Beautiful photo by @nelthewhichcraftsbooks!
Hey fairies!
It’s the fifth and last day of our readalong of Only A Monster! I am desperate to know how this ends!
We’ve had monster magic, time travelling, an array of Aaron Oliver’s moods and a pretty cool heist, let’s dive in and see what this last section will bring!
Today we’re reading from Chapter 20 to the end of the book.
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for Only A Monster by Vanessa Len, from chapter 20 to the end of the book. Please only read on if you’ve finished Only A Monster!
-!SPOILERS!-
So, we’re joining our team of monsters as they’re recuperating in the safe house. After dishing out a very weird array of snacks and having a rest… they settle down to open up the thing the prisoner left behind. According to Tom it was left for him… what could it be?
Don’t mind me COMPLETELY SMITTEN at Aaron’s little sleepy smile.
The password to access the message is something only Tom would know apparently. I can’t believe how sneaky he’s been this entire time!
He gets passed the game and who appears? NICK. We can’t escape this guy.
WAIT… ok, false alarm, he’s not real. I thought it was some kind of trick and he was really there in the room!
Nick seems completely different though? This isn’t the conflicted, evil monster killer we know. He seems harmless, he’s not even defending himself. He’s not even angry that his family have been murdered?
They have to watch countless times as Nick’s beaten and his family are killed by monsters before him. Until eventually, Nick is basically programmed to hate monsters for what they’ve done to him and his family. 1922… does that mean they’ve killed his family in front of him and rewound time to do it again 1922 times???? No wonder he’s as vengeful as he is!
The blonde woman… is she from the Monster Court? Why would the Monster Court train Nick to hate and kill Monsters? Their own people? I don’t get it…
Joan realises the prisoner is Jamie Liu. The Liu’s remember… Tom says Jamie was taken because he found something out about the Hero that he shouldn’t have known. His construction maybe? The court took him away. Poor Jamie.
Suddenly Jamie appears on screen, and tells Tom to stop looking for him, tells him he loves him. Ok I’m gone. Someone get me some tissues!
And that’s it… that’s the message. There’s still so much unsaid! I like Joan’s idea of visiting 1993 Jamie Liu to get some answers. That’s gonna be so hard for Tom though since they met after then, Jamie won’t remember him. Imagine your partner being taken away from you and the next time you see them again they have no idea who you are?! This is too much for my emotional heart!
In this time, Jamie is around 15. Frankie bounds up to him, clearly remembering who Jamie is (I’m teary already) and then Jamie compliments Tom’s ring, and Tom says his HUSBAND made it for him and Joan subtly notices it has the same art style as all of Jamie’s paintings.
Ok, Shannon, breathe. TOM HAS A TATTOO WITH THE SAME ART STYLE. I’m gone again.
Jamie reveals the only notable thing about the Hero he’s learnt so far, is that he falls in love with a monster girl and that seems to be a weakness of his. In every timeline, he falls for her.
When they get back to the safe house, Aaron approaches Joan, asking to come with her. He just knows she’s leaving, back to present day. She says she has to go alone.
Then Aaron, sweet Aaron who acts like such a grump, tells Joan if she fixes the timeline (and he obviously believes in her to think she’ll find a way) that he won’t remember her and it’ll be like they never met. Joan tries to say that they’ll find a way back to each other… but Aaron stops her and tells her a bit more about his family power and to never ever let him close enough in another timeline to see her eyes, because there’s power there assumingly.
Joan says she’s not a Hunt… whattttttt? But her family are the Hunts, how can she not be?
Aaron tells her of a time when his power was tested. They took him to a man with eyes like Joan and told him if he ever sees someone with eyes like them again, to kill them. Is this why Edmund wanted to kill Joan immediately? What IS her power?
Aaron tells Joan they can’t ever meet again, not to trust him, because in another timeline, he won’t remember how much Joan means to him.
I am sobbing. S-O-B-B-I-N-G. I knew he cared for her. But Joan loves Nick, doesn’t she?
Aaron gives Joan a monster trinket. It holds time. Joan can travel fifty years without taking human time. Aaron strokes her cheek and tells her all she needs to do to travel with the token is to close her eyes and imagine what it felt like the time she travelled with Aaron. She does, and when she opens her eyes, he’s gone.
