ARC Review: Never A Hero ~ Vanessa Len

Click on this image to learn more about this book on Goodreads 

(image on the left is the US edition, image on the right is UK edition)
 
 
Format I Used: Combination Audiobook/Ebook/Physical Book
Pages: 528
Running Time: 15h:23m
My Rating: 5 stars
Publication Date: August 29, 2023

 

I think I need to re-read book one and maybe re-evaluate what my rating was for it. I rated the first book 3.5 because at the time it felt like that feeling that you get when you really need to sneeze, but then don't... And I really stand by that. HOWEVER. I think about that book far too much for it to just stay at a mid rating... Like, a LOT a lot.  

Never A Hero was probably one of my MOST anticipated books of 2023, And I screeched like a velociraptor when I saw that I had been approved for a copy. I dropped every single other book I had been reading in order to dive into this one. And I was up until almost 2 am because I needed  answers more than I needed a proper amount of sleep. My watch even told me that my quality of sleep was "poor" but it's 

F I N E

Don't ask me to have a conversation about time travel, because it still confuses the heck out of me and it also makes my head hurt. 

I very much enjoyed this volume, and I will be rambling, and since I'm also using this as a recapof sorts for my future reference, there WILL be spoilers, so please do not read any further if you don't want anything spoiled.

In similar fashion to book one, this book started with something rather traumatic happening not very far into the story, and then it progressed at a steady slowish pace until about the 50% point. Except this time, we have Joan paired with Nick instead of Aaron. 

SIGH. I was really hoping to get more page time for Aaron. Whatever though.

We get to learn more about Nick, which is what I wanted in the first book, and I actually quite liked that. It was interesting to see Nick when he wasn't a bad guy trying to kill Joan.

There's a lot of trauma between Nick and Joan. The Nick Now is so so so sweet and kind and amazing, and even though he's different and doesn't remember his time as The Hero, there are still moments where he'll move or do something that shows just how ingrained all that "training" was. It's still there buried deep inside even if he doesn't remember. And Joan is rightly terrified. She's always on edge and about ready to jump out of her skin. He also starts gaining back some of his "powers" as the story goes on, and is able to break through the "mind control" (which is why I don't think that they should be the endgame couple, regardless of them being together in the "true timeline". Even though they were, at one point, soulmates, there is so much trauma and distrust there now, that I don't know if they'll ever be able to work through it all) But that's just my delulu brain hoping that Joan will end up with Aaron, and there probably WILL be some kind of way for them to work through everything.

SPEAKING OF AARON! He's my favorite character. (which should NOT be news to anyone.) Of course he was a bad guy in this book, just like he told Joan he would be. For a while. But things happen, and then he's not a bad guy, and then things happen and  they end up forming a tentative alliance. And all the curious glances and looks he gives her, and the way she keeps forgetting that she's the only one who remembers the bond that they have, and the way she keeps turning to him when things happen... MY HEART. I sobbed SEVERAL times, and I stayed up WAY TOO LATE in order to consume as many words as possible, even though I worked an early morning shift the next day.

TL;DR

This was an amazing book with some pretty interesting twists that kept tugging on my heartstrings AND sitting on the edge of my seat (or maybe that was just waiting for Aaron to show back up?). The characters and the growth they go through is SO good, and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Thank you to Netgalley UK and Hodder & Stoughton for giving me a chance to read an ARC of one of my most anticipated 2023 books.

Review: Only A Monster ~ Vanessa Len

Image from Goodreads. Click on the image to learn more about this book.

 

Format I Used: Audiobook & E-book
Pages: 416
Running Time: 11h:36m
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Publication Date: February 22, 2022

 

Immediately after finishing the book:

D'you know that feeling you get when you have to sneeze and then you don't? That's how I feel about this book. Will write a real review tomorrow.

After stewing about it for a bit:

I was so into the premise of this book, but also time travel makes my head hurt, so to say I was excited but also nervous for this book is a confusing understatement... I liked the author's take on Time Travel and how it works. I never really thought about it working like that, but you know, it makes sense. equivalent exchange and all that... Like one of my favorite Elric Brothers once said: Humankind (or I guess in this case it's Monsterkind) cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. Add in the fact that it has doomed soulmates and a alternate timeline? Yes please, I'll give it a try.

Right off the bat, there was a lot happening, and I was like, okay okay okay, let's slow down please? Please?! Because less than 20% into the book "monsters" are being massacred by a boy Joan loves? and we've only known for like 5 pages. I wasn't sure how this was going to go, and I was hoping that we'd get an enemies to lovers story where the two are out to kill each other for a while, and then find out some big secret and decide to work together, turning them to tentative allies, then to lovers. But no. What happened was so much better, and so much worse...I really wish we'd gotten to know Nick more before all the drama started happening, because honestly I didn't feel the connection between Joan and Nick. Like... at all. I think if we'd gotten a chance to actually SEE more interactions between the two, I would have felt more betrayed by him and more emotionally invested. Also, did we ever learn how Nick was able to time travel even though he wasn't a monster? I can't remember.

Joan was actually a little annoying. For someone who had absolutely NO prior knowledge of the world of monsters, she sure was heck bent on doing whatever she dang well pleased, without any thought to the butterfly effects she may cause (well, I guess it wouldn't change the future because of the timeline fixing itself) I guess it's more accurate to say that she gave no care to the troubles she was causing in the moment, because she was so one track minded (Which I guess is also okay, because then she never would have been able to actually fix what went wrong...) and then of course we're given a big ol' SURPRISE teaser about Joan and who she actually is or isn't...

And now this takes me to another important member of the group:

Beautiful and Ruthless Blonde boy with a horrible attitude, who dresses in fancy clothes, and has a smug personality and air of superiority...

Aaron Warner is that you?

lol, that's all I could think about while reading this book. I was more interested in Aaron Oliver's background and what was happening with him and how he and Joan were going to make things work out. I ship them. And it actually broke my heart when she left and they had the whole conversation and Aaron told her she needed to stay way far away from him when things were fixed. I enjoyed watching their interactions and how gentle he was with her even though he was this supposedly bad person. I have a feeling I'm not on the right ship and that it's going to sink horribly, but we'll see. I could be surprised.

I'm curious to see how book two is going to go. Especially with how things ended.