#joan chang hunt

[emci123]

"I do know, though," Aaron said, his gray eyes serious, "that if I gave you that brooch, I must have--" He hesitated.

You must have what Aaron? Just admit you are in love with her so I can live in peace.

:)

[mightydragoon]

Nick Ward and Joan Chang Hunt

The tragedy of Nick Ward and Joan Chang Hunt's romance in Vanessa Len's Monsters Series just gets to me, man. A lot of people prefer Aaron Oliver and Joan together and I get it I really do, Aaron has some of the funniest lines in the series and a really investing backstory.

But there is just something so intriguing and captivating about Nick and Joan. These are two people who have hurt each other one way or another and yet can't bring themselves to kill the other.

Nick was broken by his trauma he was kept in a time loop for possibly years, forcibly conditioned and forged into becoming a hero and the the thing is he isn't exactly wrong. Monsters steal time from people, a day, a lifetime it all adds up and even Joan recognises Monsters can use it for trivial shit.

Yet Nick never hurts Joan. He even starts the attacks on the Olivers specifically because they try to kill her. Even with their relationship at their worse, he can't kill her and Joan can't kill him despite trying to.

“I mean it,” she said. “You’re dead.” He gave her his familiar solemn smile, the one that he’d given her all the time at the house. “Aren’t we all,” he said. “Somewhere on the timeline.”

And it hurts how both of them recognise this is sides they must choose. Until Joan manages to restart everything and give Nick his family back.

I think things really got more to me once we got to Never a Hero and Nick forgot everything and we get to see him and Joan interact with each other and how he's already falling for her again. With Joan trying to keep him at arm's length but can't.

This isn't a Nick who was traumatised by seeing the deaths of his family over and over again, this is a Nick who was happy with his life until his life got uprooted again. And the way he tries to look out for Joan and Joan understandably be conflicted over the whole thing is great. Plus his reactions to the other timelines is just....It kills me. He's horrified at himself, man but also struck that there was a Nick and Joan happy with the other.

His eyes were still on the walkway too. And … Joan’s breath caught. He looked cracked open and raw. It lasted for just a moment. By the time he turned to meet her eyes, his expression was closed again.

It's the story of two people who know they probably shouldn't love the other and yet their hearts refuse to tell them so, two nerds who love history and worked together at a historical house, two kids who hunted the other. Two people who will remake and reforge the entire world just to protect the other for better or worse.

They were just two teens who wanted to be together and just wanted to be happy as a couple and help create peace for Monsters and Humans.

[lola-lightwood]

Time for me to post some Aaron Oliver quotes to pass the time till Book 3

SPOILERS for Never a Hero by Vanessa Len below

"I guess you'd changed your mind, because you told me that if I managed to undo the massacre, I could never meet you. I could never trust you. You said..." I won't remember what you mean to me. Joan heard her own voice crack. "You--you said you'd hate me in this new timeline."

Aaron's expression was hard. “Well your fictional me was right about that.”

STOP HE’S SO SASSY. Let's have a moment of silence for Joan’s heart:

"You gave me a brooch just before I left. You found it in a cupboard at the safe house. A brown bird in a cage."

"What?" Aaron sounded truly shocked now...He was staring at her as if he were seeing her for the first time.

Aaron after Joan mentioned his mother's brooch:

"Why do the Nightingales think that you informed on her?" Joan whispered. "I know you didn't."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Aaron said. He sounded wary, but there was a new vulnerable note in his voice as well.

"You just wouldn't. You wouldn't do that. If anyone had informed on her, it would have been--" She cut herself off as the truth finally clicked. "Your father," she said slowly. In response Aaron made a soft sound.

I WANT AN AUDIO RECORDING OF THAT SOFT SOUND. I love that Joan just knows him. And that's huge for a boy that was never seen. Who is constantly discarded and insulted by those who are supposed to love him. Joan to Aaron:

"Your name is Joan, right?

Joan:

It cut with the same knife jab as when Nick had asked for her name.

Aaron's eyes flickered over her face; he'd caught the emotion. His voice gentled. "It's Joan?"

Joan nodded. "Okay, Joan," he said.

"Okay what?" "Okay, I believe you."

Joan's throat felt thick with tears suddenly. She hadn't expected him to say that. Not so quickly.

"You believe we knew each other?" she said.

"I believe everything you said."

me after this scene:

"I missed you," Joan managed. "In this timeline." It came out with so much emotion that Aaron looked surprised.

"Sorry," Joan said. "I know you don't remember me. We just...We went through a lot of things together that no one else did. And I missed you. A lot."