Joan is back in Holland House. She sees Astrid, another volunteer, but when Astrid hugs her she INJECTS something into Joan’s neck, what the hell??
Joan wakes up in a cell, chained up. Surprise, surprise, Nick is behind it all. After Nick’s spoken to her, Joan overhears him telling Astrid he doesn’t want Joan drugged again. After all this, he still cares.
Astrid and Nick come back, with water tinged with some kind of truth inducing spell. They test her by asking if her father is human and when they’re convinced the truth serum is working, they begin to interrogate her. Nick asks her why she’s here, what she hopes her outcome to be. None of Joan’s answers involve hurting anyone, causing danger to anyone. Will this make Nick see she’s NOT a bad guy?
Joan sees her opportunity to tell him about his construction while she’s under the truth serum, surely then he’ll believe it all? She tells him the whole story, including the story of the hero being in love with a monster girl. She tells him she’s always felt like she knew him, even before she met him. Nick won’t have it though, he just keeps telling Joan to stop.
UNTIL Joan tells him about a hunch she’s had. With her being half human and half monster, Joan has always wondered whether she could take time from herself… before Nick can even think about stopping her she’s reached up to cup her hands around her own neck, and she’s gone.
In the time she’s travelled to, she’s not locked in the cell. As she’s walking around Holland House – different to how it was in her time – she finds Nick. The first thing he says is that she was standing by the same window the first time he ever saw her. Then, he’s begging her, begging her not to take anymore time from herself. He starts to say things that make it sound like he’s admitting he believes everything she said when she was in the cell. The he comes out with ‘The timeline is wrong isn’t it’ but even though Nick’s saying all the right things (well, apart from ‘sorry I killed your fam’, Joan’s adamant in her mind he’s in love with the other version of her. The version of her from another timeline. He says even though someone changed the timeline, they couldn’t make him forget her, because he loves her.
I want to enjoy this, but my mind is just whispering Aaron Oliver.
She asks to kiss him, and they do and she tells him she’s loved him since the first moment she saw him.
Family has always been first for Joan though, and in the same way she unmade the lock on the door… she unmakes Nick.
She’s brought her family back. All she ever wanted. Gran is back, Bertie, Ruth, everyone. But she’s lost Nick and Holland House, two things she loved before. Joan can’t help but wonder, if her unmaking Nick turned Holland House to ruins, what else did she do?
Joan goes to visit Jamie Liu, he’s happy with Tom. No longer a prisoner. BUT, you know what they say, the Liu’s remember!
Jamie tells Joan he remembers the hero was real, he remembers his captivity, the woman who captured him.
Joans last thought is whether SHE remembers. The blonde woman from the monster court who made Nick and caused so much destruction, we leave Joan as she assures Jamie even if she does remember, it’ll be different, cause this time, they’ll be waiting for her.
What an incredible ending to an incredible book!
Make sure you drop all of your thoughts in the comments. I hope you loved Only A Monster and enjoyed the readalong!
See you very soon for our next readalong!
Love,
Shannon
Wow, I wasn’t expecting such a bittersweet ending but I supposed it did say star-crossed… I’m a little bit sad some of the small things weren’t wrapped up by the end of the book – who is Joan’s mother and why is she -estranged- and not dead like Joan thinks? What is Aaron’s deal, why was he disinherited and what happened to his mother? If Joan’s power comes from another family, who is it and why are they a threat to the Olivers? So many questions! I hope they get answered in a sequel, because I don’t want to leave the story behind like that!
I saw on Goodreads that there are 2 other books planned already.
