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Monsters
Series · 3 books · 2022-2025

Books in series

Only a Monster book cover
#1

Only a Monster

2022

It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place. But she soon learns the truth. Her family aren’t just eccentric: they’re monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And Nick isn’t just a cute boy: he’s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down. As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She’ll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story... ...she is not the hero.
Never a Hero book cover
#2

Never a Hero

2023

This sequel to the contemporary fantasy Only a Monster will take Joan deeper into the monster world, where treacherous secrets and even more danger await. Despite all of the odds, Joan achieved the impossible. She reset the timeline, saved her family – and destroyed the hero, Nick. But her success has come at a terrible cost. She alone remembers what happened. Now, Aaron, her hard-won friend – and maybe more – is an enemy, trying to kill her. And Nick, the boy she loved, is a stranger who doesn’t even know her name. Only Joan remembers that there is a ruthless and dangerous enemy still out there. When a deadly attack forces Joan back into the monster world as a fugitive, she finds herself on the run with Nick – as Aaron closes in. As the danger rises – and Nick gets perilously closer to discovering the truth of what Joan did to him – Joan discovers a secret of her own. One that threatens everyone she loves. Torn between love and family and monstrous choices, Joan must find a way to re-gather her old allies to face down the deadliest of enemies, and to save the timeline itself. Vanessa Len’s stunning Only a Monster trilogy continues with this second instalment, a thrilling journey where a secret past threatens to unravel everyone's future.
Once a Villain book cover
#3

Once a Villain

2025

The finale in the contemporary fantasy Only a Monster trilogy from Vanessa Len—which New York Times bestselling authors Holly Black, Chloe Gong, and Stephanie Garber called “delightful,” “captivating,” and “unputdownable”—will take Joan into the darkest timeline in the monster world, as she fights to restore the world she remembers. Joan has failed to stop Eleanor. Now restored, the thirteenth family rules ruthlessly over a new London in which monsters live openly among humans, preying on them and subjugating them. Only Joan and her friends Aaron and Nick remember that there was once a better timeline. Now, as they negotiate their fractured pasts and face wrenching emotional decisions, they must fight to survive the new world and fix the broken timeline. But how will they defeat a whole family of monsters with power over time itself? The unstoppable love and high stakes of Divine Rivals meets the intricate worldbuilding and propulsive thrills of This Savage Song in this high\-octane, cross\-genre finale to the Only a Monster trilogy—where a breathless race against time and an all\-knowing enemy is the only chance for Joan, Aaron, and Nick to restore the world they love.

Author

Vanessa Len
Vanessa Len
Author · 3 books
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.
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Monsters