Never a Hero by Vanessa Len

 

Publication Date: August 29th, 2023

Read: August 29th - 30th, 2023

Rating: 4/5 stars

Goodreads synopsis

Never a Hero is the sequel to Only a Monster and the second book of the Monsters trilogy by Vanessa Len. As I mentioned in my August wrap-up, I tried really hard to get an ARC of Never a Hero, because I liked Only a Monster so much, but it proved impossible. It turned out that Harpercollins wasn’t doing any ARCs at all for Never a Hero, even digital ones. This was a tragedy of epic proportions. But they sent me a finished copy, which was nice!

There are big spoilers for Only a Monster and mild spoilers for Never a Hero ahead, so…watch out!

In Only a Monster, we saw Joan try to save her family from a massacre, which culminated in her “unmaking” a fabled monster hunter in order to change the timeline and make it so the massacre never happened. We also found out that said monster hunter (Nick) just might have been Joan’s true love in another timeline – the original timeline. So that makes this timeline #3, and it lets us look at what happens…if there was Never a Hero. 

Sorry, sorry, that was a little cheesy.

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez

Good title, pretty cover, meh book

Expected publication date: October 31st, 2023

Read: August 18th - 24th, 2023

Rating: 3/5 stars

Did I like it? No. Did I hate it? No. Is it bad? Yes, I think so. 

This book sort of glided by with very little emotional investment from me. For the record, I was trying pretty hard to give this book a fair shake. I had just had my expectations way exceeded by The Scarlet Alchemist, a book from an author whose work I had previously disliked, so I was like hey, maybe this trend will keep up. Maybe I'll like this way more than I liked Isabel Ibanez's debut.

Everyone is wrong sometimes.

What the River Knows is the story of Inez, an Bolivian-Argentinian girl whose parents are obsessed with Egypt and spend many months out of every year in Egypt, assisting Inez’s mother’s brother on archaeological digs. Despite how much Inez begs her parents to be brought along, they have never taken her to Egypt. But then they die suddenly, and Inez decides to disguise herself as a young widow and finally go to Egypt in order to find out what really happened to her parents. Through a lot of stubbornness and arguably bad decisions, she manages to convince her uncle to let her come along on an expedition, where she uses her artistic talents to help record their findings. There’s sort of a brewing conspiracy relating to Cleopatra’s tomb, and while she’s trying to figure out what’s going on, Inez is gradually growing closer to her uncle’s Hot Young British Assistant, Whitford Hayes.

Also, this is a historical setting - specifically, we’re in the 1880s - but it’s kind of an alternate history where objects imbued with magic exist and that’s more or less normal.

Maybe it’s because I kept my expectations as neutral as possible, but I didn’t dislike this book as strongly as I disliked Woven in Moonlight when I read it. So that might be a positive. However, I think this book is pretty bad. I think it’s a type of bad that a lot of people could have a lot of fun with, and I don’t want to discount that! But overall I simply think it was bad. I was only barely invested enough to wanted to know what would happen at the end, and when I did know what happened, I was just like, "Okay."

Kerensa, what was bad about it? Well, one thing that made it bad for me, personally, was the main character, Inez. One thing that this book and Ibanez’s debut have in common is that they both have very brash, headstrong, impulsive main characters. Inez is slightly less prone to super-cringy banter than what I remember of WiM’s protagonist, but she sure does love to rush into situations by herself, with absolutely no back-up! If there’s one thing Inez is good at, it’s snap decisions and trusting the wrong people. If there’s one thing she’s bad at, it’s critical thinking. It’s hard to like a character when you feel like she’s impulsive, naïve, and just kind of stupid, without much in the way of endearing or redeeming qualities. I didn’t particularly like Inez.

As for the setting, while it felt like Ibanez had done research into the history of Egypt in the 1880s and other details of the setting, her characters ultimately did not feel grounded in that history. This is true even when she gave them backstories where they had personal emotional connections to real historical figures. The way that they talk and act, and even some of the beliefs that they espouse, just didn’t make me feel like these were characters from the 1880s. 

Obviously, there are always questions with historical fiction of how much writers should try to be “historically accurate” versus how much they should modernize, because every modern writer will modernize to some extent. Here, it just felt like the wrong balance was struck. But since I’m admittedly very nitpicky about historical fiction in general, I admit that many readers probably wouldn’t be as thrown by I was by Inez’s uncle declaring that he believes in a fair living wage (I was 2 seconds from google searching if fair living wages were a common subject of debate in the 1880s, but then I restrained myself). And to be fair, I do think that there's leeway for young adult fiction especially to use historical fiction as a way to discuss current social issues instead of perfectly replicating period ones. If that was what was being attempted here, I just found it a little distracting.

