{"id":1959,"date":"2021-10-09T13:35:07","date_gmt":"2021-10-09T12:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libridraconis.com\/?p=1959"},"modified":"2021-10-09T13:35:07","modified_gmt":"2021-10-09T12:35:07","slug":"only-a-monster-vanessa-len","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libridraconis.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/09\/only-a-monster-vanessa-len\/","title":{"rendered":"Only A Monster – Vanessa Len"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you’ve been reading my Monday Minis you might think I haven’t been enjoying the books I’ve been reading (I certainly have been getting that impression from myself!) – but I’ve also been reading some true gems. I loved Only A Monster<\/em> by Vanessa Len, which isn’t out for another few months. I devoured this while I was at Fantasycon, sneaking chapters whenever I could. This is addictive YA fantasy as it should be written.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many thanks to Kate Keehan and Hodderscape for the eARC. All opinions are my own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELEASE DATE:<\/strong> 22\/02\/2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STAR RATING: <\/strong>4.5\/5 \u2736<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

SUMMARY:<\/strong> Don\u2019t forget the rule. No one can know what you are. What we are. You must never tell anyone about monsters.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan has just learned the truth: her family are monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the cute boy at work isn\u2019t just a boy: he\u2019s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to destroy her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To save herself and her family, Joan will have to do what she fears most: embrace her own monstrousness. Because in this story\u2026 she is not the hero<\/em>. (from Hodder)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OPINIONS:<\/strong> Damn this is a good book. It\u2019s exactly the kind of YA fantasy I adore. I raced through this one, sneaking chapters whenever possible and found it so addictive – I\u2019ve been struggling to keep focused on a single book recently but this one managed to grab all my attention. I was pulled in by the V.E. Schwab comp (I\u2019m a basic fangirl) but I stayed for the complex morality, compelling characters and fast-paced story.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think my favourite element of the book was the magic system – the so-called monster families are able to steal time from other people, which they then can use to travel through time. And that presents them, and the readers, with interesting moral questions. Joan, the main character, isn\u2019t truly aware of the extent of her family\u2019s machinations and powers, and so she discovers what she and others can do along with the reader. There are still a lot of open questions by the end of the book, but it is open-ended enough that it looks like it will continue on and there\u2019s plenty of space to continue on in later books. It\u2019s definitely one of those books where morality isn\u2019t quite so clear cut and no one is sure if they\u2019re really on the right side, and I really appreciated that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another thing I really liked is that romance isn\u2019t at the centre of this story. All too often YA focuses on romantic pairings over everything else, and this one doesn\u2019t. It\u2019s about Joan, her family and saving the future (and the present). It\u2019s a book where teens are actually teens despite being faced with problems far bigger than themselves and overwhelming odds. Only A Monster<\/em> is a good one. One of the best YA fantasies I\u2019ve read this year, so definitely one I\u2019d recommend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Add Only A Monster<\/em> to your Goodreads here<\/a>, and pre-order a copy from Bookshop here<\/a> (affiliate link).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’ve been reading my Monday Minis you might think I haven’t been enjoying the books I’ve been reading (I certainly have been getting that impression from myself!) – but I’ve also been reading some true gems. I loved Only A Monster by Vanessa Len, which isn’t out for another few months. I devoured this while I was at Fantasycon, sneaking chapters whenever I could. This is addictive YA fantasy as it should be written. Many thanks to Kate Keehan and Hodderscape for the eARC. All opinions are my own. RELEASE DATE: 22\/02\/2022 STAR RATING: 4.5\/5 \u2736 SUMMARY: Don\u2019t forget the rule. No one can know what you are. What we are. You must never tell anyone about monsters. Joan has just learned the truth: her family are monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And the cute boy at work isn\u2019t just a boy: he\u2019s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to destroy her family. To save herself and her family, Joan will have to do what she fears most: embrace her own monstrousness. Because in this story\u2026 she is not the hero. (from Hodder) OPINIONS: Damn this is a good book. It\u2019s exactly the kind of YA fantasy I adore. I raced through this one, sneaking chapters whenever possible and found it so addictive – I\u2019ve been struggling to keep focused on a single book recently but this one managed to grab all my attention. I was pulled in by the V.E. Schwab comp (I\u2019m a basic fangirl) but I stayed for the complex morality, compelling characters and fast-paced story. I think my favourite element of the book was the magic system – the so-called monster families are able to steal time from other people, which they then can use to travel through time. And that presents them, and the readers, with interesting moral questions. Joan, the main character, isn\u2019t truly aware of the extent of her family\u2019s machinations and powers, and so she discovers what she and others can do along with the reader. There are still a lot of open questions by the end of the book, but it is open-ended enough that it looks like it will continue on and there\u2019s plenty of space to continue on in later books. It\u2019s definitely one of those books where morality isn\u2019t quite so clear cut and no one is sure if they\u2019re really on the right side, and I really appreciated that. Another thing I really liked is that romance isn\u2019t at the centre of this story. All too often YA focuses on romantic pairings over everything else, and this one doesn\u2019t. It\u2019s about Joan, her family and saving the future (and the present). It\u2019s a book where teens are actually teens despite being faced with problems far bigger than themselves and overwhelming odds. Only A Monster is a good one. One of the best YA fantasies I\u2019ve read this year, so definitely one I\u2019d recommend. Add Only A Monster to your Goodreads here, and pre-order a copy from Bookshop here (affiliate link).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libridraconis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libridraconis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libridraconis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libridraconis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libridraconis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1959"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/libridraconis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1980,"href":"https:\/\/libridraconis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions\/1980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libridraconis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libridraconis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libridraconis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}