This book. This story. This whole idea, these characters, this world.

It's all just...so good.

Children and teenagers with special gifts. An institute that trains them. A pathway to the world of the dead. A man of smoke and ash. A tattooed lady, a blind teacher, a brave nursemaid. A young woman who can control the dust, a young man who cannot be injured, an invisible girl. A little boy on whose shoulders rest the fate of the world. A cat with four eyes, birds made of bone and metal, a creature from another dimension. All set in the gritty, mucky, soot-covered world of the Victorian era.

This is the first book in what promises to be a dark contemporary fantasy of epic proportions. With shades of Harry Potter, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, but written for an adult audience, this story will suck you in and hold you captive for hours, finally spitting you at at the end exhausted, frightened, exhilarated, and heartbroken.

One of the best books I've read in a long time, with a fascinating mythology and a cast of heroes and villains you won't soon forget. I am very much looking forward to the next two books. I can't wait to see where this story goes.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Good: Gifted children at a school for those with powers
The Bad: Perhaps too expansive - too many characters; unclear motivations; unrealized magical systems
The Literary: Gothic and Victorian!

Marlowe is an orphan, a foundling on a rail car, who occasionally shines with a bright blue light, a light that burns, melts, and heals flesh. Charlie's an orphan too. His body heals itself, whether he wants it to or not, and after being hanged in Texas for the accidental death of his employer, and surviving, he's locked up and beaten daily. Little do Marlowe and Charlie know that their lives will change forever when two grizzled detectives, Alice and Coulton, find them and escort them to London and eventually Edinburgh, where an Institute houses other young children with gifts.

There are certainly plenty of other stories about children with supernatural abilities who find a place for themselves among their peers in a special school, from the classic X-Men to the more recent Umbrella Academy. Marlowe and Charlie find a new home with Komako, Ribs, and Oskar. And like those stories, this includes the pleasantly familiar coming of age arcs as the children learn the nature of their differences. I love that the children all have dark pasts, often involving extreme poverty or the death of a loved one.

Speaking of dark pasts, set in 1882, this book is appropriately gothic for a story set in the Victorian era. The nature of the children's gifts the and basis for the magical systems throughout are based on death, specifically the manipulation of dead flesh. The Institute where their school resides hides dark secrets, from children who disappear in the night, to a portal to the underworld, to a headmaster with his own motives, which don't have the children's best interests in mind. On top of that, a terribly powerful man surrounded by smoke is hunting Marlowe and Charlie.

At the same time, there's a lot about this book that doesn't feel quite finished. Despite the large cast of characters, the plot still relies on all the important people just happening to come together at the right time. The magical system and the children's powers, while dark and alluring, aren't really part of the climactic struggle. The motivations and relationships of several of the adults are muddled. Despite Marlowe and Charlie being the primary protagonists, many parts of the book don't include them at all as the perspective and timeline jumps around.

That being said, the story subverts my expectations of familiar tropes multiple times. I love the rich and expansive (and macabre) worldbuilding. Several quiet character moments (Komako's sisters' death in a playhouse storage room in Tokyo, and Charlie and Marlowe's discussion of their parentage in a moldy room in the underworld) and several high-stakes action scenes (the first battle with the man surrounded by smoke in and on top of a train, and a claustrophobic fight scene in a basement between two women and a golem) are so vivid that I think these characters will stick with me a long time.

Ordinary Monsters is a multi-layered, epic historical fantasy story about the many lines that exist between heroes and villains, the ordinary and the extraordinary. It’s an immersive, dark, and grueling world that pulls readers into a sprawling story that follows a sizable cast of characters as they embark on a journey against some rather malicious and unknown forces.

There are a lot of moving parts to Ordinary Monsters, which makes it difficult to succinctly describe the plot, but I’ll do my best. The story starts out in Victorian London with two “detectives” who are on the move to track down various children with what appear to be special powers to take them back to the Cairndale Institute in order to protect them from aforementioned malicious forces who may want to cause them harm in various forms.

