Early Review: Only a Monster by Vanessa Len
Well, this was a crazy ride. Monsters (literal and figurative), time travel, super powers, a heist, first love. There’s a LOT going on. It’s very much it’s own kind of fairytale, with its morality lessons and the simple language Len uses. She could have started it with “Once upon a time” and it wouldn’t have felt out of place.
To me, the moral dilemma Joan finds herself in was the most intriguing part of the book. (Which is saying something, considering the premise and the plot.) It tackles the perennial issue of the nature of right & wrong/good & evil. It turns everything on its head. The good guy is the bad guy? The bad guy is the good guy? Or maybe a little bit of both? Or neither?
Joan has grown up being told that she’s a monster. She didn’t know that it was meant literally. She clearly has a strong moral compass and a conscience and always tries to do the right thing. It’s important to her to be a good person. But Joan’s mother’s family have a particular kind of supernatural power that allows them to take time from another person’s life and use it for themselves to travel in time. Joan sees this as a heinous, monstrous, unforgivable deed, to steal time from a person’s life. Time they won’t get back. Time that shortens their lifespan. So no matter who or what they are, and what they do with that extra time, they are literal and metaphorical monsters.
This is a horror scifi fantasy adventure thriller that takes off right out of the gate and never stops. I’m giving it 4 stars even though this ended up not really being my kinda thing because it was just really well done. It’s a page turner, for sure. I enjoyed the characters and the resolution. I can see this being a big YA Fantasy reader favorite!
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing the digital ARC.
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