
Ordinary Monsters
The Talents, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Ben Onwukwe
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By:
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J. M. Miro
About this listen
2022 NPR Best Book of the Year, Long-listed
2022 NYPL Best Books of the Year, Long-listed
2022 Hudson Booksellers Best of the Year, Long-listed
MOST ANTICIPATED SFF BOOK of 2022 by Tor, The Nerd Daily, CrimeReads, BookBub and more!
"Ordinary Monsters is a towering achievement: a dazzling mountain of wild invention, Dickensian eccentrics, supernatural horrors, and gripping suspense. Be warned... once you step into this penny dreadful to end all penny dreadfuls, you'll never want to leave." —Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman and Heart-Shaped Box
A STUNNING NEW WORK OF HISTORICAL FANTASY, J. M. MIRO'S ORDINARY MONSTERS INTRODUCES LISTENERS TO THE DARK, LABYRINTHINE WORLD OF THE TALENTS
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 brutal childhood in Mississippi, 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 a jaded female detective is recruited to escort them to safety, all three begin a journey into the nature of difference, and belonging, and the shadowy edges of the monstrous.
What follows is a story of wonder and betrayal, from the gaslit streets of London, and the wooden theatres of Meiji-era Tokyo, to an eerie estate outside Edinburgh where other children with gifts—the Talents—have been gathered. There, 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 what is stalking them: that the worst monsters sometimes come bearing the sweetest gifts.
Riveting in its scope, exquisitely written, Ordinary Monsters presents a catastrophic vision of the Victorian world—and of the gifted, broken children who must save it.
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.
©2022 J. M. Miro (P)2022 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Every year, thousands in the kingdom of Talin flock to its capital twin cities, San-Er, where the palace hosts a set of games. For those confident enough in their ability to jump between bodies, competitors across San-Er fight to the death to win unimaginable riches. Princess Calla Tuoleimi lurks in hiding. Five years ago, a massacre killed her parents and left the palace of Er empty…and she was the one who did it. Before King Kasa’s forces in San can catch her, she plans to finish the job and bring down the monarchy.
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Pretty disappointed
- By Ginger on 07-22-23
By: Chloe Gong
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Keeper of Enchanted Rooms
- Whimbrel House, Book 1
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Amanda Leigh Cobb, Graham Halstead, Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Rhode Island, 1846. Estranged from his family, writer Merritt Fernsby is surprised when he inherits a remote estate in the Narragansett Bay. Though the property has been uninhabited for more than a century, Merritt is ready to call it home—until he realizes he has no choice. With its doors slamming shut and locking behind him, Whimbrel House is not about to let Merritt leave. Ever.
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I don't know how to fairly review a book like this
- By Katelyn Standiford on 12-06-22
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A Short Walk Through a Wide World
- A Novel
- By: Douglas Westerbeke
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Aubry Tourvel, a stubborn nine-year-old girl, comes across a wooden puzzle ball on her walk home from school. She tosses it over the fence, only to find it in her backpack that evening. Days later, at the family dinner table, she starts to bleed to death. When medical treatment only makes her worse, she flees to the outskirts of the city, where she realizes that it is this very act of movement that keeps her alive. So begins her lifelong journey on the run from her condition, which won’t allow her to stay anywhere for longer than a few days—nor return to a place where she’s already been.
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Bleak, lonely, weary story with no real point
- By Amy on 04-21-24
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Thornhedge
- By: T. Kingfisher
- Narrated by: Jennifer Blom
- Length: 3 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right? If only. Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold.
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Not everything can be fixed
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 08-15-23
By: T. Kingfisher
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Sorrowland
- A Novel
- By: Rivers Solomon
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Vern - seven months pregnant and desperate to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised - flees for the shelter of the woods. There, she gives birth to twins, and plans to raise them far from the influence of the outside world. But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of, her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes.
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This Book Was Written For Me
- By Legend F on 06-23-21
By: Rivers Solomon
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Witch King
- By: Martha Wells
- Narrated by: Eric Mok
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well. But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence? Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.
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I gave up
- By Mara P on 06-26-23
By: Martha Wells
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The Fragile Threads of Power
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Marisa Calin, Michael Kramer
- Length: 21 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Once, there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power and connected by a single city: London. Until the magic grew too fast and forced the worlds to seal the doors between them in a desperate gamble to protect their own. The few magicians who could still open the doors grew more rare as time passed and now, only three Antari are known in recent memory—Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk, of White London.
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Best in the series!
- By Pat on 10-09-23
By: V. E. Schwab
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Atalanta
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Saint
- Narrated by: Beth Eyre
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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When Princess Atalanta is born, a daughter rather than the son her parents hoped for, she is left on a mountainside to die. But even then, she is a survivor. Raised by a mother bear under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis, Atalanta grows up wild and free, with just one condition: if she marries, Artemis warns, it will be her undoing. Although she loves her beautiful forest home, Atalanta yearns for adventure. When Artemis offers her the chance to fight in her name alongside the Argonauts, the fiercest band of warriors the world has ever seen, Atalanta seizes it.
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Action and intrigues
- By Stefan Filipovits on 05-10-23
By: Jennifer Saint
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A Broken Blade
- The Halfling Saga
- By: Melissa Blair
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Keera is a killer. As the King’s Blade, she is the most talented spy in the kingdom. And the king’s favored assassin. When a mysterious figure moves against the Crown, Keera is called upon to hunt down the so-called Shadow. She tracks her target into the magical lands of the Fae, but Faeland is not what it seems—and neither is the Shadow. Keera is shocked by what she learns and can’t help but wonder who her enemy truly is: the King that destroyed her people or the Shadow that threatens the peace.