Joan confessing:

Aaron was silent long enough that Joan could feel herself reddening.

It was too much to tell him--that she missed him when he'd barely met her.

"You're right. I don't know you," he said finally. Joan tried not to feel the blunt ache of it. He didn't remember her, and that was just the truth. "I do know, though," Aaron said, his gray eyes serious, "that if I gave you that brooch, I must have--" He hesitated.

"I must have trusted you very much."

What were you gonna say Aaron? what were you going to say?

Let's speculate - I think he was going to say 'cared' so "I must have cared for you very much."

If we're going crazy and if you're a lovesick fool like me then "I must have loved you very much." But that's not realistic, Lauryn.

a girl can only dream.

and that's all for part 1 💜 thanks for reading my current obsession!

[lesbianamalvada]

why is joan so impressed with nick for doing the bare minimum of thinking. like "oh he realizes all the strange-looking people attacking us are strangle looking." "after I told him we traveled in time because of that monster he put together that monsters can travel in time." "gotta watch out for this one." like??? how does this impress you?? then again we are talking about the girl who, despite being told at a young age that her and her family are monsters and seeing displays of their unnatural powers, is shocked when she finds out her and her family are monsters with unnatural powers.

[aaronjoannick]

The way Joanick has both the 'kill the one you love to save the world' and the 'destroy the world to save the one you love.' And it's even better that killing the one you love to save the world (and in Joan's case save her family) is coming from the monster. And the saving the one you love even if it means destroying the world (by making it monster run) is coming from the hero. This series is SO good.

[ofstarsandmoonlightt]

guys this reminds me of that time in Lord of Shadows when Emma and Julian were discussing family mottos lol:

(📖: only a monster: vanessa len)

[bookcentral101]

Joan Chang Hunt and Nick Ward

Only a Monster by Vanessa Len

[hiloedits]

— aaronjoan headers

like or reblog if you use/save.

© hiloedits on twitter.

[the-inheritance-games]

THIS HAUNTS ME

(I was so scared Vanessa was never going to drop the third book and I’d be left with the memory of the possibility of them 😭)

"I do know, though," Aaron said, his gray eyes serious, "that if I gave you that brooch, I must have--" He hesitated.

You must have what Aaron? Just admit you are in love with her so I can live in peace.

:)

[pessimistic-hedgehog]

i finished reading this in like one day and it was so so amazing

enemies to lovers (sort of lovers to enemies to lovers to enemies??lol it's a cycle)

blurred lines between good and evil

main character is a villain (sort of)

amazing plot

a whole hidden world

time travel

rivalling families

monster court heist

biracial asian representation

a love triangle that isn't annoying (it ends by the end of the book anyway) (edit: it gets annoying in book 2 actually because I hate Nick now) (I love Aaron because who doesn't love a blonde, gentlemen-like, soft boy who doesn't really touch anyone but the girl he has feelings for...)

highly recommend for ya fantasy book lovers

[renegadestrash]

Minor spoilers for never a hero by Vanessa Len

Currently reading never a hero by Vanessa Len and it’s already making me anxious and sad like I knew this book was going to be sad but I’m only like 20 pages in and I am SCARED!!! I am not prepared for this 😭😭😭

[lesbianamalvada]

"joan hadn't felt a glimmer of her power since last summer" I LITERALLY JUST READ ABOUT YOU USING IT ACCIDENTLY A FEW CHAPTERS AGO GRRR oh my god guys she's so stupid sometimes I can't-

[aaronjoannick]

Joan Chang Hunt, Aaron Oliver, and Nick Ward

Monsters Trilogy by Vanessa Len

[englishsub]

book rec by me

so you want to get back into reading books but have no idea where to start and disdain booktok (if you get me started on this however i will become an unskippable cutscene so that's for another day). understandable. there is so much out there and it is all so overwhelming and you don't even know what you like now that you've been a decade out of the game. again, understandable. it does not have to be scary. i will help you. below i have created some categories that can get you started.

i want to read Literature

literary fiction, with crossover from historical fiction and magical realism

PEACH BLOSSOM SPRING by melissa fu

THE VASTER WILDS by lauren groff

THE FAMILY CHAO by lan samantha chang

OUTER DARK by cormac mccarthy

SEVERANCE by ling ma

LIGHT FROM UNCOMMON STARS by ryka aoki

IDENTITTI by mithu m. sanyal

PIRANESI by susanna clarke

i want to read sci-fi/fantasy that won't break my brain

sci-fi and fantasy that is gentler on the brain cells. easier to grasp magic systems with multiple but not an overwhelming number of overlapping plotlines

EMILY WILDE'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES by heather fawcett

KINGS OF THE WYLD by nicholas eames

THE JASMINE THRONE by tasha suri

THE CITY OF BRASS by s.a. chakraborty

A RIVER ENCHANTED by rebecca ross

JUNIPER AND THORN by ava reid

BLACK SUN by rebecca roanhorse

THE FINAL STRIFE by saara el-arifi

THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER by andrea stewart

i want to read sci-fi/fantasy that forces me to lock the fuck in

i would not recommend picking these up as your first foray back into books after many years of not reading recreationally, but i'm not your mom.

