I got 50% in and I just can't get into the world or the characters. Fascinating concept, I may come back to it, but the time jumping is confusing to the overall story, the characters feel flat and I just am not enjoying it like I hoped. May come back to it, but for now. Sadly, a DNF for me. I won't be reviewing elsewhere.

Ordinary Monsters is a sprawling story of children with magical abilities, a pair of detectives in charge of bringing them to a shady institute, in 1882. We travel to America, Japan, London, and Scotland. It’s not an easy or quick read, and there is a lot of time-jumping, right when the story gets going. The last 3rd of the book really comes together. The writing was great, and I look forward to the next book in the trilogy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC.

Christina Orlando called J.M. Miro’s ORDINARY MONSTERS a cross between The Umbrella Academy and Penny Dreadful and readers, let me assure you that this comparison rings absolutely true. Leaping between a great many perspectives, Miro tells the story of the Talents—those gifted with a number of related supernatural gifts—and their mysterious school, the Cairndale Institute, as the world of the living and the world of the dead come perilously close to colliding and ushering in a catastrophe of grand proportions.

Miro’s novel is a dark, sweeping, and gorgeously written story of the Victorian world—from the southern United States, to London, to Meiji-era Tokyo, to Edinburgh, and beyond—coming to terms with an impending apocalypse that would end the world as they know it forever and usher in a terrifying future. In its nearly seven hundred pages, ORDINARY MONSTERS manages to make the overused setting of Victorian England feel new again, sending us into a labyrinthine situation that begs us to care about each and every person we learn about, and care we do.

It’s impossible to describe this book’s scope and richness of character without giving away details that you’re better off reading yourself. No page space is wasted here and the fact that this is the first book in an upcoming trilogy makes me incredibly excited. The story of the Talents feels written specifically for my interests and it’s one that I would wish I’d written myself, but then I wouldn’t have been able to read it and settle into the glorious anticipation I find myself in waiting for the sequel. It’s a long way off, but the wait is going to be very, very worth it. ORDINARY MONSTERS is a triumph of historical fantasy and I can’t wait to see it arrive into the world to the acclaim it deserves.

Thank you to Flatiron for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ordinary Monsters follows a series of characters-humans, children, people with gifts. Children with special powers (Talents) are gathered and taken to a school in Edinburgh where they can harness their Talents.

Primarily following Charlie, a young Black boy who can mend flesh, and Marlowe, a glowing boy, on their way to the school.

I know nothing about the author, but all I can tell you is this: READ IT. Ordinary Monsters is a wonderful story about broken children, darkness, and found family. It's beautifully written with a diverse cast of characters, written with elegant prose that will have you reading on well into the night, and characters that carry the plot.

Although there is a lot happening-time jumps, new characters introduced well into the book, and a magic-heavy world, it is easy to follow.

Truly a masterpiece in historical fantasy!