We follow a somewhat expansive cast of characters and jump around through a number of POVs, time periods, and locations. I found myself having having to orient myself more than a few times during a time or location jump in order to remind myself of where the story was and what was going on, especially since there are sometimes POVs shifts within chapters. I think it could be easy to get a little confused at times with this setup, but fortunately I found Miro’s storytelling would quickly get me back on track. All of the individual characters were remarkably well-developed and had really fleshed out personalities, backgrounds, and motivations. It’s easy to get bogged down with characters in books of this size, but I think Miro did a good job of setting them apart from one another and giving each one a specific storyline that was compelling and stood on its own.

The magic in Ordinary Monsters takes the form of the "talents" that the children have, such as the ability to become invisible or to heal one's body from various injuries. There are also some more peculiar talents that had different implications relating to the plot that I really don't want to say much about in order to avoid spoilers, but just know that things continuously get more and more interesting as the story progresses. The Cairndale Institute is meant to be a school and home to these children, and I really loved getting to explore this setting. I will say that I expected Cairndale to be a slightly bigger setting and have a larger role given how much it is mentioned in the marketing and by the characters, but we don't really spend all that much time doing a lot at the Institute. We don't actually even reach the Institute until quite a ways into the novel, so it's not quite the school-based fantasy I expected, but I didn't personally mind that at all.

My main problem (and probably only real problem) with Ordinary Monsters was with the pacing. This is a thoughtful, slow-paced story that cannot be rushed through. I don’t have any problems with a slow-paced story, and in fact I often really enjoy and prefer them over books that are too fast-paced. That being said, I found the thoughtful pacing to be a bit inconsistent at times, and after a really compelling and well-written first third of the book I started noticing the middle portions dragging a bit. That’s not to say that nothing of interest happens in the middle of the book, as there is plenty of action and intrigue, but things just slowed considerably and I found myself really having to push myself to get through it at times. I flew threw the first half of the book, but as we moved further into the middle sections (specifically latter middle sections), my reading became much slower and it took me longer than I expected to finish. The very end of the book also really picks up the pace and there is a lot of action to make up for the slower pacing, but with that action came the sense that things were just a bit too jam-packed together; there was a lot of build-up that was executed very quickly.

All that being said, I was really impressed with Ordinary Monsters and J.M. Miro’s contribution to the historical fantasy subgenre. It’s obvious that Miro knows what they are doing with writing and put immense amounts of thought, planning, and effort into creating this expansive this world and multi-faceted magic system. I am very eager to see where the next installment will take us after such a riveting and momentous ending, although I’m sure it will be a bit of a wait.

Overall, I’ve given Ordinary Monsters four stars! This may be a big book, but if you’re looking for a new fantasy that really takes its time to develop character, world, and magic system, then this is one you should probably add to your TBR.

QUICK-ISH TAKE: Stick with me here.⁣
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Ordinary Monsters is a f*cking mess. It’s epically long at 672 pages, with a sprawling cast of characters, an unwieldy system of magic, a school for gifted youth that feels very familiar, and some muddled character motivation. I could list all the things that I struggled with in this book when I first read it over a year ago...⁣
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That being said, I CANNOT STOP THINKING ABOUT ORDINARY MONSTERS. Even having read it a year ago, it is still resonating with me. The story of a mysterious detective agency (think Pinkertons) in a race against time to track down two children with mysterious powers and protect them from a malevolent force, Ordinary Monsters somehow feels familiar while also managing to subvert expectations and take this genre to an entirely new level.⁣
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As someone who read 250 books last year, I struggle to remember key scenes or characters pretty soon after I finish a book (it’s a gift and a curse!), but with #OrdinaryMonsters, I can still remember the epic train battle, the stunning and haunting Tokyo section, and the brutal hand-to-hand combat between two badass female characters and a terrifying golem.⁣
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This is world-building on an epic scope, the likes of which I haven’t read since WANDERERS and THE NIGHT CIRCUS. Like those books, this one is nowhere near perfect. But I’m okay with a big glorious mess if it sticks with me the way this book has. JM Miro is an exciting new voice in grounded fantasy, and I can’t wait to see where they go next in this trilogy.

Ordinary Monsters will surely go down as one of my favorite reads in 2022! It's got spectacular characters, rich atmosphere, and a compelling plot.

You'll be transported to Victorian London with all it's grit and grandeur, there you will begin to meet a cast of characters with unique and extraordinary powers. These characters are both hunted by outside forces and haunted by internal ones as they find their way to a safe haven in Edinburgh.