I loved this in the end so much! Can’t wait for book two! I’m not usually do exclaimy but I loved it
No! It’s over? THAT’S what her power was for? (What family did she belong to after all?) I cried so much over these last chapters. How much time did she steal from herself? If the Holland House was “bombed” before they could sell it & make it a museum, door’s that mean she traveled back that far from 1993? Did her power bring her back to her time? The bit about the orange confused me since I thought the Hunt family power could let them hide objects in a moment in time without stealing time to do so. Shouldn’t that mean that someone could’ve hidden them there with the rest of the fruit during the winter to use whenever? Jamie Liu might not remember everything, but is there a Liu who can? I guess the swan-necked blonde will be in the next book, but there’s still SO many questions! Aaron doesn’t remember her (that bit about their last interaction choked me up – I KNEW he cared about her, but I couldn’t’ve guessed the other part & still have questions about his thoughts throughout their acquaintance). If Gran knew about her other power before Joan unmade Nick, does she still know that in this new timeline (not that Joan can feel that power anymore)? Does being “unmade” make it to where Nick died somewhere in the timeline or that he was never born into it or what? We never even found out how he, a human, was time-traveling! Did Ruth’s power really burn out then or come back or was it only restored because, in this timeline, she’d never had to push herself to do those things? I wish this could’ve been dual/multiple POV, so I could hear the others thoughts on everything, too. (I’m greedy like that.)
Wow, I don’t know what to say or feel. The last part of the book / readalong was amazing.
The situation with Tom was damn sad.
And I like Aaron and wish him a happy life. And there are so many questions about his family.
I’m speechless and need book 2!
This was a very slow start for me, ten chapters in and I was contemplating not finishing the book, but by chapter 15 it gets more interesting and I cried- like had to keep wiping my eyes so that I could continue reading- during the last two chapters. I’m a bit confused as to how the story continues with everything that happened in the end, I feel the epilogue left some clues but I still have questions, but I guess that’s to keep anticipating the sequel which I will definitely be reading as soon as I can get my hands on it ??
That Aaron-Joan moment. Aaron is a softie.
Also Tom’s story (and Jamie).
This ending somehow hurt me and make me happy that Joan had her family back. But what about Nick, what happened to him in this timeline? They’re still soulmates, so the timeline will still bring them back together, right???
I’m really intrigued who could that SHE be. What bigger role will she have in the next book?
I still want to know Aaron’s story.
I want answers now
Oh my heart. These chapters hurt.
Aw aaron. I wish we had learned more about his feelings, it feel like we had just skimmed the surface. I’m surprised that we didn’t end up learning more about his backstory like what happened to his mom or why he was disinherited. But yikes, having to go through that Oliver trial at just 9?? Poor kid. I need to know what the eyes mean and why they’re supposed to kill people with them on sight.
The most painful part of this section was definitely when young Jamie complimented Tom’s wedding ring and he said “Thanks. My husband designed it.” ??? Tom went through so much and was so dedicated to getting Jamie back. I’m glad he’s happy in the new timeline.
Oh gosh and then just those scene with Joan being so open and vulnerable with Nick and their relationship. Nick didn’t deserve to have any of that happen to him and I feel awful that Joan unmade him, but I agree it was necessary.
I’m glad that Joan was able to save her family, but something feels off and I’m left with so many questions. Are we ever going to learn more about the blond woman? Is she going to give up that easily? Plus we never found out how Nick was able to travel! All those questions about Aaron. And can Joan still travel? Why hasn’t she told her family in this timeline that she can? I hope there’s another book coming!
Overall, a really fantastic read. Fast paced and absolutely captivating, I never wanted to stop reading.
I was not expecting that ending. It kind of broke my heart – in the way that any good tragic love story does. I’m glad we got to see a bit of Nick’s backstory and have the opportunity to understand him more. I’m torn with Joan’s decision but I understand it. I don’t know what else could’ve been done to right things.
I love the scene at breakfast where Joan is taking in all of the precious details of each family member. I wish I could do that with family members I’ve lost. My memories are pretty hazy. If love to have a morning with my father again, to hear his voice, to laugh with him, to become familiar with his quirks.
I’m so interested to see what will happen when she and Nick see each other again. Will they have that same sense of knowing one another? I predict he will remember who she is when he sees her. I’m equally curious to see what will happen when Joan and Aaron’s paths cross. Their interactions kind of made him into the man he was. Joan brought the best out of him. I don’t know that I’ve ever been more excited to get the next book in a series!
WHAT ??? THAT’S THE END????? I still have so many unanswered questions!! oh my goodness.
