I received this book via the publisher Chicken House. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.
All the Hidden Monsters by Amie Jordan Series: All the Hidden Monsters #1
Published by Chicken House on 2025-03-04
Age Range: 12+
Length: 352 pages
Reviewing ARC from the publisher Chicken House
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2025 New Release Challenge
Cozy crime is dead. And so is Lucy Hague…
Combining a twisty murder mystery, an underground supernatural detective gang, and a slow burn enemies-to-lovers romance, All the Hidden Monsters is the first in a razor-sharp crime series sure to leave readers obsessively binge-reading.
Sage is an ordinary girl and a werewolf, moving between worlds, desperate to make sense of her life. And then her supernatural friend, Lucy, is found murdered in the human domain.
Now, Sage is determined to join the investigation, led by handsome but arrogant warlock, Oren Rinallis.
Sage may not be magical or immortal, but she knows right from wrong, and is sure that she can scent a killer like no other... unless she and Oren kill each other first...
With a crew so entertaining and unique—All the Hidden Monsters is funny, serious, scary—and you’ll never guess who did it. There’s a world below our own, but who is killing who in both of them?
All the Hidden Monsters by Amie Jordan is the first in a mystery/detective series unlike any I’ve ever read. Sage is a werewolf and average teenage girl when she happens across the scene of her friend’s murder. Oren is a warlock and paranormal investigator assigned to Lucy’s case. Sage is determined to find out what happened to her friend and in the process land a job with the Arcanum, the paranormal society’s investigative office. Working together, Sage and Oren uncover more murders and soon realize they have a serial killer on their hands.
This was really an interesting concept. If you were to remove all the paranormal/supernatural aspects, this would be your typical murder mystery. However, all the paranormal elements add to the story. Sage lives Downside, an underground city that houses paranormals of all kinds: warlocks, witches, fairies, shifters of all kinds, werewolves, and ghosts. They have schools, jobs, everything you might suspect to run a functioning society. The Upside is above ground where humans live. Very few paranormals make their home there, but werewolves are able to as they live most of their daily life as human with the exception of the full moon. When werewolves start turning up dead, Oren is sent to investigate. It’s Sage who discovers that they’ve been murdered, poisoned first with silver.
Most of the story comes from Sage’s perspective with a few chapters interspersed from Oren’s. Sage is a lonely teen girl, orphaned in the attack that turned her into a werewolf. She’s made her own pack from a poltergeist, two werewolves, gryphons, and a selkie. Her friends are her pack, and she believes she can be happy with that. But the guilt of surviving her family eats away at her. She refuses to turn into a wolf except when required by the full moon.
Oren is a powerful warlock, known for his cruelty throughout Downside. His interest in the case comes when Sage notices the silver in Lucy’s apartment, powdered silver in her coffee to be exact. This would have weakened her and been enough to kill her, but the killer wanted to make a statement. Oren and Sage are two sides of the same coin. Both are struggling with their past and how it affects the present and future. Together, they make a decent team.
Overall, I enjoyed All the Hidden Monsters. The story focuses heavily on the crimes and investigation, but balances the dark with some relationship development between Sage and Oren. I liked seeing how they evolved from almost enemies to tolerant friendship. This is listed as a first in the series, and I’d be curious to read more of Sage and Oren’s investigations.
Content Notice: The publisher lists this book for 12 and up, however I would classify this one for 16 and up. The characters are all adults, including Sage who turns 19 in the book. The murders are graphically detailed, and strong language is used throughout the book. I would not recommend this one for children or teens who are sensitive to violence.
About Amie Jordan
Amie Jordan is from Salford and studied Film and Media at Manchester Metropolitan University. When she isn’t writing she spends most of her time knitting, having provided bespoke pieces for the costume departments of film, TV and theatre. Her other talents include solving Rubik’s cubes, getting hard knots out of string, and quoting Lord of the Rings start to finish. Amie lives near Manchester city centre with her son and their two cats and two dogs, Marvy, Marmalade, Major and Percy Jackson.
Sounds like this one could be appropriate for my high school students. I think I have it on a possible order list for next year. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…E-galley Review: Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Sara Ney