More annoying were the ways that the characters would invoke the idea of restrictive social mores, and then simply ignore them. Inez will observe that it’s improper for her to be going around un-chaperoned, but then she keeps doing it, and there are virtually no consequences, outside of other characters being kind of annoyed at her for being improper. There’s no real sense that Inez’s reputation or social standing will suffer from all the scandalous things she does, and she kind of shrugs off the possibility as if it doesn’t really matter. She spends a good chunk of the book calling Whit “Mr. Hayes,” and then decides of her own accord that they’re friends, and she gets to call him “Whit,” now. He doesn't even want her to call him Whit! 

I guess my real issue here is, don't bring up the possibility of social disgrace if it's not something you're actually interested in exploring or worrying about. This is already an alternate history, so in theory it could be a version of the 19th century where it's fine for a young woman to do all the things Inez does. If you're going to say, "Oh no, I'm unchaperoned!" then maybe that should actually feel like there are tangible consequences to it? Even if they're acknowledged as being unfair consequences? I don't know, man.

Moving on. In general, I did not love the dynamic between Inez and Whit. I was sort of interested in the beginning, and I felt like they actually had pretty good banter and an interesting dynamic. But for so much of the middle of the book, it feels like that dynamic stagnates. There’s a lot of back and forth from Inez where she’s wondering if Whit likes her, worrying about him apparently being engaged, telling the reader that they’re getting closer without showing us much, and then wondering again if he likes her. This was not enough to sustain my already very mild interest. I got to a point where I was very ready for some real progression on either the relationship or the plot, and then nothing happened on either front. For like, a good chunk of the middle of this story, it felt like nothing was happening.

The conclusion was fine. I mean, it was very silly, but not much sillier than everything that preceded it, I guess. The twist at the very end was, as previously mentioned, a little bit interesting. But I won't be reading the next book.

Ultimately, I think a lot of people will probably have fun with this. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of them. I didn't hate it, but I'm left very...whelmed. Like her bestie Rebecca Ross, I think Isabel Ibanez just isn't for me.

August 2023 Wrap-Up: ARCs, ARcs, more ARCs, and an anticipated release!

August, the month of ARCs. The only book I read this month that wasn't an ARC was Never a Hero, and that doesn't feel like it should count since I tried really hard to get an ARC. (Harpercollins wasn't doing US ARCs, tragically, but they did send me a finished copy, which was really nice).

This was an okay reading month. I feel like I read a lot of books that I ended up not feeling that strongly about, with only a couple of standouts. The fact that almost everything I read this month was YA may have contributed to that? YA usually makes up 30-60% of my reading, not 90%. I definitely got to a point where I was extra-over certain YA tropes. But I don't think that was the only reason.

September will probably also be a month of ARCs, but I'm going to try and pivot a little to middle grade? It depends. 

Let's get into it!

I read 9 books in August and DNF'ed 2. My average rating out of 5 stars was 3.4. I'm usually a pretty generous rater, so I feel like this goes to show how many books I read this month that I was super "meh" about.

And now for the books.

Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton

Rating: 3 stars

I've already written a full review of this one, but Sing Me to Sleep is the story of a siren who's also an assassin in a magically-isolated fae kingdom where her existence is illegal. Very YA in trope choices and execution, but enjoyable if you like that vibe. I feel like people who like Tarquin from ACOTAR or Maven from Red Queen might like this. I can also see Saoirse appealing to Throne of Glass fans. What all of those comps mean is, this wasn't for me, but it's definitely for somebody. Possibly a lot of people. 

 

By Any Other Name by Erin Cotter

DNF

I picked this up because I was in the process of trying to read more 2023 YA and middle grade releases for work reasons. Then I read 60 pages and DNF'd. I wrote a little unstarred Goodreads review, but basically the writing felt like it was self-consciously trying really hard to sound historical by using 'tis in every other sentence. At the same time, some of the language felt oddly anachronistic, the main character annoyed me, and when the love interest showed up I could tell we were setting up a rivals/enemies-to-lovers situation that I just didn't care about at all. Another great example of "definitely for somebody, but not for me." I think to read this book, you really have to get on board with the 'tises, because I have a feeling they're never ending.

The Infinity Particle by Wendy Xu

Rating: 3 stars

A graphic novel about a robot engineer falling in love with a robot who looks like a xianxia character, all because they've both experienced emotional abuse. It is cute, and I loved all the different robot designs, but the romance felt very rushed and I thought this story didn't actually really do much that was interesting with AI ethical quandaries. You're telling me this beautiful robot man automatically gets rights, including the right to legally self-govern, simply because he happens to be a beautiful and exceptionally humanoid robot man? I think Murderbot has also spoiled me a bit for any kind of story where robots want to be as human-like as possible, so maybe I'm just not the right audience for this. It is cute though!

