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Ordinary Monsters: A Novel
Ordinary Monsters: A Novel
Ordinary Monsters: A Novel
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Ordinary Monsters: A Novel

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "Charles Dickens meets Joss Whedon in Miro’s otherworldly Netflix-binge-like novel." The Washington Post

MOST ANTICIPATED SFF BOOK of 2022 by Tor, The Nerd Daily, BookBub, Philadelphia Inquirer, Goodreads, CrimeReads, Buzzfeed, Professional Book Nerds, and more!

BEST BOOK OF SUMMER 2022 by SheReads, Book Riot, Goodreads, Gizmodo, Daily Beast, Paste Magazine, and more!

IN THIS STUNNING HISTORICAL FANTASY, journey to the Victorian era, as children with mysterious powers are hunted by a figure of darkness in a battle of good vs. evil...

"Ordinary Monsters is a towering achievement: a dazzling mountain of wild invention, Dickensian eccentrics, supernatural horrors, and gripping suspense. Be warned... once you step into this penny dreadful to end all penny dreadfuls, you'll never want to leave." —Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman and Heart-Shaped Box

Charlie Ovid, despite surviving a brutal childhood in Mississippi, doesn't have a scar on him. His body heals itself, whether he wants it to or not. Marlowe, a foundling from a railway freight car, shines with a strange bluish light. He can melt or mend flesh. When Alice Quicke, a jaded detective with her own troubled past, is recruited to escort them to safety, all three begin a journey into the nature of difference and belonging, and the shadowy edges of the monstrous.

What follows is a story of wonder and betrayal, from the gaslit streets of London, and the wooden theaters of Meiji-era Tokyo, to an eerie estate outside Edinburgh where other children with gifts—like Komako, a witch-child and twister of dust, and Ribs, a girl who cloaks herself in invisibility—are forced to combat the forces that threaten their safety. There, the world of the dead and the world of the living threaten to collide. With this new found family, Komako, Marlowe, Charlie, Ribs, and the rest of the Talents discover the truth about their abilities. And as secrets within the Institute unfurl, a new question arises: What truly defines a monster?

Riveting in its scope, exquisitely written, Ordinary Monsters presents a catastrophic vision of the Victorian world—and of the gifted, broken children who must save it.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 7, 2022
ISBN9781250833747
Ordinary Monsters: A Novel
Author

J. M. Miro

J. M. Miro lives and writes in the Pacific Northwest.

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Reviews for Ordinary Monsters

Rating: 3.9545455575757575 out of 5 stars
4/5

66 ratings6 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Action packed and gruesome: the way a good penny dreadful should be. Children with talents—some eerie, some monstrous—fight and flee the terrors seeking to use them to open, or seal, the gate between the living and the dead.Great first half, as we meet Charlie the Healer, Komako the commander of dust, and uncanny Marlowe. But the action and slows as it settles at the institute in Cairndale. The scenes drag (but appropriately so) beyond the orsine in the city of the dead, but it all accelerates into a big, satisfying conclusion.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Major umbrella academy vibes
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ordinary Monsters by J. M. Miro is a novel that did not get much attention this year, and that saddens me. To me, it is very Gothic, dark, and disturbing. One might call it a supernatural horror story because it gets so dark. At over 600 pages, Mr. Miro takes his time building the plot and establishing the characters, but the wait is well worth it. Once the story starts in earnest, the rest unfolds at breakneck speed, leaving no chance for you or the poor characters to catch their breath. I enjoyed Ordinary Monsters and hope there are enough sales for Mr. Miro to publish the second book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the start of something big. This novel will be the start of a blockbuster trilogy. This book has everything - kids with special talents,, a Victorian setting and evil monsters with other worldly connections. Well over six hundred pages but it moves along at a rapid pace never lacking for action. Many times when a book is part of ta projected series it seems the authors spend too much time backgrounding book two. This is not the case here. This book stands well alone.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    adventure/suspense fantasy fiction / humans with superpowers, monsters in 19th century England/America.fun, immersive read--excellent pacing, storytelling, world building. Those 670+ pages just flew by, and I'll be anticipating the next installment.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro is an extraordinary read. I found it dark, moody, atmospheric and completely engrossing. The story takes place in what feels to be the 1800's, industrial age due to the heavy smog and descriptions given to London. I found myself feeling like Xavier's school for the gifted was now located in Scotland and the what the students had was referred to as "talents" rather than magic or abilities. The "talents" themselves were captivating and unique as were the children that had them. I am compltetely stoked that this is a trilogy even though the first book was quite the tome at nearly 700 pages it did not feel like a long book. It definitely had me hooked from the beginning. Definitely one of the best books I've read this year!

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Ordinary Monsters - J. M. Miro

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