Ordinary Monsters

The Talents, Book 1

By: J. M. Miro

Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe

Length: 25 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

"Charles Dickens meets Joss Whedon in Miro’s otherworldly Netflix-binge-like novel." —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...

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.

©2022 J.M. Miro (P)2022 McClelland & Stewart

It left me wanting more.

This is a truly engaging first novel in what is likely to be a trilogy. The story starts off somewhat slowly but becomes increasingly compelling in terms of its plot and its characters. The characters are all very intriguing, but it's the relationship of Charlie and Marlowe that is especially touching. The world the novel creates is unusual in that it's not always clear who is are the villains and who might be the heroes. I got to the end and wished the sequels were already written. I'm so eager to learn what happens to the whole cast of characters. I'll certainly be downloading the subsequent novels.

This is a well-written novel full of twists and unexpected outcomes. Miro plays with the fantasy conventions, so those who are experts in this particular kind of fantasy novel (special children, a school for those with gifts, helpers, hinderers, etc.) will find it particularly interesting. I highly recommend it.