Only a Monster Can Kill a Hero by Vanessa Len

(Hodder & Stoughton, 2022)

Reviewed by John Dodd

Girl meets Boy, something special about him, first date soon results in mass murder…

Well, it’s not Twilight, that’s for sure.

Joan doesn’t believe that she’s a monster. She thinks that her gran is just saying those things in the way that misguided older relatives often do, and so she makes her way in the world till she finds someone who’s interested in her and takes the chance of going out to see them, to take her first steps in the adult world. Things don’t quite go to plan. Joan realises that her gran was telling the truth, and that she is in fact a monster and worse, that the boy she went to see for the first time is a Hero.

The Hero.

The one who has been pre-ordained to hunt all the monsters down and destroy them, even her family, even her.

Wonderful premise, an excellent upturning of the conventional wisdom that heroes must be virtuous and good, and that monsters must be evil and dark, even though in recent years, that particular illusion has often been shattered. This isn’t grimdark though, it’s not even close, the monsters have little to differentiate themselves from normal humans. To be sure they have powers beyond those of mere mortals, and as such, can be far more dangerous should they choose to be, but that’s the heart of this novel. The choice, the will to say that you will not be those things that fate said you must be, that you can be in control of your own destiny.

There’s time travel involved, which I always enjoy, and the suggestion that time itself is almost sentient, a force that will adjust itself to stop whatever it is that you have done, so that it may continue unhindered by your meddling. I very much liked the idea that there is not what if, only what is, there is no changing of the past, because time is on to you, and will thwart your efforts at every turn. Most of all, I liked that the author was more than happy to challenge what she had cast in stone at the beginning of the story by the end of it, and that there were many surprises to be had throughout the novel.

There are a lot of moments where the emotions of the main characters are laid bare on the page, many times the story could be likened to Twilight in the way Joan often found herself longing for the men around her, only to find her resolve tested again and again when she found those men less than they should have been. Joan very much comes across as young as she is, there’s no great understanding or wisdom in her and she’s impulsive in the way that only the young are, which is essential for this story and the way it plays out.

There’s a lot to like in this, the worldbuilding is wonderful, the twelve different clans of monsters and their myriad abilities, the Hero and what it took to make him what he is now, the sense of loss and helplessness when fate continues to frustrate the best of intentions and the refusal to acknowledge that there is nothing that can be done about tragedies. I’ll be honest when I say I didn’t like the reveal at the end, it had been alluded to the entire book, but it was so sudden when it arrived that it gave me pause afterwards. As a shock to the system, it worked well, but I would have preferred some hint towards what was going to happen, something of the potential twist to come.

Notwithstanding that, this is an excellent book, good characters and wonderful premise. It’s a very strong debut and I feel there’s a lot more to explore in this universe.

Review from BSFA Review 18 - Download your copy here.