Ordinary Monsters

3.5/5, but I'm more inclined to round it down to 3 stars instead. This book had a really great premise but there were some flaws about its execution that got more and more glaring as the book went on. If these were improved on in the subsequent books, the overall arch of the trilogy might be very interesting to keep up with.

Here are some of the issues that I had with the book:

Info dumpiness - The book does a lot of telling, not showing. More often than not, when it's time for the reader to learn more about something, a random tour or conversation or lecture will happen where a character basically just says everything. For example, after the hazardous ride to the Institute, when Alice Quicke wakes up after being in a coma for a few days, she is immediately brought on a school tour by Mrs Harrogate. Why though? Alice is not a prospective student and even if Mrs Harrogate decided she owed Alice some explanation about what her job had been helping them do all along, surely it didn't need to extend to a physical tour around the school? It just seemed like a contrived way to introduce the readers to the Institute. Another example is the one and only time we actually accompany our main characters into class with Miss Davenshaw. She suddenly makes Komako and the other older students answer apparently very basic questions like what are the different groups of Talents, etc. Again, it seemed like a contrived way to spell out the lore and the magic system of the world.

Pacing - The first maybe 30ish% was actually not bad. It was all very engaging until they finally escaped from Jacob Marber at the end of their train journey and reached the Institute. After that, things dragged majorly and didn't pick up until the last 25% or so. I found myself getting less and less interested in picking the story back up during that entire middle portion, even though there were still a lot of lore being explained and revealed at that part. That brings me to the next point...

Overwhelming details - I don't usually shy away from expansive books with lots of world-building and lore and characters. I usually love them. But it does take a lot of finesse to be able to craft that kind of world without completely losing your reader in the ocean of details, which I think this book was just very slightly off the mark here. It got to a point where I was so overwhelmed with details that I read the ending with only about a 75% understanding of what was going on. I think important parts of the world building only creates a deeper impression when I actually see things in action, rather than being told. It works the same way like in classes: you often learn things better when you experience it hands-on rather than just listening to your teacher talk about it. Same idea here.

Scattered questions but no central hook - This book creates a lot of mystery around certain things right from the get-go, including but not limited to: What are the Talents? What kind of powers do they have? How do they exist? What is the Institute? What is Jacob Marber's purpose? The problem lies however in the fact that there isn't one Big Question/Mystery that we are trying to find the answer to. It's like playing a game with many side quests but kinda seem like they're pushing you towards the endgame, but you have absolutely no idea what the bigger objective of everything is. I was interested enough in these little questions to keep going but I kept wondering what was the bigger point of it all. Because you don't know the Big Question overarching everything, you also don't really have that build-up of tension leading to the book's climax.

POV shifts at the worst times - This isn't unique to this book but it does this thing that is becoming a pet peeve. I don't mind multiple POVs in a book and usually can handle it. I don't even mind following multiple groups of characters going around doing different things in different places. What I take issue with is when one group of characters we've been following for the past 2 chapters suddenly land themselves in an imminently dangerous situation, e.g. they spot Jacob Marber coming towards them, then the chapter ends and the next one shifts POV to the other group of characters. It's not only frustrating for me the reader that the chapter ends on a cliffhanger, but also terrible for building up tension because now that I have to spend another 2 or 3 chapters with another group of characters, by the time we cut back to the original group that had been facing the danger, I've completely forgotten what it's all about so whatever happens subsequently barely feels tense or exciting to me. Sometimes, but not all the time, this book does a worse version of this where when we cut back to the original group, we find out that the danger that they had been facing in the cliffhanger actually wasn't that dangerous after all, so it was basically a pointless cliffhanger that was just there to add cheap tension for no good reason.

Writing felt a little rough around the edges - Honestly, the writing wasn't bad in itself. It was certainly engaging at some points, but I did feel like there were parts that felt a bit repetitive or overdramatic. Another round of editing might have been enough to improve this part.

So having spent a whole long review expounding on what I didn't like about the book, I would just end by saying it's not entirely bad. I really did like the premise of it and the world has a lot of potential. The writing won me over in the beginning as well, though the other issues crept up along the way. The book started off being about 4 stars in the beginning, and then dropped to 3 stars in the middle bits especially after our characters got to the Institute, before climbing up to about a 3.25 or 3.5 again by the ending.

