4/5

For fans of: family secrets, family feuds, thieves, time travel, enemies-to-allies, lovers-to-enemies, morally grey characters

The Big Questions:

• What genre is this in? YA fantasy

• Are there any swoon-worthy characters? No one is swoon worthy, but we’ve got a hot monster-slaying-hero and a hot Draco Malfoy-coded monster

• Is it spicy? Nope

• Is it violent or gory? Violent, but not gory

• Should I buy, borrow, or pass on this book? If love are looking for a morally grey story full of morally grey characters, buy it!

Synopsis: 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: A monster story is just what this time of year calls for. Now this is billed as a villain origin story, or at least that’s how I perceived the marketing. In a sense, yes, I get it. But this is the most reluctant villain origin story I have ever read. There is no good guy in this story for sure. The monsters aren’t mindless, but what they do is monstrous. The heroes are saving people, but their righteous fury blinds them to nuance. So yeah, right up my alley. Joan is quite reluctant to embrace her monstrosity, and honestly, fair. She is the closest thing to a moral compass in the story, but she’s got a bit of a Mary Sue situation going on. All these characters trying to teach her about their world and she keeps bucking them because it just doesn’t sit right with her. It’s Hermione without the swotty attitude, background knowledge, magical skill, and context. The constant refrain of, “please just try” to do outrageous things that have never worked in the past but then suddenly works caused a number of eye-rolling on my part. Her manic desire to literally change their entire world to save her family while not listening to anyone trying to help her was grating.

Clearly I am not Joan’s biggest fan, so why the high rating? This was just straight up FUN. The plot pacing is fast, but the world building is slow enough not to be overwhelming. The characters of Aaron and Nick are nicely juxtaposed to be potential love interests that play to both sides of Joan’s moral dilemma but thankfully the romance is not a major plot point. Any story with time travel and prophecies have me automatically. A good chunk of the book is set in the 90s, so the vibes are vibing in the best time period. A major action sequence occurs in a location outside of time and space, very Doctor Who. There is also so much left unresolved that sets up for a much bigger and more complicated story. I’m hopeful that this is a solid start to a really fun and unique series.