While the bones of this story may sound familiar ( X Men,Umbrella Academy) I can tell you that Ordinary Monsters took a familiar genre and elevated it. Not a word of this almost 700 pages felt meandering or excessive, everything was cleverly woven. This is a true celebration of morally grey characters that's not to be missed!

I enjoyed Ordinary Monsters so greatly that I instantly requested the audio version after reading the physical. The narrator is spectacular and adds an even deeper layer to story!

Thanks to Flatiron Books, the author, and Goodreads for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review

With the news lately and the general condition of the world, I don't think it's any surprise to see the argument in fiction that the monsters are us. J. M. Miro, whose fantasy debut Ordinary Monsters is out on June 7, has her share of concern and pessimism about the world, but her story about a ragtag bunch of children with powers is ultimately a hopeful one.

Ordinary Monsters features an ensemble cast of characters, all of whom are connected to the secret Scottish estate Carindale. Its owner, Dr. Henry Berghast, sends out his agents to collect the Talents and bring them to him for their own protection. But the estate, shrouded in gloom and haunted by a violent crime a decade earlier, is not so safe as its protectors claim. The wards are failing, and the children of Cairndale don't know enough about themselves or the world to defend themselves. At first.

Into this tense detante comes a pair of would-be brothers, Charlie and Marlowe. Charlie is a Black boy from the American South whose treatment at the hands of White law enforcement is as brutal as it is familiar. Jim Crow has stolen Charlie's life quite literally: the sheriff tried to kill him, but he wouldn't stay dead. He heals from gunshots and beatings, but the pain lingers, and he doesn't know if Cairndale will be a haven or more of the same. On his way there he meets Marlowe, a younger White boy being pursued by some of the same monsters.

Marlowe is a foundling adopted by a series of mothers who know of his strange power to glow and to heal. But they keep him close and stay on the run, knowing that the world will not understand him. Marlowe and Charlie unite out of desperation but slowly become real friends, opening up to each other and to some of the other kids at Cairndale.

The children—the Talents—come from all over the world, but their powers have universal and specific bounds. They can only work their magic upon dead matter, and they are further limited in the subject of their workings. Charlie can only work his magic on his own body, but he can heal from every wound save decapitation. Komako can manipulate the dead cells all around, pulling the dust to her and then shaping it to her purposes. Others can become very dense or tall, can turn invisible, or can create golems of flesh or bone. Some of these powers are a bit thin on their connection to death, but Miro isn’t trying to Sanderson it. She wants a ragtag team of tragic, powerful kids to save the world, and I’m willing to suspend some disbelief to go along with her vision, which is as effective a Gaslamp fantasy as I’ve read. It's as if the X-Men were given only powers related to death, and then sent to Victorian England to be part of a very special school headed by a singularly driven man. Or, it’s like Sabriel, with its dead who refuse to stay dead. There are also elements of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

There are a lot of likes, but Ordinary Monsters is ultimately only itself. And there's a lot to like about it. The prose is compelling with a dreamy tendency, elaborating on details and then skipping over transitions to insist only on the most important parts. Miro likewise writes emotional and situational complexity with a light, deft touch. She never over-explains, which washes her landscapes with eerie ambiguity. Is there a threat? Is it from without, or from within? We're asked to keep track of many half-truths and lies and sort them out ourselves, just as Charlie, Marlowe, and everyone else must try to do.

The villains are credibly sympathetic and uncomfortably maddened by the burdens placed upon them. There is no one to hate, but many to dread. Jacob Marber seems a force of nature, but his tragic past and his deep well of feeling do not entirely square with the picture of evil that others paint. Equally and opposite, the nobility of Henry Berghast, who has put his fortune and position entirely in the service of uniting and educating Talents, is tarnished by a cool ends-justify-the-means obsession with saving the world. Heroism and compassion are fascinatingly at odds within Ordinary Monsters, and Miro is certainly asking deep questions about how we can reconcile ourselves to grief for the dead and the terrible trials of living.

Miro doles out secrets in a steady breadcrumb trail, tidbits that always leave you hungry for more. The revelations are never twists; there is always a patient scaffolding of rumor and detail going up for every big reveal, so that everything feels perfectly believable. The ending left me with many questions, but so many others were answered that it didn’t feel like a cheat. It just made me eager for more.

