) in those times.

Nick was back and I never settled around him because of his previous actions, nor do I think the reader was meant to settle. There were so many characters I was suspicious of and a few solid companions I trusted. I was longing for the reconnection with Aaron. I missed Joan’s sense of family in this book but there was a reason for that which was revealed.

Some of the twists were pretty unexpected especially towards the end. Joan was left in a position of great difficulty with people looking to her for solutions. I am looking forward to seeing where the next and final (I think) book goes. I will be ready with full concentration for this clever world.

Thank you to Hodderscape for the review copy.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Never a Hero is the second book in the Monsters trilogy and one of most anticipated books of the year. Defiantly worth the 4 Stars.
I don't want to give too much of the story away as I feel you need to experience not knowing anything. This book brings back everyone from the first book though they're not the same thanks to the ending of the first. In Never a Hero we get to see Joan trying to carry on her life as best as she can after the events of the first one with no one but her remembering what happened. She has a lovely run in with the monster court at a bakery she works at where Joan ends up on the run with Nick with Aaron leading the 'monster' hunt. This book was definitely more Nick focused but after getting so much Aaron in the first one I get it. I have no guesses on the direction Vanessa will take with this love triangle thing going on but I'm excited to find out.

Overall thoughts.
Felt like some parts were a little slow but 90% of it was fast paced and kept me guessing a lot.
I don't think there's a main character I hated. They all brought something to the story and I love how they all made an appearance. Special shout out to Frankie; she deserves all the treats.
One of my favourite series and I hope we don't have to wait too long for the third book.

Thanks to Hodder and Stroughton and Netgalley for this ARC.

One of the things I like most about vanessa is that she is able to satiate both readers with a preference for fantasy with romance and those for whom romance is often overdone in fantasy (as is my case). It's paradoxical since the conduit of these books is Joan's love for Nick, but the setting and plot are so good that the romance takes a back seat.

On the negatives: I didn't like this Nick, if I'm honest. I found him to be very
"zombie" or "bloodless", very passive. I missed more interaction from Ruth. I feel like Joan doesn't evolve, in fact, I felt the opposite of an evolution in this book. From the cover I thought she would pick up more steam but I was wrong.

Despite this I really enjoyed the book, and it is worth going back into the London of monsters that Vanessa creates, with an interesting system that explodes even more in this book and even with surprises.

The ending is so ASFFGSJH and sets expectations high for the end of this trilogy that looks like it will (finally) get very epic!!!

I was late to the Only a Monster fan club, but I am so glad I joined! Never a Hero blew me away, and I was so excited to dive into the monstrous timeline once again with Joan. This book picks up a few months after the first one, and we find Joan reeling from the events from Only a Monster!


Vanessa Len is such a great storyteller, weaving an intricate and mind-boggling world crafted from layers of time. It's mind-blowing how we get to experience the same characters, but in completely different roles, with slightly altered personalities, and at various points in their lives.


The twists and turns keep coming, introducing us to new enemies, reconnecting with old acquaintances, losing dear friends, and gaining new ones. I rode every emotional wave Joan feels, and it's a wild adventure. Seriously, I wish I could sneak a peek into Vanessa Len's brain to understand how they keep it all together!


This book hooked me in emotionally, especially with all the angst and pining. The struggle of forgetting someone and the romantic tension are so well done, leaving me wondering where it'll all lead. Nick, Joan, and Aaron are fantastic characters, and although Nick is great, I can't help but root for Aaron! The love triangle-esque trope is done so well and while a small part of the plot it really adds to the story, it’s got purpose.



Joan's growth throughout the story is remarkable. They face immense struggles and trauma, they really find their strength and step in to their power in this book! 


There's not even a hint of second book syndrome here. I was glued to the pages, so much so that I consumed both the audiobook and the text in just one week! The audio book was fantastic- I really enjoyed the narration and as someone who listens at 2x speed and above it was so clear to follow. 



The ending was so good, but what was that cliffhanger! I'm eagerly anticipating the final book in this trilogy, but saying goodbye to this world may break my heart!

My thanks to Hodder and Stoughton, Netgalley, and Vanessa Len for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

What can I say about this book? I genuinely loved every second of it. I was hooked on Joan’s story in Only a Monster, but this was just on a whole different level. The twists and turns, Aaron Oliver, seeing Tom and Jamie again, Aaron Oliver, the drama of the first few chapters…. Oh, and did I mention Aaron Oliver?

My Aaron obsession aside, I had set this book as my most anticipated read of 2023, and it did not disappoint. Unlike some other books with time travel involved, I didn’t struggle with the concept at all here – it just felt very natural and made sense.

Joan is still so naive about the world of monsters, about the other families, about herself, and I just loved discovering things with her as she found them out. Of course, leaving the book on such a cliffhanger has me desperate for more already, and now the countdown begins to the final book in Joan’s story (I just hope there’s more Aaron in it!)


Overall, absolutely loved every second I was reading, and just cannot wait for book three!