Also like, what the heck happened to Eliza??? I was rooting for her so much in Ch 1 and fully expected to at least get a glimpse of her by the end but there was absolutely nothing? Please don't tell me that she's just out of the story like that because I would be pretty pissed. Why spend the whole effort of introducing her so intimately in Ch 1 but then not have her turn up again forever?

This book was possibly too ambitious. It tries to check off a lot of boxes, with historical urban fantasy setting, magical wizarding type school, world trotting adventures and more. As a result it is one tome of a book, but I think its ambition is ultimately its biggest problem. It is very obvious that J.M. Miro has a wild imagination that drives this work. The problem is that wild imagination ends up jumping around so much that it is very hard to get a grip of the overarching narrative that is trying to be presented. Some plot lines end up disappearing down odd dead ends without proper resolution, and the main plot gets lost in some of the sub plots from time to time. It is certainly an interesting and entertaining read, although some of its meandering tendencies slow it down in unfortunate ways. Ultimately it is book of great ambition, that shows a lot of potential. I would be intrigued to see where a more restrained and focused work from this author would take me.

A Captivating and Immersive Read!

I have been in my fantasy era it feels like for most of this year. What caught my attention with this one is the cover; what kept me reading is the story.

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro far exceeded my expectations, and I absolutely loved every page! While it’s a long read, it never felt tedious – in fact, it was a thrilling ride from start to finish. The world-building is rich, the characters are incredibly well-developed, and the supernatural elements kept me hooked throughout.

Set in Victorian-era England, the story follows children with mysterious powers called “Talents,” who are being hunted by a shadowy force. The plot centers on two central characters, Charlie and Marlowe, as they are brought together in a sanctuary for gifted children.

Charlie Ovid is a young boy from Mississippi with a troubled past. He possesses a remarkable Talent that allows him to heal rapidly from any injury, making him nearly invincible. Despite his rough upbringing and the hardships he has faced, Charlie is resilient and determined. His journey is one of self-discovery and learning to trust others, as he navigates the complexities of his abilities and the dangers that come with them.

Marlowe is an enigmatic character with a mysterious background. Found as a baby floating in the Thames, he has the ability to manipulate light, creating illusions and even becoming invisible. Marlowe’s Talent is both a gift and a curse, as it isolates him from others and makes him a target for those who wish to exploit his powers. His character is marked by a sense of loneliness and a longing for belonging, which makes his bond with Charlie and the other children at the sanctuary all the more poignant.

Miro masterfully weaves themes of identity, survival, and the struggle between good and evil. The atmosphere is dark and haunting, and the slow unraveling of the children’s abilities and their purpose in a world that fears them adds incredible depth to the narrative.

The story is dark, mysterious, and filled with twists that kept me guessing, making it impossible to put down. It was so much fun to read, and I was completely immersed in the complex, magical universe. The narration by Ben Onwukwe was fantastic, adding an extra layer of immersion to the experience. I also loved the character of Alice Quicke, the caretaker for the children, whose strength and compassion were truly inspiring.

I can’t wait to dive into book two and continue this unforgettable journey! This was a four star read for me worth every minute.

This book was good. That said, my interest waxed and waned. There were some moments that I really loved, and others that felt torturous.

Similarly, to read a 700 page book to only have the conclusion be a set up for a sequel angers me. It feels like going out for a meal, being filled to satisfaction and then the waiter telling me that I HAVE TO get dessert. Let me choose to eat dessert! I just spent a ton of money on my meal.

Same with this book: 700 pages is a lot of time to spend with a story and have very little conclusion and most of the action happen in the last 20 pages.

I struggled with the length. Didn't realize it was going to have a second book, so I am a little bit more intrigued. I think I kept expecting something to tie a few more pieces together, and instead more questions kept getting set up. Now I know why. I'll give the second one a try. Overall enjoyable, I just think I missed some key plot points.