This book stands very much on the shoulders of giants, its many predecessors in fantasy, comics, and Victorian settings. That's actually all to the good. Miro is clearly aware of convention and carves out her own little niche, in conversation with plenty of other books and able to bring plenty of artistry to that conversation. It's a solid read, engaging from start to finish, and well-written to boot. I will be extremely pleased to keep reading, and I look forward to the next installment.

"A STUNNING NEW WORK OF HISTORICAL FANTASY, J. M. MIRO'S ORDINARY MONSTERS INTRODUCES READERS TO THE DARK, LABYRINTHINE WORLD OF THE TALENTS.

England, 1882. In Victorian London, two children with mysterious powers are hunted by a figure of darkness - a man made of smoke.

Sixteen-year-old Charlie Ovid, despite 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. And as secrets within the Institute unfurl, Komako, Marlowe, Charlie, Ribs, and the rest of the talents will discover the truth about their abilities, and the nature of what is stalking them: that the worst monsters sometimes come bearing the sweetest gifts.

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."

THIS is exactly what I wanted from The Nevers! That didn't deliver, THIS does.

There were some parts in the middle that really dragged for me, but overall I enjoyed this dark, long, heavy book! It was like Miss Peregrines home for peculiar children, but for adults.

I'm in the vast minority here but I cannot seem to find my way into this one... I was highly intrigued by the concept and liked the beginning, but I felt like I got mired down fairly shortly thereafter and just never caught the rhythm of the story or connected with the characters enough to continue reading. Don't know if it's the wrong book at the wrong time or just the wrong book for me altogether... I like the idea behind it well enough, that paired with the overwhelmingly positive response from other readers, I would consider picking it up again but right now this is just not working for me.

Set in England in 1882, the story follows Charlie Ovid, a teenager with the supernatural ability to heal himself and Marlow, a young boy who glows blue in the darkness. They are talents, ordinary people who can do extraordinary things. A man who can control dust and shadows hunts them down for his own evil purposes. They must make it to a hidden institute in Scotland where they can be protected but more than just the man of shadows hunts them and the institute may not be as safe as it seems.

This book was a penny dreadful on steroids! All of the characters are multi-faceted and interesting with their own back stories and goals. No one is exactly as they seem. The idea of "talents" is nothing new and reminds me of Marvel's X-Men storyline to the extent that their is a hidden school to keep these children safe and teachers to help them hone their abilities. This story differs in that this story is less about the school and more focused on the journey the characters take to get there. Like any good penny-dreadful, the horror level is fairly high but it absolutely fits in the story. The author uses rich, descriptive language to create an atmosphere of darkness and dread throughout. It is a lengthy read but, surprisingly, it kept my attention.. I always wanted to know what was going to happen and how it would end. This is a must-purchase for any library but particularly for horror and paranormal collections. It is absolutely compelling and terrifying.

Ordinary Monsters
by J.M. Miro
Pub Date: June 7, 2022
Flatiron Books
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
A stunning new work of historical fantasy, J. M. Miro's Ordinary Monsters introduces readers to the dark, labyrinthine world of The Talents

England, 1882. In Victorian London, two children with mysterious powers are hunted by a figure of darkness —a man made of smoke. This was easily the longest book I’ve ever read clocking in at 660 pages, and I’m not jumping at the opportunity for another long read.

The characters were all so very well written with LOTS of backstories and character development. There are also a few twists with who you think is who and a great sense of found family.
4 stars

Thank you to Flatiron Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read Ordinary Monsters by J.M.Miro.

Ordinary Monsters follows a group of orphan children that each have special powers. The story opens on a freight train in Victorian era England. Marlowe, an infant, is found in the arms of a dead woman. Marlowe has a very special talent and that makes him a target for something unspeakably evil. From the train we follow Marlow from London, to the United States, and then to Scotland.

This book has it all: a boy who lived, magic, dark strangers, a school that isn't what it seems, and tons of action. I'm so glad that I read it even though the length can be a little daunting. There were times while I read where I thought "this could have been a whole other book." Particularly, I thought the Japan section could stand alone. But in the end everything is tied together so thoroughly that I'm not sure the story would be as effective if I didn't read it all at once.

I am really excited for the second book of the series and can't wait to see what happens next!

