Thank you so much #MonstrousGirls campaign from Deborah Falaye, Vanessa Len, and Emily Thiede for sending me an eARC of Only a Monster!

"How do you stand remembering when no one else does?"

*4.5 stars*

Only a Monster was one of my top 22 releases of 2022, and it delivered for the most part! It had everything an urban, paranormal fantasy should have - high stakes (saving the MC's whole family), mystery (who is the King and how is he so powerful?), TIME TRAVEL, and an MC who was actually a monster.

We follow Joan, the daughter of a monster from the Hunt monster family (more on these families later) and a human from Malaysia. She visits London every summer to see her Hunt side of the family, and she volunteers at the local historical Holland House. She loves working there because of her super-cute coworker, Nick, who asks her out. Joan accidentally uses her monster power to take away days from a human and discovers her family's history. When an enemy monster family arrives at Holland House out of thin air, the Nick Joan knows disappears (giving the whole story and Romeo & Juliet vibe). Joan's whole family is killed, she has to work with Aaron Oliver to escape her time. She travels with him back to the 1990s, before either of them were ever born, and to a time when their families weren't dead.
Joan's cousin, Ruth, turns out to have survived the massacre. She, Aaron, and Joan work together to unravel the mystery surrounding the "true timeline" and set things straight because the Oliver and Hunt families' deaths were not in the records (which are from past and future). Eventually, they sneak into the King's Court (a place out of time - Some questions at this point of the story that I can't wait to see answered in the sequels: Who is the King? How did he come by so much power?) to find some answers with the assistance of an ex-guard, who has his own motives. They find out that the hero of legend who kills monsters wasn't actually born, he was <b><i>made</i></b>. However, the King knows that Joan stole this piece of information, and the four have to escape the King's Court. Once they do, Joan gathers information (with a favor owed to the Lius) and believes that she and Nick were together in the "true timeline." When he finally allows her to talk to him, Joan's character arc takes a turn downward - loyalty to family above all. The ending was crazy, but NOT a cliffhanger!

This book was really good! The plot kept me entertained because of the many twists Len wrote in. The worldbuilding, especially the complexity of the monster families and their relations, as well as the rules of time travel, was epic! Major DOCTOR WHO vibes the whole time (but NOT straight sci-fi, which I LOVED).

The only things that really fell flat for me were the character relationships and the characters' backstories. I didn't feel like Nick and Joan had any chemistry so the romance part of the story didn't really make sense. I pray that Joan gets who she deserves (aka AARON OLIVER). I also would've liked to see more of Joan's backstory - we learned more about Nick's than her's.

Lots of questions that I can't wait to see answered in the sequels! I look forward to reading more of the monster world in Lens' future novels!

"You're a hero and I'm a monster," she whispered. "There's only one way that story ever ends."

This is it. This is how you successfully write a fantasy novel that's UNIQUE. I will admit, I started this one and was skeptical. The characters had a lot of growing to do when the story starts. Joan was flighty and immature and really showing her young age. But if characters don't have a lot of room to grow, then how do they create a successful arc? And thus the story began.

When I tell you I was screaming during the last few chapters, I was physically reacting with my whole body. I was terrified to read the next sentence because anything could happen. This book did not disappoint. Please add this one to your tbr and check it out.

Joan blew my mind. She grew out of so much loss and became the hero we loved. Watching the story through her eyes was a wonderful journey. You think you get to watch her build relationships with her family, but the real joy was seeing her grow with Aaron, as well as Nick, Ruth, but mostly herself. She completely transformed from an immature teen to a young woman who wore herself with pride. What more can you ask for from a main character? Watching her pain carry her forward blew me away every time. She will be headed to the top of best female protagonist's I've ever read.

Aaron needs to have waaaayyyy more time in the rest of the series. I can guarantee he will be making an appearance later on, but he was a character that surprised me a lot. I thought he would become the love interest and I'm hoping greatly he will be a slow burn in the rest of the series. I really did love that nothing happened between him and Joan yet, I think that makes it more special and not something that had to happen right away. I am very excited to see how their timeline's reconnect later on. Also the bomb he dropped on her before he left was so unexpected by me and had me screaming.

This is probably a contender for one of my favorite books of the year and definitely tied for my favorite book of this month. Not to mention the author is SO sweet so by reading this book your supporting someone who is truly wonderful. I really did not know what to expect and I do not think you will be disappointed in this read. One of the most unique story building I've seen in awhile, and I know she has a lot in store for the books to come!

*Thank you to Vanessa Len and her editor for the eARC!

