Ordinary Monsters

Weirdly this is set in victorian London and Scotland, and for a book where the setting seems important, it has very little sense of place for me. Maybe I’ve read too many books set in London, but you get the feeling that Miro just doesn’t know these places well besides ‘crowded and filthy and smoky’ London and ‘isolated and moor-y’ Scotland?

Noted on December 19, 2023

A lot of action scenes that took just FOREVER, which is a weird thing to say? Like, a big set piece on a train where you’ve got multiple threats and multiple characters who need to fight or flee - but it felt like it was 75 pages to get through. it felt very much written to be a screenplay, with lots of visual description.

Noted on December 19, 2023

What if Mrs Peregrine / Xavier’s school for gifted youngsters / Hogwarts ... but GRIMDARK Victorian? OK, so there are orphan children in the world who are isolated by their special abilities, but there’s a cadre of dedicated adults who find them and bring them to a special school in Scotland to learn to harness their talents. Or… do they?

Honestly it was well written and moved along quickly; it was a page turner. But the overall grimness/darkness of it bummed me out, I knew halfway through that I’d finish this book but not be… very happy about it.

Noted on December 19, 2023