A Reader's Guide to Books and Reviews

Only a Monster by Vanessa Len

Series:
Monsters #1

Genre:
Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Young Adult, Fantasy, Monster, Paranormal, Horror, Time Travel, Contemporary, Mystery, Love Triangle, Enemies to Lovers, Magic, Book Series, Duology and Trilogy

Publication Date:
February 1, 2022

Read Date:
May 19th, 2023

Date Finished:
May 19th, 2023

Rating:
3 out of 5

Blurb:

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.

Review:

'Superman?' Gran scoffed when Joan came to stay with her in London that summer. 'You're not a hero, Joan.' She bent down her grey head confidingly. 'You're a monster.'

I am not sure where I am going to rate this book. On the one hand, this book has much potential to come with the second book — a chance to expand and explain the world and where monsters fit within this world. On the second hand, the female lead really grated on my nerves to the point I nearly stopped reading this book.

I understand that she is in shock and trying to understand the whole situation. At sixteen, all of this would have been new to her, and without any guidance from her family, she would not understand what she is or what she is about. However, she should listen to the voice of reason beside her. Aaron Oliver may be from the enemy family, but he has a stronger grasp on what is going on around them.

But no, she won't. She does not take in the situation, does not see the bigger picture, and believes that she doesn't need anyone's help. Like, what? You are in a life-and-death situation. Your nerdy boyfriend is not what he seemed to be. In fact, he is the one who had pretty much decimated the Olivers and now he had dispatched his hunters to kill all monsters within the radius. So, I would have listened, tried to understand, and did what I needed to do to stay alive.

I also blame her grandmother and the extension of her family. They drop hints that she has a monster in her blood but offer no further information, give her no training, and told her a story of a boy who would become a hero and destroy monsters. All this should have been an incentive to give her training. It did not matter whether the boy had appeared or not. They should have been more vigilant and should have expected the possibility that this boy could have appeared at any moment.

The thing that bothers me the most is when Joan is going on her date with Nick. She is happy, possibly dancing on cloud nine because of all the girls that were clamoring for his attention, he had picked her. Unfortunately, a single touch changes everything. She has no memory of anything that happens afterward. She finds that her day is now night and she has missed her date with Nick. When she returns home, her grandmother is simply vague, and offers:

He didn't do something to you, Gran had said. You did something to him.

What I don't understand is why Joan did not prod her grandmother further and question all of this. Something like this would have made me, even if I was sixteen, begin to question everything I had been told. I would have asked what power this was, what it could mean not long to myself but to others, and how to use it sparingly. Yet, Joan does NONE of these. This is what frustrated me the most about Joan. She just accepted whatever her grandmother said.

If you ever steal time from a human again, I will kill you myself

I am not sure if Nick can be considered one of the male leads because we don't see him much. We know he worked with Joan, he's nerdy, and although he can have any girl at work, he seems to gravitate toward Joan. After I learn what he is, I often found myself wondering if he already knew who and what Joan was. It just seemed odd that he would simply take her excuse for their first date as true. I have a feeling he actually knew and pretended everything just so he could be taken within the world of monsters and use all that information to rectify his decimation of them. I can't see him as not knowing. It feels out of place for him. Maybe I am just reading into things.

Our second male lead, Aaron, comes from the Oliver family. A family, according to Ruth, of "posh gits who drive around in black Jaguars. They hate us and we hate them." She also goes on to describe them as "real bad" and "Cruel". Joan actually saves him from the hunters and the two of them set off, in Joan's mind to save her family and others from the coming of the hunters. Aaron has tried, on occasion, to tell her that such things are impossible. I am really surprised that he did not get tired of Joan's whining and denial of the situation.

I was drawn to the premise of this story and had seen a lot of hype for this book on BookTok. Yet, the execution seemed to be bare bones. There is a promise to the next book with the hopes of seeing the world-building being expanded on. At least, I hope there is.