Only a Monster is a gripping paranormal fantasy where monsters are not at all what we imagine them to be and heroes are dangerous things. It is an interesting concept built on turning our perceptions on their heads. While the novel had a slow start, once the main plot starts in earnest, the pacing serves to urge the reader ever closer to the conclusion with each turn of the page.

The characters and world are rich, intriguing, and one of the strongest parts of this novel. I could easily spend hours reading the most mundane scenes with these characters and be satisfied. They simply *shine*. That being said, there are aspects of these characters and their histories that left me with more questions than answers at the end. I want to know that is at the heart of the familial conflicts between the monsters (specifically with the Hunt and Oliver families). I need to know *why* a particular character was disinherited. And just what *is* Joan? In a series where much of the plot hinges on the ability to travel through time, on the not so solidness of a timeline, I would have liked to see some of these ends wrapped up if only for the satisfaction of closure and conclusion. And while it still may be resolved in the upcoming novels, I can't help but want some sense of them now--obviously, this feeling may change once we get the other entries and I see how much these threads connect and ultimately lead.

Overall, Only a Monster presents us with the complexity that comes with being human (or, as with monsters, the close approximation of it) and the morally grey choices we are often faced with for the sake of family and love. It makes us wonder how set our destinies are, how rigid the flow of time, and how truly monstrous our fears and monsters can possibly be.

Wow. This YA fantasy is absolutely fantastic! A book about humans and monsters, heros and villains, but which side are you on? These aren’t the scary monsters in your nightmares, but the ones that look just like you & me. This is a fast paced urban fantasy, where the reader learns about the world along with the main character. I really liked how it jumps right into the action and the story takes off. I would have gladly devoured another 400 pages and I wasn’t ready for it to end. This is Vanessa Len’s debut and I am really impressed. It is planned to be a trilogy and I so look forward to more of this story! I read the ARC and still purchased a finished copy as soon as I finished. I loved it that much.

CW: murder, assault, alcoholic, kidnapping, imprisonment, torture, reference to a bombing & war

A monster, a hero, family history, unexpected adventures, and the discovery of who one is within their own story may be more complicated than a single label. This debut novel Only A Monster by Vanessa Len was absolutely fantastic!

The story begins with a summer abroad with a touch of romance when Joan, a 16-year old, is spending yet another summer with her late mother's family in London. Joan has spent many days of her summer working at the historic Holland House alongside Nick, a very cute coworker, who Joan is smitten with from the start. Nick asks her out and just as she is about to begin what she hopes is a budding romance - her entire world as she knows it comes crashing down. Joan is a monster, her family is full of monsters, they have powers, and Nick - this dreamy boy - is actually a monster slayer. That's a lot to unpack in the span of a few hours, never mind as Joan's fleeing for her life and the only one left to help is another monster, Aaron Oliver, who is a part of a family that loathes Joan's family.

In some of the most creative ways Len explores family, right and wrong, loyalty, the gray that comes into life, and all done within this intricately formed world where fantastical ideas from childhood stories may or may not be the world everyone is living in. This story is told in an extremely approachable way for even a younger YA audience, but not in a juvenile way that would be off putting for readers of any age. This truly was a page turner and I am excited for future work to delve further into this world Vanessa Len has created.
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I know it’s only February, but this might be one of my favorite books of the year?! I went into Only a Monster knowing that it was dark fantasy with a hint of romance, and nothing more. Going in blind without even reading the synopsis was the best decision, because this book BLEW MY MIND! IT WAS INCREDIBLE!! I AM STILL NOT OVER IT!!!

The story follows Joan, who is visiting her late mom’s family during the summer. She’s volunteering at a historical site (my inner history nerd loved this) and has a crush on a boy who’s also working there with her. Except, plot twist, the two of them are, unknowingly, mortal enemies.

See, Joan’s family is full of monsters. The type of monsters who have powers that can harm people. Joan didn’t know this until she accidentally used her power, and then, things go from 0 to 100, F A S T. Suddenly, she finds herself wrapped up in events that were the base of her grandmother’s scary bedtime stories. A whole new world begins to unfold, and there is no hero or happy ending. Instead, we’re pulled into a narrative full of morally grey characters, family ties and secrets, and one girl who is simply trying to do what she believes is right.

I don’t want to give too much away, but the grey area that the monsters live in was fascinating to me; the time travel left me equal parts nostalgic and feeling old (lol); and I’m truly invested in what happens to the characters and how their timelines and stories will continue to play out in the next book. Overall, it was incredibly fast-paced, and while the ending brought things together, it also left me with so many questions.

An easy 5-star read for me, and I’m already on high-alert for when the sequel will come out!

