Synopsis (from Goodreads):

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 lifetime of brutality, 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 two grizzled detectives are recruited to escort them north to safety, they are forced to confront the nature of difference, and belonging, and the shadowy edges of the monstrous.

What follows is a journey from the gaslit streets of London, to an eerie estate outside Edinburgh, where other children with gifts—the Talents—have been gathered. Here, the world of the dead and the world of the living threaten to collide. And 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.

With lush prose, mesmerizing world-building, and a gripping plot, Ordinary Monsters presents a catastophic vision of the Victorian world—and of the gifted, broken children who must save it.

Review:

I didn't know what to expect when I started reading Ordinary Monsters, by J.M. Miro, but I liked the blurb and was lucky enough to receive an advance copy from NetGalley.  This book was a cross between Miss Peregrin's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Rigs, and a Stephen King novel: Fantasy with a hefty helping of Horror.  The story follows several children who have supernatural "Talents" as they being sought by two groups of people.  Those who want to protect them, and those who want to use them for evil.  But who will reach them first?  The children in the story are pawns in a much larger game of chess.  Both sets of adults looking for them want to use them in some fashion or another.  They can sense this, and it's difficult to know who the children can trust. 

I really liked all the characters in this story, both adults and children.  All the characters are fully realized and one can really sympathize with nearly all of them.  Charlie, a African-American teen has been brutalized all his life.  He has no reason to trust anyone.  But he quickly sees a kindred spirit in Marlowe.  Although Marlow is much younger than Charlie, he has also seen many hard times.  He no sooner finds a stable home than he is ripped away from it.  Both have powers they don't understand. 

The adults in the story, especially the two detectives, Coulton and Alice, were also wonderful characters.  Each had a compelling backstory that added motivation to what they were doing.  I loved how protective they became as they got to know the children.  Even the villain, who of course never considered himself to be evil, had a long and interesting history.

The world-building is also top-notch.  The world is mostly set in Victorian London.  It's grimy, smoggy, and filled with desperate people.  Everyone is one step away from destitution.  Get hurt on the job?  You become homeless.  Kids who are orphaned must fend for themselves.  But it's the shadow world that some of the characters must enter that mirrors London that is even more terrible.  It's filled with dread, and horrible creatures.

My only complaint about this book is that it is SUPER LONG!  At nearly 700 pages, this book is an epic.  And it's part of a series!  If you are in the mood for a long, but compelling, read, this book ticks all the boxes.  Fun characters, creepy bad guys, magical school, vast conspiracies and very gothic horror await.  This book will keep you enthralled (and probably also give you nightmares).

Trigger Warning for Child Abuse

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  June 7th, 2022

Author:  J.M. Miro

Publisher:  Flatiron Books

Genre:  Historical Horror/Fantasy

Page Length:  672 Pages

Source: NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  If you like dark fantasy mixed with horror, this book is for you. The world-building and characters will leave a definite impression.  This is the beginning of a series that will be a must read for me.

Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Beatrix Greene has made a name for herself in Victorian England as a reputable spiritual medium, but she’s a fraud: even she knows ghosts aren’t real. But when she’s offered a lucrative job by James Walker—a scientist notorious for discrediting pretenders like her—Beatrix takes the risk of a lifetime. If her séance at the infamously haunted Ashbury Manor fools him, she will finally have true financial freedom. If she fails, her secret will become her public shame.

But James has his own dark secrets, and he believes only a true medium can put them to rest. When Beatrix’s séance awakens her real gift—and with it, a vengeful spirit—James finds that the answers he seeks are more dangerous than he could have imagined. Together, with a group of supernatural sleuths, Beatrix and James race to settle the ghost’s unrest before it strikes— or else they might not make it out of the haunted manor alive.

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins, along with Ash Parsons and Vicky Alvear Shecter, weaves darkness, death, and a hint of desire into this suspenseful mystery for fans of Sherlock Holmes and Crimson Peak.

Review:

Autumn is that time of year where a good, spooky story is welcome.  The Haunting of Beatrix Greene, by Rachel Hawkins, Ash Parsons, and Vicky Alvear Shecter, has a lot of fun horror elements:  ghosts, murder, and a mystery.   Even though I expected these things, the story got sidetracked by plot holes, and an improbable romance.  This was a fun horror story, but it could have been even better without the cheesy melodrama.

What I Liked:

Premise:

Women in Victorian England don't have many options to make a living, so Beatrix Greene makes the most of her theatrical background to work as a Medium.  But she knows she's a fraud.  When a wealthy skeptic offers her and her friend a large sum of money to conduct a seance, she can hardly say no.  She is all set to fake it, but then she makes contact with REAL spirits!  I loved this premise so much.  It gave the reader a sense of how difficult life was for women, but also turned the tables on the "Medium".  This was really fun.

Mystery:

The seance sets the stage for the central mystery of the book:  why did James's mother kill his brother, and then kill herself?  Why would she do it?  It became an infamous murder in the universe of the novel.  And why was his father so violent?  The house seems to be, itself, a character.  All is revealed when the seance begins and Beatrix becomes possessed by the spirit of James's mother.

Characters:

Besides Beatrix, who is a strong, independent woman (especially for Victorian England), there are several wonderful supporting characters, such as Amanda (an American photographer), and Harry, her friend and assistant.  I thought they brought some normalcy to a strange situation.  Amanda especially represents new opportunities for women, as another female with a career.  And Harry is just a wonderfully supportive friend.

What I Was Mixed About:

Plot Holes:

At the beginning of visiting Ashbury Manor, James invites Beatrix, Harry, Amanda, and a Dr. Doyle, for the seance.  Dr. Doyle is, of course, the name of the creator of Sherlock Holmes.  As tantalizing as this is, this goes nowhere.  He literally is gone in the next scene.

There is also a friend of James, a fellow aristocrat named Stanhope, who crashes the gathering.  He later becomes important in the story, but it's never explained how he knows so much information about Ashbury Manor, and the family curse.

Romance:

The time is set in Victorian England.  Yet, Beatrix and James get very familiar, very quickly.  I know that Beatrix is supposed to be more modern and independent, but this would have been scandalous in those times.  Given the difficultly Beatrix has supporting herself, would she have risked being branded a loose woman?  Even as a Medium, no one would have wanted to associate with a wanton woman.  And I just didn't think the romance was believable.

Rating: 

Release Date:  October 28th, 2020

Authors:  Rachel Hawkins, Ash Parsons,  & Vivky Alvear Shecter

Publisher:  Serial Box

Genre:  Gothic Horror

Page Length:  198 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  While it was entertaining and fun for Halloween, I would grab it from the library.