Ordinary Monsters is a long book. If you are up for 672 pages of paranormal fantasy, then Ordinary Monsters is a good choice for what to read next. Ordinary Monsters is a steady novel, not something I ever thought I'd say about fantasy, and it is its length that creates that steadiness. The novel is slow-paced allowing you to discover each nook and cranny within a situation without requiring abrupt and disconnective narrative dialogue that would have been necessary if the novel had lacked a couple hundred pages.

I found the author was able to utilise each moment to maximum capacity and rarely did a paragraph or event feel unwarranted. That's the biggest reason why the novel is worth your time, it will draw you in with its comfortable pace and create a world of fantasy and power worth reading 700 pages of.

The novel also benefits from strong characters who again, because of the length, are wonderfully developed and always pertinent to the plot. I think everyone appreciates a fully fleshed character whose past and upbringing are reflected upon who they are currently; I love developed characters and this novel has them. Combined with the shifting narratives that flow to further create a sense of steadiness within the novel, Ordinary Monsters becomes a read worth your time - it will just take many hours of that time.

The plot does contain a few moments that drag but overall, the multiple storylines blend seamlessly together and because of that, there is never a dull moment, maybe just a dull page or two. The story is slow but steady. You are able to experience each storyline and action and reaction completely which is a great asset for this story. The story is not particularly fast but the majority of scenes are filled with richness that only enhances the action within the story. Like the characters, it's a good plot and worth your time.

The length of the book attributes to the complex world building in this novel. There is maybe one portion that could be expanded upon but otherwise, all of the alternate universe makes complete sense allowing you to immerse yourself in the story. The strength of the world building creates a well-rounded read.

The characters are easily the star of the novel. Not a single character existed without purpose nor were stereotypical. The stereotype / trope potential was something I feared as novels about magical teenagers can easily fall into stereotypical territory and this novel does not do that. Sometimes the expected is what you want, it's a fun trope to read, but I don't think the plot would have been suited to those type of characters and is why I'm thankful it didn't broach that area and I think you will be too.

The characters are ones you will appreciate because they are driven. The adults have clear cut goals within the story and their reasoning is always sound. They're not there to heighten the power of the younger crowd, they themselves are relevant to the novel and again, have drive. The younger crowd is complex. They are immature and mature beyond their years and every character that has a POV in this story isn't somebody you'll want to skip. You can create whole backstory's and life details for these characters because you get to know their personalities in Ordinary Monsters, you get to know them and that is absolutely worth your time.

The ending of Ordinary Monsters sets up a sequel. All you really should know about the ending is that you won't be satisfied and you're not meant to be. If there was no sequel, it would be a terrible ending but there is, which is a good thing, because you will be craving more of Ordinary Monsters. This is a novel worth a read but not one you can easily breeze through so buckle up, Ordinary Monsters is waiting to take you an adventure.

Ordinary Monsters by J. M. Miro was not what I expected from a 700 page novel. What I expected was an intense read that comprised of many battles, multiple sacrifices, and what a "monster" was within this world. Despite being far off base for what I expected, I enjoyed this read. I think the story being more a melodious journey, an actual physical journey, to a place of safety was engaging and enhanced by the proper use of switching POV. There was not a single protagonist that distracted me from the honey-like pace and I did find it weird to remain engaged in such a slow novel when I initially anticipated action.

I really liked how Carindale was the apex of the story. Cairndale was the catalyst and the finality, it was a full circle of good and evil within the confines of a mystical boarding school. I wasn't a big fan of how the classes and therefore the children were separated from one another because who isolates children in groups? Not good people *cough Berghast cough* so although I didn't like it, I accepted it. I wanted a bit more from the other Talents and I hope that is expanded upon in the sequel / second book - I'm not sure if it is a trilogy, a series, or a duology but I want to see are more types of Talents. The Talents we did see, I loved. Each character were presented fully fleshed out and I saw them are real people. I liked how their talents weren't always beneficial - I mean, Oskar had a flesh giant who followed him around. A flesh giant. Beneficial in certain times, sure but also not. Also, he made the flesh giant, it just didn't come attached to him and that is disgusting.

These were kids and it showed in their actions but so did their wisdom in having to be stronger than others because of their magic. I think the most gruesome literary description that really got me, was the children being warped into partial trees. These children were abandoned in such states of agony, it truly would be so painful. Was it kind to keep them locked up or would it have been kinder to to help them pass? These were children being experimented upon and it hurt to visualise the outcome of that.

I mean, it was easy to tell that Dr. Berghast was evil. Headmaster's typically are (not really but a lot of the times) and he exuded superiority. But simultaneously, Jacob was clearly a villain and the juxtaposition is that they switched places at the end - where I loathed one and sympathised with the other. Dr. Berghast was a villain I was content with seeing destroyed. I enjoyed the way the characters were written and portrayed and is definitely my favourite aspect of the novel.

What I wish Ordinary Monsters had a touch more of was intricate fight / action scenes. The scenes where fighting occurred felt stilted and I noticed a lot of short sentences to create a sense of intensity during these fights but I found the constant choppiness to be too much. I never thought the action scenes were powerful. I would've liked a bit of variety in sentence structure for those scenes because those scenes fell flat for me, which is a surprise because a high percentage of this novel is action. I'll definitely still read the second because I adore Marlowe.

Marlowe has a good heart and his sacrifices and attitude throughout never felt forced or as if he was thrust into the martyr role. He is a young kid who is wise beyond his years. I think it would be interesting to see in the next novel a relationship with the Drugher and Marlowe. They're both in the afterlife and I think it would be intriguing to see that family dynamic. What I think would be insane is Dr. Berghast being alive in the afterlife, having survived because he absorbed Charlie's power. Imagine the Drugher having an unlimited supply of food through Dr. Berghast. He'll begin to lose it like Charlie did and stay stuck there OR have gained something else and start ruling the world. I'm not shoving him aside, he definitely could come back. There is a lot of potential in the second novel and I am intrigued to see where Miro decides to take the story.