Thank you so much to Literary Bound Tours, Vanessa Len, Harper Collins Canada, and HCC Frenzy for letting me participate in the blog tour for Only a Monster by Vanessa Len, and for sending me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Only a Monster by Vanessa Len is hands down one of my favorite reads this year!!! This book was filled with so much heartache and drama, I couldn't put it down! It was a fast-paced and action-packed but not in a way that makes it overwhelming. I think it was pretty easy to read.

I highly recommend this book if you like forbidden love, time travel, and villain story.

liked the concept!

I really enjoyed the concept of time travel and how the main character was the "monster" / "villain" in this story. I loved the author's incorporation of their Asian Heritage; this added to the enrichment of the story and the lush writing and storytelling.

I did find that this dragged in certain areas towards the middle and I couldn't get myself back into it past a certain point and skimmed a little to get to the end. The ending was shattering and I'm intrigued to see how things will pick up in other books since this is set to be a series (and this ending felt kind of definite) but I'm not sure if I'm intrigued enough to pick up book two (yet...).

Also, this was YA and felt very YA at times (especially the romance and Joan read as very YA [but not juvenile]), but there was also swearing (like f-bombs, which didn't bother me) but felt jarring considering how YA this felt.

Overall, a decent debut! 3.5 Stars.

Thank you to HarperCollins / HCC Frenzy for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Happy belated pub day (2/22) to this gem!

Sixteen-year-old, Joan Chang-Hunt, is set to have the best day. Nick, her crush and fellow volunteer at the Holland House — a historical site in London — has asked her on a date and Joan cannot wait to go. But Joan’s world is turned upside down when she learns through a series of events that she is not only a monster, but she’s also a member of an infamous monster family and her crush is the legendary, heroic monster slayer. In a mission to save her family and right wrongs, Joan is forced to align with a member of a rival family of monsters on a magical adventure through time. But does Joan really know what’s right and wrong when she’s not the hero?

This book is fantastic! I’ll admit that I initially thought it was going to be a cutesy YA romance with all fluff and no substance. Boy was I wrong! This book has it all. Magic, romance, adventure, mystery, quirky characters, time travel, and morally gray dilemmas that leave you wringing your hands. And everything is presented in such a unique way! You read time travel and think, oh, been there, done that. You’re wrong. I’ve never seen time travel handled this way, and I loved every bit of it. Honestly, I could gush about this book for ages, but let me save everyone time and tell all to read it. Because I only have one complaint: where’s the sequel, Vanessa Len?

Many thanks for the galley!

You guys! You need this one! I can’t gush enough. It’s got monsters, villains, tons of time travel and mystery around every corner. We have a headstrong young woman who does NOT take No for answer in any situation. We have the super sexy (at least my mind) counterpart that we’re not totally supposed to root for in the beginning but that totally changed with each page turn. And we got the real villain who is not the monster and you want bad things to happen to him kthanksbye!

only a monster was truly unlike anything i’ve read - i went into it expecting monsters and monster hunters but it was truly so much more! one thing i didn’t see coming from this book was the time travel aspect - i usually don’t pick up books with time travel as a topic solely based on the reason i find them hard to follow. but vanessa Len wrote it in such a beautiful way that had me easily understanding the concept and left me wanting to read more after every chapter.
the characters i found extremely likeable and i loved them with all my heart - my favourite part being the main love triangle. it’s been so long since i’ve read about a love triangle ( we’re talking like twilight years ) and it was just written so well, you truly didn’t know who was best for joan. speaking of joan, i absolutely loved her character and her reluctance to be categorized as the villain of the story. i love reading stories about reluctant characters, whether they’re villains or heroes, and i think Vanessa Len wrote perfectly about the struggle of being good and bad.
i definitely didn’t see the ending coming and i cannot wait to pick up the sequel when it comes out 🤍

Absolutely love some morally gray characters! This did it so well, and I was caught up in the story and the world so easily! Can't wait to read more from this author! Highly recommended!

REVIEW: ONLY A MONSTER BY VANESSA LEN

Happy Pub Day to this gorgeous gorgeous book. I have a full review below, but first I want to thank @harperteen for sending me an ARC of this book and my amazing book club #fantasyfrenemies for reading with me. Now onto my review.

Only A Monster is, quite simply, divine. I INHALED this book in less than four hours, that’s how good it is. I loved our antihero Joan and the concept of “Monsters” who steal time from humans in order to travel to different eras? Amazing and so unique. I honestly need the sequel in my hands immediately.

In addition to magic and monsters, this book is a beautiful story about identity. About what it means to occupy two spaces at once. For our protagonist Joan, this means being biracial and half-monster/half-human. I loved seeing Joan grapple with who she is throughout the novel.