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DNF, Poor voice over choice, slow story
- By Melinda on 09-27-22
By: Melissa Blair
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The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina
- A Novel
- By: Zoraida Córdova
- Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The Montoyas are used to a life without explanations. They know better than to ask why the pantry never seems to run low, or why their matriarch won’t ever leave their home in Four Rivers - not for graduations, weddings, or baptisms. But when Orquídea Divina invites them to her funeral and to collect their inheritance, they hope to learn the secrets that she has held onto so tightly their whole lives. Instead, Orquídea is transformed into a ceiba tree, leaving them with more questions than answers.
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Magical Realism Weirdness
- By @abagoflit on 09-08-21
By: Zoraida Córdova
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Kaikeyi
- A Novel
- By: Vaishnavi Patel
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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So begins Kaikeyi’s story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on legends of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.
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Good effort but dissappointing
- By Purva on 08-17-22
By: Vaishnavi Patel
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The Morning Star
- By: Karl Ove Knausgaard
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan, Edoardo Ballerini, Elisabeth Rodgers, and others
- Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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It's a normal night in August. Literature professor Arne and artist Tove are with their children at the resort in Sørlandet. Their friend, Egil, a driver by day, is staying in a cabin nearby. Kathrine, a priest, is on her way home from a seminar; the journalist Jostein is out on the town; and his wife, Turid, who is an assistant nurse, has a night shift. Above them all, a huge star suddenly appears in the sky. No one, not even the astronomers, knows for sure what kind of phenomenon it is.
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Great read for religious scholars
- By matt m on 01-13-22
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The Cartographers
- A Novel
- By: Peng Shepherd
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Nancy Wu, Karen Chilton, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field, and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn't seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over a cheap old gas station highway map. But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable, and also exceedingly rare.
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This audiobook should come with a warning label...
- By Amazon Customer on 03-28-22
By: Peng Shepherd
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The Spear Cuts Through Water
- A Novel
- By: Simon Jimenez
- Narrated by: Joel de la Fuente
- Length: 17 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family—the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors—hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the god locked under their palace.
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Unlistenable
- By Justin West on 08-01-24
By: Simon Jimenez
What listeners say about Ordinary Monsters
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- Blissful Peace
- 07-14-22
Great teen book!
Loved the narrator; he was pleasant listen to. The story was entertaining but it bounced a bit between characters in the beginning, stick with it though, they all come together and it’s story weaves through magic, space and time. Highly recommend!
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- AmazonCustomer
- 08-02-23
Pretty good story
Starts slow but, stick with it. The ending seems a bit rushed although it’s still a good ending. It seems like it said it’s self up for a second novel.
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- Jason Tischler
- 07-14-22
Give me more!
OMG what a story and there are so many branches to this tree. Spine tingling and heroic.
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- Jacob Stacey
- 10-02-22
Hard to get through
I’m currently an hour from finishing this book, and it has been quite a chore. I haven’t felt compelled to return to it at any time outside of literally having nothing else if interest to listen to while performing mundane tasks.
Is the narrator bad? No. But, he does seem to either not be able to capture the feel of the characters and situations, or he was profoundly bored during the recording. He speaks clearly and at a steady tempo. The natural depth of his voice does not seem to lend to large dynamic variation, which is hardly his fault. Think of how much more easily expressive a tenor or a soprano is versus a bass or a baritone. It requires a different kind of skills to provide variety at lower registers versus higher. The narrator invokes an atmosphere of calm at all times, even when the story is trying to be anything but calm.
The story itself has some very interesting elements, and a lot of predictable ones. You shouldn’t choose this title if you want to be taken on a roller coaster of thrills and unexpected turns. This is a very thematic tour through another world and doesn’t pretend to be otherwise.
This is a book that I wish I’d read instead of listened to. I think that I would have enjoyed the story more if the characters were allowed to have their own voices instead of everyone having the same voice with slight variances. I’m speaking of course of the personality and feel of each character instead of the literal voice. In this audio book you’re really only going to get the adoption of an American southern drawl to differentiate the characters in the scenes.
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- Anonymous User
- 03-01-24
Was slow going at first
Overall the story line was fresh and inventive. I liked the Victorian Gothic tone. Some of the 'battle' scenes were a little long, but overall it was great.
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-15-23
Excellent
I really loved this book! Twist and turns around every corner and was very captivating. The narrator was the perfect choice for this book.
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- Baseball Fan
- 01-06-23
exciting and interesting Victoria scifi/fantasy
wonderful read with lots of interesting concepts and great characters. Has the interesting concepts of YA novels but is much more intense and fully realized for an adult audience. The narrative performance was superb with a delightfully deep mysterious rumbling narration and unique character voices. very good audiobook
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- amybrandt
- 08-14-22
A winner all around
I recommend this book! The presentation is excellent and the story is spellbinding! I hated to get to the end and hope for a sequel.
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- Shaina
- 04-27-25
Beautiful!
Wow, this reader is incredible!! Lots of accents and he nailed each one! Made the experience so much better and really enriched the whole book!
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- Josh Church
- 09-30-22
A little boring but still good
A lot of world building that takes forever. Still listened to the end because the narration was fantastic & the overall story is good.
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