Once a Villain

By: Vanessa Len

Narrated by: Vera Chok

When monsters rule, who will be left to stop them?

After Joan's failed attempt to save the world, Eleanor now rules over a cruel new timeline where monsters live openly among humans, preying on them and subjugating them.

Nick -once a hero to humans, and Joan's first love - is tormented by the choice he made to save her over the timeline itself. And Aaron - the ruthless heir to a powerful monster family - now finds himself in a world where monsters have power beyond imagining while his feelings for Joan grow.

Wrenched between love and rivalry, the three of them must negotiate their fractured pasts to survive the new world and restore what was lost. Because only they remember that there was once a better timeline.

But how will they defeat a whole world of monsters with control over time itself?©2025 The Trustee for Vanessa Len Trust

Critic reviews

** Praise for the Only a Monster series **

Mind-bending, heart-wrenching, and unputdownable - Stephanie Garber, Sunday Times bestselling author of Once Upon a Broken Heart

An exciting, original and complex fantasy about monsters, heroes, and all the people in between - Naomi Novik, New York Times bestselling author of Uprooted and A Deadly Education

An absolute page-turner

A captivating new voice in fantasy - Hafsah Faizal, New York Times bestselling author of We Hunt the Flame

A phenomenal new series - Adalyn Grace, New York Times bestselling author of Foxglove

Like nothing I've ever read, utterly fresh and unique - C.S. Pacat, USA Today bestselling author

Darkly delicious fun. If you've been looking for your newest YA fantasy obsession - you've found it - Natasha Ngan, New York Times bestselling author of Girls of Paper and Fire