This book deserves all the stars. I hope y’all go out and buy it.

Also thank you to @hccfrenzy for the digital ARC of this book and @fairyloot for this beautiful physical edition 💕

“You’re a hero and I’m a monster,” she whispered. “There’s only one way that story ever ends.”

I have never tied sooo much reading a book 😭 You can honestly feel Vanessa Len just ripping your heart out chapter after chapter and I was 100% here for it! But also just emotionally prepare for this one!

✨I read books from the forbidden love trip like it’s my day job and and some point they start to feel like you’re reading the same story over and over with different characters (don’t get me wrong, I still love them regardless) but this story just felt like a breath of fresh of fresh air and was unlike any forbidden love trope I’ve read so far

✨We also love an anti-hero, Jane is giving the girls exactly what we want ❤️

✨I feel like this book kind of gave me Joker (2019 film) vibes, you just know the MC is in the wrong and yet you can’t help but not to care…. I will say that Joan has good intentions despite being the villain and that’s really all the matters… right?

✨I loved every single character and as usual YA pacing is just chefs kiss

In conclusion, if you read this book and hate it just unfriend me 😇 and also we love Vanessa Len and need book two yesterday…. Also can we start a petition to have authors just release their entire series at once? I can’t deal with the waiting and suspense 😭😭😭

Anyways don’t mind me over here just screaming & crying 🥴

There are few books out there with protagonists that speak to my experience as mixed-race and this one hit me so hard. Joan, like me, is half Malaysian-Chinese, half-white and feels othered by her family and the monster world she starts to discover. She feels like a mirror to me🥺 Here’s a quote that left my lil mixed-race heart feeling so seen:

“Half-human, half-monster. Half-Chinese, half-English. It all felt the same sometimes. Joan was more than a stranger, but less than a true insider. She stood on a threshold, neither outside nor in.”

Asides from being exactly the representation I always wanted to read in YA fantasy (!!!), this book is set in such a captivating, rich world of history and culture. Very fast-paced, a love triangle done *so deliciously well*, and an original take on the good vs evil, hero vs villain tropes. I would say more about how much I loved the monster powers but going in blind made it such a thrilling read! I devoured this book and can’t wait to read the rest of this planned trilogy!🤩

YA fantasy/romance with all the tropes. But still has some interesting elements.

Joan is a monster. She doesn’t feel like one, though. Her life is simple and pretty amazing. She loves her family, loves her volunteer position at a local museum, and is realizing that she loves her friend Nick as well. But suddenly everything changes. People die, Nick becomes her enemy and Joan realizes she is a monster after all.

Joan is innocent and sweet but uses her smarts to get ahead and get things done. She always considers peoples feelings and tries to make the right choices. But knowing she’s a monster makes her second guess everything.

The love triangle is THERE and I am THERE FOR IT. I can’t wait to see how this develops. This is a great intro to a series!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.

Only a Monster was an incredible debut by Vanessa Len, I can't wait to read the sequel right now!

The story centered around Joan, who's half Malaysian-Chinese and half Chinese, but one day by accident realized that she's secretly a monster living among humans. The story gets more complicated when she realized Nick, the boy she's always drawn to, is a monster slayer and will not stop killing monsters until they're all gone.

Only a Monster made the usual villain, a monster, the main character. Joan is constantly struggling with her monster/human identity and how she needs to make correct choices against her monster nature.

I don't want to go into too much details but the story drew me in immediately, it's a very fast-paced book with nonstop actions. Highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley, Epicreads and HarperTeens for the free e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

☆☆☆☆,5 /5
(english review below)

