Monsters Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Only a Monster | 2022 | Buy |
| Never a Hero | 2023 | Buy |
| Once a Villain | 2025 | Buy |
Vanessa Len is an Australian author and educational editor based in Melbourne. She has Chinese-Malaysian and Maltese heritage and is a graduate of the Clarion Workshop. Before writing novels, she worked on language learning programs, STEM resources, and professional development materials for teachers. Her debut novel, Only a Monster, grew out of a pact she made with friends at a dinner where they all committed to writing novels.
Only a Monster launched the Monsters trilogy, a YA fantasy series set partly in 1993 London that involves time travel, monster families, and a protagonist who finds herself on the wrong side of a classic hero-versus-villain story. Len has said she was inspired by growing up rarely seeing herself reflected in fictional heroes but occasionally recognizing herself in the antagonists. That experience led her to write a story where the so-called monster is the one readers root for. The book won the 2022 Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Novel and has been translated into nine languages.
The trilogy continued with Never a Hero in 2023 and concluded with Once a Villain in 2025. Across all three books, Len explores themes of identity, family legacy, and what it means to be labeled a monster.