I fell headlong into this one on a plane ride across the country from VA to NV and it didn't disappoint during that flight. I lost my stride when I returned home to the hustle and bustle, but once I picked it up again, a couple months later, I fell right back in as if I never left off. The characters are interesting and varied and often ethically/morally gray–save for the children–who in most cases are just trying to survive what is such a confusing mess of an existence (as far as we're made aware). It's like X-Men meets Harry Potter, with a twist of Lord of the Rings, in a dark and murky Victorian-era, steampunk world where there are gifted children, monsters and dead things and portals that are locked tight to keep these things apart.

My only front of mind criticism here...if I'm comparing this to Harry Potter and the final showdown there...the final showdown here (in Ordinary Monsters) seems so much less earned. Without giving anything away...so much sh&% hits the fan at the end of this first book (in what is going to be a series) that you wonder how much more could possibly go down in some endgame? I remember feeling so much sadness at the end of the Harry Potter series when you see the destruction and the lifeless bodies strewn across the floors of Hogwarts. You knew those characters. You had moments with them–and all of it across a rich and expansive series. However here, in this book, there's a great deal of death and destruction at the end, but a lot of the casualties are of those whom the reader never has the good fortune to meet or develop an attachment. And at one point in the story, one of the main characters (Charlie) says as much when he refers to these other (now dead) people as “nameless talents” or some such almost as a way to tidy up that bit of lazy plot/character development. That's the only thing that sits with me in a weird, unsettling way. Otherwise, I enjoyed this a great deal.

3.5 rounded up; Finally finished!!! To be honest, I started with really high hopes of great world-building, character development, and a strong plot that would be engaging throughout the whole book. But I think the downside was how the story was written. It was kind of there – but it was more of telling, not showing. The visuals were imaginative, but I wished it was taken a step further to add to the plot, the setting, the talent, and the horror aspects of this book. My favorite parts were probably the the train scene and the very end, but otherwise, there were just a lot of backstories for many of the characters, and it became difficult to juggle back and forth. And “what the heck” moments with Eliza and Brynt?? I was rooting for them all the way, then they just disappeared. Was really unfortunate to build up great characters and then remove them..

It's not a bad book, it's not even a bad story. But something about it feels off. I don't know, I've been trying to figure out what felt off the entire time I read it but I'm drawing a blank. Maybe I just wanted it to be outstanding where it was just okay.

I wanted Stephen King's The Institute set in Victorian times but got something more akin to Miss Peregrines.

I liked it but I'm not sure I liked it enough to read a second (or third). I think maybe just the whatever it is, Victorian? setting doesn't grab me. The magic hovered between system-based or even scientific, and mystical, and I kind of wish it would just pick a lane. And Marbur and Marlowe are so easy for my head to mix up, and then you add in that Jacob Marbur is nearly the classic Dickens name Jacob Marley...

Yeah. I liked it but didn't love it. Maybe I'll come back to the series in a while when this book has settled into my brain a bit.

I received Ordinary Monsters ARC from Flatiron in exchange for an honest review. This dark Victorian fantasy traces the lives of Talents - children with special gifts - and those that find and care for them with the hope to keep them safe in an old crumbling castle in Scotland. But the darkness is also hunting them.

In Ordinary Monsters, Miro explores humanity in all its shades, from the brutal to the sympathetic, and from locations around the world. There was a lot of familiarity in this story. It was difficult not to see shades of Harry Potter with Marlowe's story line, and I couldn't help but read Emmett Till into the Charlie Ovid character. A bit of Pippi in Ribs.

Though other Talents were introduced into the story, it centers on Marlowe and Charlie who have been hunted and brought to the Cairndale Institute for Talents. The trip alone to the Institute was as dangerous as their lives where before they were found. They are who the darkness seeks and who the Institute is trying to protect. But all is not what is seems to be. There they meet other Talents and begin to unravel the lies, find the truth. Their purpose.

Well over 600 pages the story jumps between past and present allowing the reader to become familiar with the diverse cast of characters, and there are several to meet, some popping up late in the story. As the Talents come together outside Edinburgh, secrets, fears and the dead threaten to rip the world apart.

The story was compelling enough to keep me turning the pages. It is a planned trilogy. I look forward to reading the next installment. If you're looking diverse and strong female characters and monsters in a Victorian fantasy, this one's for you.