Tag: monsters

Book Review: Never a Hero (Monsters #2) by Vanessa Len

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA fantasy
Length: 528 pages
Author: Vanessa Len
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date: August 29th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This sequel to the contemporary fantasy Only a Monster will take Joan deeper into the monster world, where treacherous secrets and even more danger await.

Despite all of the odds, Joan achieved the impossible. She reset the timeline, saved her family – and destroyed the hero, Nick.

But her success has come at a terrible cost.

She alone remembers what happened. Now, Aaron, her hard-won friend – and maybe more – is an enemy, trying to kill her. And Nick, the boy she loved, is a stranger who doesn’t even know her name. Only Joan remembers that there is a ruthless and dangerous enemy still out there.

When a deadly attack forces Joan back into the monster world as a fugitive, she finds herself on the run with Nick – as Aaron closes in.

As the danger rises – and Nick gets perilously closer to discovering the truth of what Joan did to him – Joan discovers a secret of her own. One that threatens everyone she loves.

Torn between love and family and monstrous choices, Joan must find a way to re-gather her old allies to face down the deadliest of enemies, and to save the timeline itself.

Vanessa Len’s stunning Only a Monster trilogy continues with this second installment, a thrilling journey where a secret past threatens to unravel everyone’s future.

MIDDLE BOOK.

I thought this was a duology?? And I found out it’s not and it showed. At over 500 pages there was no way it needed to be this long.

I LOVED book one and I am currently feeling a bit jaded at how this went. I don’t often feel like a book drags when I’m listening as an audiobook but that was the case here. Because of the results at the end of book one, I felt that this one had to rehash a looot of information to move things along.

And I wish the romance had been more at the forefront. It started off really well and then tapered off and I’m not even sure where things stand at this point. There were some good reveals towards the end, and I will read the third book.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Time Travel Fantasy
  • Language: moderate – strong
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life, weapons and physical violence, loss of loved ones

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Book Review: Only A Monster (Monsters #1) by Vanessa Len

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Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5)
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy + Romance 
Length: 416 pages
Author: Vanessa Len
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: February 22nd, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

With the sweeping romance of Passenger and the dark fantasy edge of This Savage Song, this standout YA contemporary fantasy debut from Vanessa Len, is the first in a planned trilogy.

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.

MONSTROUS.

Y’all. This book was incredible. I was hooked within the first few chapters and it rarely let up as this urban fantasy unfolded. Not generally one for urban in my fantasies, I ended up loving how this played out in London. I think the time-traveling aspects were exactly the right thing needed for this story that this combination led to my inability to put this book down.

Joan wasn’t a bad main character, but I did struggle with some aspects of her personality. I liked that she was incredibly loyal to her family and trying to solve many mysteries around her, buuuut, she was also a mega people pusher. It was bothersome to continually shove her thoughts down someone’s throat until they capitulated. Besides that, Joan made some tough decisions and worked with what she had, and for that, I liked her.

There’s some how a combination of fated mates (with an enemies kicker) + a potential love triangle? Honestly not sure what I’m supposed to do with that kind of romance information. I really look forward to how this expands in future books because it is wildly interesting and can go so many ways.

The magic system within the monster world is fascinating. There’s a lot to explore with the King, mysterious woman, Court of Lions and more. I think this book did a good job of giving the answers needed for THIS read, but leaving enough out there for the future books.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Urban Fantasy
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: mild blood/gore
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: mass murder event, loss of loved ones, weapons use, mentions of torture (side character), racism, psychological torture, kidnapping

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