Olala, olala. Quel roman. J'ai été emportée par cette lecture. J'ai adoré cette originale histoire proposée par l'autrice.
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Cela aurait dû être l'été parfait. Envoyée vivre avec la famille excentrique de sa défunte mère à Londres, Joan, seize ans, est déterminée à s'amuser. Elle adore son travail ringard à l'historique Holland House, et quand son collègue super mignon Nick lui demande un rendez-vous, elle a l'impression que tout se met en place.
Mais elle apprend bientôt la vérité. Sa famille n'est pas seulement excentrique : ce sont des monstres, dotés de pouvoirs cachés terrifiants. Et Nick n'est pas seulement un garçon mignon : c'est un tueur de monstres légendaire, qui fera tout pour les faire tomber.
Alors qu'elle combat Nick, Joan est obligée de travailler avec le beau et impitoyable Aaron Oliver, héritier d'une famille de monstres qui déteste la sienne. Elle devra embrasser sa propre monstruosité si elle veut se sauver, ainsi que sa famille. Parce que dans cette histoire. . .
. . . elle n'est pas le héros.
¤
Je suis très friande d'histoires avec des anti-héros ou anti-héroïnes. Alors, quand j'ai vu le résumé de ce roman passé sous mes yeux, je n'ai pu empêcher un sentiment d'excitation quant à sa sortie (le roman est d'ailleurs disponible depuis peu).
Dans ce roman d'urban fantasy, l'autrice ne propose une anti-héroïne dans le sens où celle-ci n'en respecte pas les codes, a une personnalité détestable et bourrine... Non, l'autrice ne propose rien de tout ça, mais un sens plutôt original au mot "anti-héroïne".
En effet, Joan ne fait pas partie des gentils puisqu'elle et toute sa famille sont des monstres. Des monstres sombres et puissants qui en terrifient plus d'un. Et pourtant, la jeune fille est douce, sensible et aspire à une vie tranquille, malgré la direction tumultueuse que prend l'intrigue.
J'ai beaucoup aimé le fait de mettre des monstres en tant que protagonistes et non en tant qu'antagonistes. Ce sont les monstres vs. les méchants et j'ai trouvé que ces positions posaient beaucoup de questions sur le plan moral et éthique de notre société.
Aussi bien que son histoire, l'autrice a créé des personnages nuancés. Rien n'est ni tout blanc ni tout noir. Ce n'est que du gris et vraiment, j'ai beaucoup aimé ça. J'ai aimé analyser chacun des personnages et chacune des situations présentés dans ce roman.
Il y avait, selon moi, un petit déséquilibre dans le rythme. Les événements allaient trop vite alors j'avais du mal à suivre. Et parfois, j'ai trouvé certains choix trop faciles, même si ça servait bien l'intrigue.
En bref, une lecture que j'ai adoré avec des monstres, des vilains, de la magie et des révélations !

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ENGLISH REVIEW

Olala, olala. What a book. I was carried away by this reading. I loved this original story proposed by the author.
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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.
As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She’ll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story . . .
. . . she is not the hero.
¤
I'm very fond of stories with anti-heroes. So, when I read the synopsis of this book, I couldn't prevent a feeling of excitement about its release (the book is recently available).
In this urban fantasy booj, the author doesn't offer an anti-heroine in the sense that she doesn't respect the codes, has a detestable and nagging personality... No, the author doesn't offer anything all that, but a rather original meaning to the word "anti-heroine".
Indeed, Joan isn't one of the good guys since she and her whole family are monsters. Dark and powerful monsters that terrify more than one. And yet, the girl is gentle, sensitive and longs for a quiet life, despite the tumultuous direction the plot takes.
I really liked the fact of putting monsters as protagonists and not as antagonists. It's monsters vs. villains and I found that these positions raised a lot of moral and ethical questions for our society.
As well as her story, the author created nuanced characters. Nothing is either all white or all black. It's just gray and really, I liked it a lot. I enjoyed analyzing each of the characters and each of the situations presented in this book.
There was, in my opinion, a little imbalance in the pace. Events were moving too fast so I had trouble keeping up. And sometimes, I found certain choices too easy, even if it served the plot well.
In short, it was a reading that I loved with monsters, villains, magic and revelations!

This book is easily going into my top 10 for the year. The description was what made me curious, and and from the very beginning of this book, I was hooked. Joan was a great protagonist; not too angsty, but weighing the consequences of her decisions and making me wonder “would I do the same thing in her shoes?” I also loved the love triangle. I loved that it was more nuanced than “soft cinnamon roll boy vs. angsty misunderstood boy,” and I still don’t think I can choose whether I like Aaron or Nick better.
Everything about this book felt natural. Like it was just fully formed and waiting to come into the world. I can’t believe I have to wait another year for the next one.

I love when a book can catch me by surprise and takes a completely different course than I expected. That is exactly how I felt reading ONLY A MONSTER. Unconventional and surprising, all in the best way possible, I could not put down this book!

I absolutely loved Joan, who at sixteen discovers just what it means to be a monster. Just when Joan begins to learn of the powers she has as a monster, she also realizes that the crush she has on her co-worker Nick is actually more complicated than it may seem. Rather than the quiet young man he initials portrays, Nick turns out to be the hero who is sworn to end all monsters.

I really enjoyed how Len framed the story from the view point of the villains. There were so many conflicting feelings about who to root for throughout the book, which made for a unique read. I also appreciated how dimensional each of the characters were. Len wrote them so well that my feelings about each of them kept shifting the further I read.

I was really impressed with this book and I can’t think of another book to compare it to. This is the first book in a planned trilogy and I can’t wait to see where Len takes this story next!