Ordinary Monsters by J. M. Miro

This historical fantasy has been billed as the next blockbuster trilogy, and I can see why it has publishers so excited, not least because I could sense a forthcoming film/tv adaptation just in the writing. It follows a number of ‘talents’ - orphaned children with peculiar powers – who are mysteriously gathered at an institute claiming to shelter and educate them just outside of Edinburgh in an alternate Victorian timeline. We travel all over in this book, from Mississippi to London to Tokyo, as Miro weaves together a complex and interesting plot. This isn’t one of those first-in-the-trilogy books where everything is set up and nothing much happens, either (looking at you, Book of Koli). There is lots of action here and plenty to think about. This novel is a little baggy, though, and apart from an excellent and striking Tokyo section, it lost me in the middle. I just didn’t feel that desperate desire to pick it up that you feel with all the best books, especially in this genre. But by the time we got into the last couple hundred pages, it gripped me again, and whilst I was unsure whether I’d pick up number two at some points, the ending had me hungry for more. So it’s a bit untidy, but the writing was there were some really remarkable moments. I think lots of people will like this one, you might just have to push through a couple hundred pages in the middle there. Uneven, but affecting.