Aaron said that monsters belong to the family whose power they exhibit more strongly and Joan lost the Hunt power, so does this mean that her ‘undoing’ power came from her dad? Her dad isn’t part of one of the twelve main monster families in London, but surely there are monster families in other places. Maybe there are some in Malaysia. Also, maybe Joan’s mother ISN’T dead. maybe she’s on some monster mission or something. Maybe Joan’s dad knows where she is? What if Joan’s other power isn’t a monster power- maybe her dad has powers for some other reason, which is why Aaron can see something strange in Joan. Perhaps her dad is something more dangerous than a monster, which is why Aaron was told to kill anyone like that immediately.
Also, in regards to this new timeline, how much has actually changed? Does the idea of the hero still exist in monster fairy tales? does Joan’s family know that she knows about the monster world? do any of them know what happened to her?
Also, because the monster court exists outside of time, surely that mysterious blonde woman won’t have been affected by the changing timeline. Maybe she can’t turn Nick into the hero, but perhaps she could try doing it to someone else. Also, have we reverted back to the true timeline now, or is this a third, entirely new timeline?
AHhHHh so many theories! I hope we don’t have to wait too long for the sequel!! In the meantime though, I’ll definitely be recommending this book to everyone I know 🙂
Wow, I really loved this book. Amazing writing and story and characters. I can’t wait for the sequel. Thank you so much Shannon for another thoroughly enjoyable week readalong. I adore being part of the lovely FairyLoot community ♥️
Omg I have no words my heart is broken ?
Aaron and Tom are just gonna have me crying and then I actually felt bad for Nick?! What even is this book anymore?
I have to say I’m so glad Joan chose to undo the massacre but I wonder if the true timeline will push back with another Nick somehow? She’s undone the hero but does that mean regular old Nick might still show up somehow?
Still firmly in the AaronxJoan camp though I think I’ll be on the losing side. I get why there’s a JoanxNick, but it’s just not for me.
Loved the ending, hopeful we’ll get more Jamie next book and maybe find out more about Joan’s power and all!
The ending was amazing! Bittersweet and everything resolved, but definite hints at the sequel by stating the woman that emprisoned Tom and made Nick the hero is still out there.
Wondering if we will find Nick in the sequel too, since him and Joan are destined to be together.
Also hoping for more answers about what Aaron said to Joan when saying goodbye and how the Olivers must know something about Joan’s power.
Wow, okay, I loved this book! It was definitely a 5 stars read for me.
I liked the bittersweet ending, plus I can’t really call it an ending, since afaik there will be sequels.
I hope Joan and Aaron might get together in the future, I liked their pairing much more than her and Nick!
There are so many questions about both Joan, Aaron and the world of monsters that I need answered, I’ll absolutely read the sequels!!!
Thank you Shannon for hosting the readalong!
What was happened here?
The recording which they took from the Archive wasn’t a surprise for me, I expected that Nick was a person who was prisoned there.
The myth about love between Monster and Hunter was so cute and without happy ending, but when Joan unmade Nick it was intense.
I’m super happy that Joan got back her whole family, even if the cost was Nick life. At least another characters seems to be happy. I missed only a summarize about Aaron life in this new timeline.
Generally really good book! Thanks everyone for Readalong. ❤️
The ending was soooo agh. I normally hate love triangles (and this book had one), but it was so different. Like we got to love Aaron while we had tension with Nick. Miss girl why did you play us like that?! And I NEED to read more about her and Aaron meeting again. Although, I can’t handle the angst if you get what I mean. Like…. Will he want to pew pew her or not. I really can’t wait for the other books, because those loose ends need to be TIED.
OMG !!!!!!
Fairyloot you are nailing these heart warming/wrenching book choices. I have such a book hangover now geez.
That ending tho no no no Does that mean Nick is gone forever please say no if they are lovers destined to be together they must meet again they just must. I know I didn’t like Nick because of what he did and what they made him to be but them being destined to be together is just hearth wrenching to me. Poar Joan wouldn’t want that for everyone.
And than that goodbye form Aron oh man how I wanted her to be with him soo sad she doesn’t get a love match the romantic in me is shattered.
