Book Review: Only A Monster by Vanessa Len
Review by Errinundra Farran
When Joan was six, she decided she was going to be Superman when she grew up. She told her dad she needed a costume so she could practice. Dad had never liked spending money, but he painted an S on Joan’s blue T-shirt and found a red napkin she could use as a cape. Joan wore them to bed every night.
“Superman?” Gran scoffed when Joan came to stay with her in London that summer. “You’re not a hero, Joan.” She bent her grey head confidingly. “You’re a monster.”
Only a Monster is set in London where 16-year-old Joan Chang-Hunt is visiting her granny and cousins for the summer. Joan has a date with her cute co-worker Nick, but it does not go as planned and she finds herself realizing that she is far from normal. Soon after her disaster of a date, a series of catastrophic events take place leaving her without her family; she flees present time London to survive. Her only ally is an Oliver, the most hated family in London and the Hunt’s nemesis. Joan is forced to make life-changing decisions that will affect the future and past of everyone close to her. The line between good and bad blurs as she struggles against her moral compass. She must embrace her monster half to save her family. Running through time, Joan and her band of allies steal, trick and deceive to solve the many questions that need to be answered to save her family. Nick and Joan are separated and thrust on opposite sides. Girl and boy. Bad and good. Monster and Hero. Harsh truths, perilous journeys and heartbreaking decisions are among the many challenges Joan must face. But it all comes down to the questions that have been looming over them all along: who is the hero? who is the monster? and how far is Joan willing to go to save the ones she loves?
A young adult fantasy novel set in a world full of hidden secrets and monsters, different timelines and conflicting emotions and loyalties. Elements of this book are original, but it includes some comforting links with the Harry Potter series but with monsters being the ones with magical powers that need to be shielded from human scrutiny.
Only a Monster is an interesting read, going from light to dark, happy to sad, contrasting each mood as the story twists and turns like a windy road until cutting off at the ultimately heartbreaking end. Sad, but definitely worth a read, unless you are looking for a happy ending.
—Errinundra Farran, 2022 SCWC Young Book Reviewer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vanessa Len is an Australian author of Chinese-Malaysian and Maltese heritage. An educational editor, she has worked on everything from language learning programs to STEM resources, to professional learning for teachers. Vanessa is a graduate of the Clarion Workshop in San Diego, and she lives in Melbourne.
SCWC 2022 BOOK REVIEWER IN RESIDENCE
Errinundra (Errin) Farran is a year eight student at Bega High School. Her favourite subject is English, and in 2021 she achieved an Academic Excellence Award, primarily for being the only student to be given maximum marks for her illustrated story book The Land of the Norm. Errin lives in Quaama with her father and four siblings who are all avid readers. She enjoys swapping between being active and curling up and reading a book. Her greatest influence is her mother who loved to draw, write and sing, and whose book of poems, Annus Poeticus, was published shortly after her death in 2019.