THE SPEAR CUTS THROUGH WATER by simon jimenez

JADE CITY by fonda lee

THE FIFTH SEASON by n.k. jemisin

THE RAGE OF DRAGONS by evan winter

A MEMORY CALLED EMPIRE by arkady martine

GIDEON THE NINTH by tamsyn muir

THE ART OF PROPHECY by wesley chu

THE GRACE OF KINGS by ken liu

horrify me!

there is far more to the horror literary canon than stephen king and dean koontz, i promise. consider looking up warnings for these.

TENDER IS THE FLESH by agustina bazterrica

THE RUINS by scott smith

CONFESSIONS by kanae minato

EPISODE THIRTEEN by craig dilouie

REPRIEVE by james han mattson

MARY by nat cassidy

DEAD SILENCE by s.a. barnes

AUDITION by ryu murakami

THE SALT GROWS HEAVY by cassandra khaw

don't care, i want romance

some of these feature crossover genres, like fantasy and horror.

VAMPIRES OF EL NORTE by isabel cañas

DAUGHTER OF THE MOON GODDESS by sue lynn tan

SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE by tia williams

HAPPY PLACE by emily henry

ONE DARK WINDOW by rachel gillig

i want QUEER romance

again, a mix of historical, fantasy, and contemporary crossover genres.

WE COULD BE SO GOOD by cat sebastian

IN MEMORIAM by alice winn

MOST ARDENTLY by gabe cole novoa

A STRANGE AND STUBBORN ENDURANCE by foz meadows

A MARVELLOUS LIGHT by freya marske

THE EMPEROR AND THE ENDLESS PALACE by justinian huang

SPELL BOUND by f.t. lukens

SORRY, BRO by taleen voskuni

ONE LAST STOP by casey mcquiston

DELILAH GREEN DOESN'T CARE by ashley herring blake

i haven't felt anything since i read percy jackson/the hunger games in middle school/high school

adventure is still out there.

SCYTHE by neil shusterman

WE HUNT THE FLAME by hafsah faizal

SIX OF CROWS by leigh bardugo

GEARBREAKERS by zoe hana mikuta

i'll read anything that's not straight or white

many books in the above categories fit this, but here's even more, across a variety of genres.

LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB by malinda lo

BABEL by r.f. kuang

WHEN THE RECKONING COMES by latanya mcqueen

THE UNBROKEN by c.l. clark

IF YOU'LL HAVE ME (graphic novel) by eunnie

LEGEND OF THE WHITE SNAKE by sher lee

THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone

SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN by shelley parker-chan

"all ya books suck"

like any other genre or book age group, there are duds and there are standouts. ya is not special in this regard. try some of these!

DIVINE RIVALS by rebecca ross

STRIKE THE ZITHER by joan he

THE RED PALACE by june hur

A STUDY IN DROWNING by ava reid

EMPIRE OF SAND by tasha suri

LEGENDBORN by tracy deonn

i check out and read a lot of these books for free via my local library by using the libby app (you can even add your friends' library cards to gain access to libraries in places you don't live). when i'm feeling like reading via audiobook, i use libro fm!

look, no one HAS TO read diversely. no one is going to be reverse fahrenheit 451'd and locked in a room with no fanfic and only books and not let out until they work their way through the entire literary canon. but reading, and reading widely, and reading diversely, is what teaches people to form their own opinions and question the things they are told. it's why they hang up stuff like "READ READ READ!!" in grade school classrooms.

we live under systems that increasingly benefit from going unquestioned. no, of course reading ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE by robin hobb is not going to dismantle these systems tomorrow, nor probably even in our lifetimes. but doing it will help set up a world capable of doing it in the future. and until further notice, we are all part of this wretched world. might as well read a good story while we're here.

anyway, i'm reading THE WEST PASSAGE by jared pechaček and the new cmq book this week.

[bookcentral101]

I've been obsessing over Only A Monster and Never A. Hero (By Vanessa Len) since I finished reading them. I love both Nick and Aaron soooo much and ship them both with Joan.