I am left with soo many questions and yearnings now I need the next book now. I need to know is she will get to love someone or if Nick is still somehow alive please be or if she can somehow be with Aron, I cant take this ( pulling my hair out)
Glad she has her family back thou but I need to know where her power comes from ( and who her power family is ) It got to be from her mother somehow hmm
Wooow what an end!!
I think we have many many questions without answers and I hope the next books give it to us. The worldbuilding is so good and we only saw the surface of it. That is not fair!!
The ending was brutal and beautifully done. In a sad way but it was. I wanted to feel more about it but I’m not a big fan of Nick, sorry. But, if he disappeared of her world and she lost her powers (I need answers about that!) what will happen next? And now we have to wait one year to know. This is not fair ?
So much happened in the last few chapters but I’m left with so many questions. I see that it’s a series but it honestly feels like an unfinished standalone to me. How much time did Joan take from herself? Can she still live but end up being fully monster? What happened to Aaron? Those are just a few of the questions that I have. And unfortunately for me I didn’t really feel the connection between Joan and Nick. Joan’s power at the end was kinda cool though. Overall this was super fast paced and had some really great side characters but the plot fell a little flat for me in some spots. Not sure if I’ll be picking up the sequel when it comes out or not.
Thanks for hosting the readalong, I had a lot of fun participating and reading everyone’s theories!
I thoroughly loved this book. I thought the dialogue was great, the plot new and exciting, the world intriguing, and the writing style simple in the best way.
Joan is probably one of my favorite characters from a book. She’s so good . Joan just wants to bring her family back and make peace between humans and monsters. She doesn’t want to take time from others. We see her constantly fighting against her nature to do so. Joan is everything that a hero should be. I think that there is this underlying theme shown by both her and Nick that nature does not equal good or bad. In this case, being a monster isn’t what makes you evil.
I’m super excited for Monsters #2. Even though this book was just published, I don’t want to wait any longer for the sequel. I hope to see so much more Aaron. I don’t want anything to happen to Tom and Jamie. Let them be happy in this timeline. I also would love to see Joan call out her family for being actual monsters. Like, yes, they’re your family and you love them, but there is a reason Nick killed them.
Oh I just about THREW this book and then I went on Goodreads and found out it’s a trilogy and oh my lord thank you now I love it hahaha.
I was thinking that Joan has some unknown power, maybe there’s a family that no one remembers (except the Liu’s) and then I saw on the live today that the author said the Liu’s have an extra line in the nursery rhyme…like maybe they remember a family to add to the list, that everyone else has forgotten. I THINK I MIGHT BE ONTO SOMETHING HERE.
Anyway, nothing but good things to say for this book. It’s going to feel like a really long wait for more.
I have a lot of questions still….
Is Nick really gone for good? Or will he be back in the next book?
Who is the blonde woman? I’m expecting her to be either Aaron’s mother or Joan’s mother.
Is Aaron’s cousin really dead?
Whoops the King and why was the time line changed…. I’m not even convinced that there really is a King
Could be a queen judging by the blonde woman ?♀️?
I really enjoyed this one and loved the bittersweet ending. And while I am rooting for Aaron, I was so heartbroken with how Nick was betrayed in the end. I am thinking maybe we will see him again. There’s some fate at work here…and I am enjoying this love triangle that is going on. But again, rooting for Aaron.
Speaking of Aaron, I was so bummed with the brief goodbye and poof….Joan is gone and then, that was it for the rest of the book. No more glimpses of him so have to wait until the next novel.
Lots of unanswered and open ended questions at the end (even with the epilogue) but that is what book 2 is for. lol
I truly adore Tom. He’s a favorite character. He’s romantic but so intelligent and strong and extremely sentimental….all his mementos that he has of his love for Jamie. I can’t even. My heart…
Joan proved herself willing to do whatever she needed to do and she did it. I’m so glad she got her family back and gave back everybody else’s loved ones as well.
BUT, who is Joan’s mother and where did her other power come from? And, who is this blonde lady? I am definitely anxious for the sequel! This was such a unique, fun and fast paced novel and I can’t wait to continue with the next one! 🙂
Wow! What an ending! I loved this book so much.