A Hundred Vicious Turns by Lee Paige-O'Brien

Rating: 3 stars

Oof. I really wanted to like this one. About halfway through, I realized that this book doesn't just have a slow start, it also has a slow middle and an end that's alternately slow and whirlwind. While the premise and character concepts were interesting, I couldn't quite connect with any aspect of this story, from the writing to the characters to the setting. Unfortunate! I know some people will love this though. Wish I were one of them...!

A Bright Heart by Kate Chenli

Rating: 3.5 stars

It's astonishing how good this book is at capturing the exact vibe of watching a historical/fantasy C-drama. I had fun imagining a C-drama version of this book in my head as I read along. That being said, if you want complex characters, relationships that feel natural instead of rushed, or worldbuilding that's not just conveyed in paragraphs of dialogue, this may not be the book for you. I appreciate it for what it is (essence of C-drama in book form) but there are also plenty of reasons why someone might not like this. (Also, there were like, several kissing scenes, and the writing was pretty but there was too much tongue action described. Excessive tongue action is an ick for me personally).

The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

Rating: 4.5 stars

I was super surprised by how much I liked this book! For context, last year I read Kylie Lee Baker's debut, Keeper of Night, and gave it 2 stars because I hated the main character and didn't like the direction the story took. But this book was such a ride! Many of the same elements from Keeper of Night are present here, but this time they really worked for me across the board. I'd describe this book as A Deadly Education meets Fullmetal Alchemist, with a villain inspired by Wu Zetian. Also I want to add the additional caveat that it's a pretty dark and bloody story (there are a fair amount of rotting corpses described, and in general it's pretty bloody for a YA novel IMO), so read with caution.

 

If I Have To Be Haunted by Miranda Sun

Rating: 2.75 stars

This book isn't the worst thing I've ever read and I think a lot of people would probably enjoy it. But I didn't mesh with it, and after a month of mostly mediocre reads, this was just a chore for me. I spent more time nitpicking the writing than enjoying the story while reading. I think it was especially tough to read something I was so "meh" on right after really enjoying The Scarlet Alchemist.

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez

Rating: 3 stars

I didn't hate the experience of reading this. But very often, my reaction to things that happened was just, "This is silly," or "Scorpions are arachnids, not insects," or "I don't think this book understands corsets very well." Early on, I did enjoy the dynamic between the romantic leads, but it kind of stagnated and got boring later (And let's be real, the Whit POV interludes were totally extraneous). I do have to give this book credit for a mildly interesting twist at the end, but I think Isabel Ibanez is still not for me. I did like this book better than Woven in Moonlight, though. At least this book doesn't have a doomed second male lead for me to get attached to before he's unceremoniously killed!

The cover is very pretty, though.

 

So Let Them Burn by Kamillah Cole

Soft DNF at 92ish pages

For some reason, I thought this was a fall release when I started reading it. It's actually coming out in January 2024, so I'm temporarily abandoning it because of my previously-mentioned work project. I think it's probably also better for this book that I don't keep reading it right now - the premise is great, but I keep noticing myself nitpicking little details and writing choices. It's like I can't turn off my writing/editing brain. Also, it keeps reminding me of Fire with Fire?

My hope is that when I come back to this one, I'm able to be a more generous reader and turn off the nitpicky part of my brain.

 

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

Rating: 4.5 stars

After all of the YA I've been reading this month, I really needed a palate cleanser, and I felt a middle grade book would be a good option. It was! This book is short, charming, and poignant. I teared up several times. It has cats, ghosts, some mystery, some books, and a lot of heart. I would recommend it to fans of the Beatryce Prophecy. Also, it came out on August 29th, so it should be available by the time I post this wrap-up!

Never a Hero by Vanessa Len (sequel to Only a Monster)

Rating: 4 stars

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and I couldn't get an ARC of it, so I was really excited to begin reading it on August 29th. I was super happy to be back in this world with these characters, and I'm really looking forward to the third book of the Monsters trilogy. This book definitely suffers a bit from being the second book in a trilogy and perhaps also from being Vanessa Len's second book (the sophomore slump comes for us all), but I liked it despite the flaws. I like Joan, I like Nick, and perhaps most importantly, I like Aaron. I'll definitely write a longer review soon.

Then on the very last day of August, I technically read chapter one of The Goblin Emperor, but that barely merits mentioning. I was having a bad day and thought rereading a favorite might be the cure. It wasn't, but the bad day eventually figured itself out anyway. I don't know if I'll actually reread The Goblin Emperor right now or do something else, but expect at least a few more ARCs from me in September.