Only a Monster The captivating YA contemporary fantasy debut

One of the best books I've read so far in 2024. I really like the world building and how the book is written. Joan, the MC, is a nice girl and I understand why she acts the way she does. The plot is really good, it's interesting and I couldn't stop reading. I love the friendship between some characters, the logic works, I've found no plot holes and in my opinion everything makes sense. Nice book!! ... Eines der Besten Bücher, die ich 2024 gelesen habe. Mir gefallen sowohl die Welt, als auch der Schreibstil. Joan, die Hauptfigur, ist ein nettes Mädchen und ich kann ihre Taten gut nachvollziehen. Die Handlung ist sehr gut, spannend, einfach interessant zu lesen und ich konnte kaum aufhören zu lesen xD Die beschriebenen Freundschaften waren gut aufgebaut und schön zu lesen. Es gab keine Logik oder Plotfehler und meiner Meinung nach stimmt alles. Super Buch! Große Empfehlung für Alle, die gerne Fantasy, Urban-Fantasy oder über Zeitreisen lesen! Freue mich schon auf Band 2.

First of all, I would like to say thank you for the review copy, which was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley. This fact does not in any way affect my personal opinion of this book. This post contains advertising and the rights for the book belong to the publisher. Of course, is this only my personal opinion on the book and just because I give this rating to the book doesn't mean, that everyone will have that opinion. If you liked Ruby Red and are a fan of morally grey characters with blond hair - this book might be perfect for you! "Only a monster" had me hooked after the first sentence and maybe that's why I read it almost in one sitting. When was the last time I did that? I don't know to be honest. Len has a really beautiful writing style and it's easy to understand even for non-native English speaking persons. The plot is really fast-paced and you are sucked into the story. In my opinion, the book could have been one hundred pages longer but this is the first book in a trilogy so I think we will see more. I really liked the characters. Especially a certain male sidekick, which we will hopefully see more of in the next book. This was an awesome book and I don't have any think to critic. Hopefully, we don't have to wait very long for the next book because I am now hooked on these characters.

Okay, wo fange ich an, auch wenn ich den Tränen nah bin? Diese Story ist echt eine Art Belohnung für jemand wie mich, und scheinbar auch die Lius, der einfach tragische Liebesgeschichten mag. Selbst wenn ws jetzt nicht 100% der Hauptteil ist, dennoch gut einen Bestand in der Geschichte hat. Die Freundschaften, Charaktere und diese Geschichte sind einfach chef’s kiss

I really like the UK cover because it‘s dark like story and you can see a medaillon playing a important role in the book. You read the whole story from Joan‘s Point of view. She is a great protagonist because she’s brave and quickly managed to cope with her new situation. I admire her for boldness to ask question even when she fears the answer or nobody wants to answer. She loves her family fiercely for whom she would do anything despite her moral compass. I have a weakness for morally grey characters like Joan becomes. The secondary characters are all very interesting because nobody is perfect. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and in this story monsters aren‘t always the bad guys while the hero maybe isn’t the hero. I love to follow characters being not the typical heroes. I was very intrigued from the start because the story starts very fast and there was no boring moments. Joan learns about her family‘s secrets at the beginning and the readers are thrown into the world of monsters which is very interesting and exceptional. I‘m a big fan of time travels become a big part of the story. Many other unexpected events also happen, so it is always exciting and I couldn‘t stop to read the book. I don‘t want to tell more about the story because it would take the tension. Vanessa Len has a very fascinating writing style. Therefore the story is easy and quick to read. My native language isn‘t English but I understand everything. The ending is satisfied for the moment but there are open questions for the following parts. So I am very excited for them because I really love the characters and want to spend more time with them. I believe there still is a lot more potential for character developments and a love story. CONCLUSION: 4,5/5 A fast-pacing story with morally grey characters

Only a monster is the debut of Vanessa Len and the first in a trilogy. It’s not only a fantastic debut, but also the beginning to an amazing ya fantasy series. The protagonist Joan visits her family for the summer, but this time she finds out that she is half a monster. Monsters have the ability to steal time from humans by touching them and they can use this to time travel to the past. This magical concept is absolutely amazing and unique, but on a moral level quite bad and that is partly where the monster aspect plays in. Joan quickly has to adapt to this new world and soon also faces a new reality as her world is in agony and chaos. She is a very strong female protagonist who just wants her world to be normal again, but that is not possible. But at least Joan tries everything and doesn’t give up. I liked her dedication, but sometimes she was a bit too optimistic. Joan is accompanied by her cousin Ruth whom I adore and Aaron who is from a rival family, but rescues her and helps her navigate as a monster. I also really like Aaron and I feel like so far he is still a bit mysterious and I’m very excited to see more of him in the next installment. There is also the soul mate and enemies-to-lovers trope and those are my favs and they were done really well in this book. The book is set in my favorite city London and I loved to see that. Especially because you also get to see it in a past time. This in combination with the darker atmosphere was just stunning. I needed the first fifth to fully immerse in this story, but then the plot was super captivating and intriguing and with every page I fell in love more with this world and story. I already can’t wait for the next installment and have so many questions. Overall, Only a monster is a stunning ya fantasy debut with a strong protagonist who needs to face her monster side and I can definitely recommend this. 4 stars. (ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)