I liked that it was fast paced, and that it had a proper ending rather than a cliffhanger which was what I was expecting given that I knew it would be part of a trilogy.
I never really saw Nick as a romantic interest for Joan, as I felt it would be Aaron for most of the book. But when they saw the recording Jamie left for Tom, and after they spoke with Jamie, and Joan discovered the truth about what Nick and she had been in the true timeline, it really tugged at my heart strings and I started seeing him in a different light.
I was not expecting that ending. It was so bittersweet. I thought that the final confrontation between hero and monster would happen in the next or final book. So when I finally realised what Joan intended to do with her new found power, I was really taken by surprise. And I finally understood the extent of her power and why her grandma told her not to trust anyone with it and why the Olivers would want to kill someone with that power. In a way she was the transformatio, as she was able to change the timeline in the end.
The way I understand it, she used her power to unmake Nick, so it is as if he never existed, which means he is completely gone from this timeline. That’s why she is grieving his absence. Otherwise it wouldn’t make sense that she feels so sad if she thought that Nick was still alive living happily with his family in this timeline and that she might have a chance to meet him again. I think him being unmade means he is erased from existence, or at least that is what Joan thinks. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in book 2 to see if this is true.
I was happy to see Jamie remembers Joan. I’m looking forward to finding out more about Aaron in the next book, and seeing how they meet in this new timeline.
The danger is still out there. Whether the blond woman remembers or not, she would still feel inclined to do the same thing with a different human, and why is she doing this? Why does she want to create a hero to kill monsters? Isn’t she a monster too? And one thing that was never explained was why was Nick, a human, able to time travel without stealing time? And why was he able to go out and about at the Monster Court if he was merely a human? Who were the people that trained him? Hopefully all these questions will be answered in the next books.
Thank you Fairyloot! This book was a great choice!
Ahhhhh!!! Just finish2d and I’m really not sure how I felt about this?! That ending 2as so bittersweet and I feel so much was left unresolved. I know she plans on making it a trilogy, so I’m hopeful to get some more answers and hopefully a tad more romance in the next one!
Finished the book at dy 4 because I just needed to finish it! I really enjoyed the book and I can’t wait for the next one
But I still have so many questions!! ? why would Aaron’s mum need a safe house? Why was Aaron disgraced from the Oliver name?! As you can clearly tell …. I loved Aaron’s character.
I feel like the ending had such a sharp cut off and left alot un answered, like who kept tipping off where Joan and everyone was, was it really Gran? And wow is the king?! We still didn’t find out (I think it could be Aaron) and i would have loved more on Tom and Jamie! so I hope that means Vanessa Len has another book in store for us
And hopefully Joan bumps into Aaron again (even though he said not to seek him about in the new time) would he really forget their connection and try and hurt her? Gahhhhh!
This ending left me with a lot of questions and I’m glad the series is continuing!
First off: how much time did Joan take from herself? How long does she have left since she did that?
What about nick? What happened to him in this new timeline?
Aaron, we still never got an explanation of why he was disinherited?
Does Joan have any power anymore?
I enjoyed the book but wish there hadn’t been soo many questions at the end!
So much happened during these last few chapters, my head is spinning! I do love how the author nicely wrapped up this “chapter” of the story, but still left so many questions unanswered that it makes me crave the next book! Overall, while I wish there was a bit more world-building at the beginning and more explanation about the magic system, I do appreciate how we were able to learn about it along the way, at the same time as Joan. I am really curious about this “new” timeline. Joan remembers everything, but what along the way is different than before? Supposedly her family thought that Joan had no monster powers according to their records, is that because of what she just accomplished, and it used her powers up, leaving none the wiser? Does her family know how much Joan knows about the monster world? Something tells me her father also knows more than he’s letting on. And my biggest question- where is Aaron?? He finally was able to break out of the mold his father put him in, surely this is not the end of his and Joan’s story!
OMG what a bittersweet ending and so many questions left unanswered!!!
These last few chapters were really hard… Tom’s interaction with Jamie; Aaron’s farewell; and Joan’s scenes with Nick…. must have been very hard on each of the characters!