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ordinary Monsters by J. M. Miro is a historical fantasy that will appeal to fans of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children or Penny Dreadful. The story is set in Victorian London and revolves around a group of teenagers with Talents. Charlie, a mixed-race boy, can heal his body and is basically immortal. Marlowe can cause flesh to melt. Can they learn to find their place in a world that calls them freaks?

Here is a captivating excerpt from Chapter 1:

"The first time Eliza Grey laid eyes on the baby was at dusk in a slow-moving boxcar on a rain-swept stretch of the line three miles west of Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk, England. She was sixteen years old, unlettered, unworldly, with eyes dark as the rain, hungry because she had not eaten since the night before last, coatless and hatless because she had fled in the dark without thinking where she could run to or what she might do next. Her throat still bore the marks of her employer’s thumbs, her ribs the bruises from his boots. In her belly grew his baby, though she did not know it yet. She had left him for dead in his nightshirt with a hairpin standing out of his eye.
She’d been running ever since."

Overall, Ordinary Monsters is a lovely historical fantasy that is impressive in scope and field. One highlight of this book is how much research the author must have done in order to write about different places in the 1880's. I felt like I was transported into a different time, and it felt very authentic and accurate to me. If I had to complain about 1 thing, I would say that I expected a bit more action in a book about teenagers with superpowers. I'm sure many readers will appreciate the slow pace though. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of historical fantasies, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in June!

This book was a really exciting read that kept me glue throughout the who 700 page experience! It was lyrical and dark and somehow made a Victorian era historical fantasy feel new. The characters were diverse and interesting, the writing was beautiful, and the plot moved at a great page. This is the first book in a long time that I wanted to take my time with and not rush through. I can't wait to see what the next one will bring!

This was excellent victorian gothic magical fiction. Unfortunately, I lost interest and it ended up on my DNF list.
I enjoyed the characters, I hope to try to pick it up again.

Thank you for my copy of Ordinary Monsters! I really looked forward to reading this dark, gripping story. It did not disappoint! I can't wait to read the next book to see what happens with these characters.

Before I started this book, I was confused/intrigued by all the buzz. But after reading it, I can say that it lives up to the hype! I adore J. M. Miro's writing style (I'd love to know what name he writes his literary fiction under so I can read it) and fell in love with his characters and worldbuilding.

This is a pretty thick book but I'd argue that the way it's written is great for those who prefer shorter forms of fiction. I don't mind confusion/getting lost in exposition but I was surprised to not have that experience at all. The beginning was really strong, intriguing, and well-paced. The perspectives moved naturally and Miro knows when to withhold information and when to give it to the reader.

I'm not sure about this being an adult Harry Potter (I'm not even sure what that would look like). I'd say this carves its own space out in the Fantasy space.

The first 20% of this book was absolutely fantastic. The dark, emotional background of these characters made me fall instantly in love with them. Unfortunately from there, things went a bit down hill for me. The villain of the story was just okay and everything got a bit repetitive. Don’t get me wrong I still enjoyed my time, but the first quarter really raised my expectations in a way the remainder of the book did not reach. I will continue on with book 2 and can’t wait to see what happens!

I don't think <strong>Ordinary Monsters </strong>is a bad book at all - I suspect it will get very high ratings from most readers, and probably deserves to. This is one of those times where the problem is almost certainly the reader, not the book.

It just felt so <em>heavy</em>. Both in tone - it's not grimdark, I don't think, but the characters are not rich white people, there's a great deal of poverty and some pretty horrific racism near the start of the book - and prose-wise. It's hard to explain, which I think is a sign that the issue is me, not <strong>Ordinary Monsters</strong>. I'm just not up to reading this right now, and in fairness I don't think I'll come back to it - I hope things get better for the characters, but although I found all of them interesting and many of them sympathetic, I didn't form any attachment to any of them; I'm just not emotionally invested, and the tone of the story is grim - not grimdark, but still grim - which...is just not something I enjoy. And I don't want to trudge through the grimness in the hopes that it'll get better later on in the story - especially since there was no hint that that was going to happen.

So a DNF from me.

I only got 20% into this book before I decided to give it up. I found the writing style to be horrible, some parts felt too short while others felt too long. I felt that there were too many POVs. There were also many run-on sentences, with the constant, obnoxious overuse of the word "and." The story itself seemed mildly interesting at best, and the magic system was not thrilling enough to keep me hooked.