Ordinary Monsters

The first book in Miro’s “The Talents Trilogy” series is set in 1882 and follows two children who have magical abilities. They are recruited by an institute in Scotland where other children with abilities—Talents—reside. A mysterious man made of smoke stalks the children, and the veil between the world of the living and the dead is thinning. The Talents must discover the truth about their abilities and prevent the two worlds from colliding. This historical fantasy was exhaustive, though some characters lacked depth; there were so many introduced throughout the book. The start of the novel was fun and mysterious, the end was compelling, but the middle was a slower read. Narrator Ben Onwuke’s performance is enjoyable. His deep voice gave gravitas to the novel, and he was great at differentiating the multitude of character voices and accents.