However, it all turned out well (kinda)… Joan’s family is alive, but in return she lost Nick, Holland House; her friendship/romance with Aaron and Tom’s friendship.
I really enjoyed this book, it’s a new world and different from anything I’ve read so far! I’m really looking forward to the next book and I’m hoping to see a reunion of the group through this interaction of Joan and Jamie, I think it’s going to be a different approach to the characters but one that will be quite interesting for the story.
I’m also hoping to find out more about this power of Joan’s and whether it will come from (maybe) some family that will have belonged to the true timeline and been annihilated/forgotten by order of the king (if it doesn’t belong to the king!).
Overall this book was a fantastic experience and an even better read. A fast paced and super gripping unfolding of the story.
Thank you for the readalong and see you next book!
Wow what a wild ride of a book! I didn’t see that ending coming. This book constantly surprised me and I like when a book can do that.
I’m left with soooo many questions. I know this is only the first of a trilogy, but I hate when books don’t give me enough information in the first book. I really wish we got more solid answers. Honestly I don’t know if I’ll pick up the sequel. I liked this, but I didn’t love it, so I guess I’ll see how I feel whenever the sequel comes out!
I am looking forward to the next book. There is still so much I want to know. Like is nick just gone or will he be coming back? Since the timeline was changed is the king no more? Who/what was the king? Who is the mysterious blonde woman? I think that nothing is as it seems and we will have our world rocked with the next book. I gave this one 4⭐️ (:
Ohmygoodness THAT ENDING!
Sad that Aaron no longer knows who she is 🙁 I hope that in book two she’s able to use the bauble from his mom’s house to show him she’s a friend. And that he believes her instead of turning her in… also I hardcore ship these two. You can have more than one true love, right? *internally clings to this hope*
Also, I hope Nick is now happy living with his family, etc. I hope that was part of the unmaking process, because he was definitely a pawn through all of this in this timeline. I’m definitely #TeamAaronOliver but I wouldn’t be mad if Nick made another appearance in book two, as long as he no longer wants to kill all monsters *said in the tone of Bender’s “kill all humans” lol*
It made me super happy that Tom and Jamie are together and happy 🙂 AND THAT JAMIE REMEMBERS SOME OF IT! Because that would have been incredibly sad if only Joan remembered any of it.
Thank you to FairyLoot and Shannon for this wonderful read-a-long!
OMG That Ending!!! I need the second book so badly, I have so many questions. I kind ship Joan and Aaron, im so sad that he doesn’t remember her but maybe in the next book we get to see more of him. I still want to know what happen to Aaron with his family.
Woah nelly! What an ending!
I’m really conflicted. We got two seconds of Joan and Nick kissing and being together before she ripped him apart? still unsure of how THAT works. I’m definitely going to read the sequels but for some reason I didn’t vibe with the ending. The whole book built and built and built to…nothing. She reversed everything and now Nick is vamoose ? I assume he’s going to be back somehow in the next book but yeah slightly disappointed however I did enjoy the journey!
First of all, thank you for such an amazing readalong, Shannon! I had so much fun reading everyone’s thoughts and I hope I will manage to catch you guys next time.
I have so many questions I don’t even know where to begin. The most burning one is probably who the mystery woman behind creating the hero is – what’s her deal??? And the origin of Joan’s powers…
I enjoyed the book from the beginning to the end. The storyline was easy to follow and the characters likeable. Joan and Aaron’s goodbye was so sad and I so hope he somehow will still remember the time they spent together / get his memories back. I might be in the minority, but I never really shipped them until that scene as I felt like our monster girl was still hung up on Nick and I didn’t get the impression she had romantic feelings for Aaron – at least not yet. Also, I need to find out more about the Olivers and their past.
If Nick is the one who she is supposed to end up (which I am not opposed to), then I think we got too little of him? However, it is gonna be interesting since Joan “unmade” him. On one hand, I feel bad for the guy, he didn’t ask to be a killer, on the other hand… the massacre, so many lives… (even when it ended with everyone alive later) I am conflicted a little.
Tom and Jamie… Their story hit me in the feels and I will riot if they don’t get their HEA. lol
I am looking forward to reading the sequel and finding out how everything unfolds!