About this book:
Blurb from Jonathan Ball Publishers
“There in the shadows was a figure in a cloak, at the bottom of the cobblestone stair, and it turned and stared up at them as still and unmoving as a pillar of darkness, but it had no face, only smoke….”
North of Edinburgh, on the edge of an isolated loch, lies an institution of crumbling stone, where a strange doctor collects orphans with unusual abilities. In London, two children with such powers are hunted by a figure of darkness – a man made of smoke.
Charlie Ovid discovers a gift for healing himself through a brutal upbringing in Mississippi, while Marlowe, a foundling from a railway freight, glows with a strange bluish light. When two grizzled detectives are recruited to escort them north to safety, they are confronted by a sinister, dangerous force that threatens to upend the world as they know it.
What follows is a journey from the gaslit streets of London to the lochs of Scotland, where other gifted children – the Talents – have been gathered at Cairndale Institute, and the realms of the dead and the living collide. As secrets within the Institute unfurl, Marlowe, Charlie and the rest of the Talents will discover the truth about their abilities and the nature of the force that is stalking them: that the worst monsters sometimes come bearing the sweetest gifts.
My thoughts
I’ve seen that this book has being described as “Charles Dickens meets the Umbrella Academy” and I do get where that is coming from. A school of gifted children, with powers that can be described by the masses as “evil” or “mutant” (X-Men vibes here) – in Victorian England. It may be a simplification – and the story is more complex than that, but you get the gist of it!
It is an epic fantasy horror or (horror fantasy)? Set in Victorian England, where orphaned children with unusual gifts and powers, are hunted by evil shadow men.
“Difference, children, is not monstrous. It is nature at work.”
These exceptional kids are gathered and taken to an institute in Scotland for safety and learning to control their powers. But, as in life, the battle of good vs evil is not always as clear-cut and easy to choose sides in.
“Alice thought it over. “How will I know him? If I see him?” “You’ll know him. He’ll be the one what scares you.” “I don’t scare.” Coulton sighed. “You do. You just don’t know it yet.”
This story is dark and moody, with multi-layer characters, involving the themes of morality and power. The author takes you on a sinister (but hopeful) journey with excellent world building and well-developed characters who provokes an emotional response, whether it being empathy or loathing.
“All her life she’d known men like this man, men who knew what they knew with such satisfied certainty, who would rather look at a pretty thing and be admired by it than hear it speak,”
Read this for:
- Historical fantasy
- Morality and mortality
- Epic storytelling
- Diverse cast list
- Empowering
I simply adored most of the characters, the badass Alice, sweet and vulnerable Marlowe, brave Charlie, and now that I try to make a list – I feel that I cannot exclude anyone. Everyone has a role to play in this epic fantasy.
At 650+ pages this book is quite a commitment and although the story was immersive, it took quite a long time for me to finish. But I can say that it was worth it, some of the scenes and characters will stay with me for a long time. I am waiting anxiously for the next instalment in “The Talents” trilogy! If you are looking for the next big fantasy series to get lost in – this is it!
RRR (Roelia Reads Rating) 4/5
With thanks to Jonathan Ball Publishers for the opportunity to read this book.
Want a sneak peek? https://www.tor.com/2022/06/15/excerpts-ordinary-monsters-by-j-m-miro/
J.M. Miro is the pseudonymous author of Ordinary Monsters, the first book in the Talents series.
@roelia_reads My impressions of #OrdinaryMonsters by J.M. Miro #Gothic #Fantasy #roeliareads #booktok #bookreview #epicreads #ordinarymonstersbook @Jonathan Ball Publishers