Off the Shelf: Only A Monster

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.

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Okay this book caught me off guard. I was looking for something fresh and didn’t realize this new release came out this year, or that it would be so amazing. I came across it by accident, and was hesitant to start because I wasn’t sure what kind of monsters I would be getting upon opening up the novel. But I’m so glad I did because it was the perfect match. Life draining vs a promised hero who would conquer and take out the evil, whom the main character doesn’t even realize she is a part of. You are quickly drawn in and in a story full of twists like a tornado as you try and deal with the emotions of loss and love and confusion as characters try and understand the situation they are in.

I loved the characters and the back and forth of trying to figure out what will happen as the consequences to the actions the characters experience as they travel through time to find the truth that others are trying so hard to not let come to light. Is there something more than what they’ve been told? Is the villain actually the villain? Are the characters who claim to be good and evil determined and divided before they’ve even been given a choice? There was so much going on in this book and the authoress had me hooked. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and story arc and can’t wait to see what she does in her next work.

Surprise revelations of hidden truths that should never have been kept secret, stolen pasts that have affected generations of history, Only a Monster keeps you guessing of who is actually at fault, and if this is a villain’s origin story or the rise of a hero.