Reviews tagging 'Death'

Awakening by Marjorie Liu

70 reviews

raccoonsinatrenchcoat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Absolutely beautiful art and really intriguing story. I love the women-focused narrative (most drawn characters present as women) and I am really interested in the magic/lore systems. Well presented, thought out, and written. Can't wait to pick up the other compendiums. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, and Murder

ceilidhwilliams's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, and Murder

clara_wiecks_no_1_fan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

totallyshelfaware's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Cannibalism

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I saw this had won a "Best Publication forTeens" award, so I was surprised at how dark and graphic it was in the end. This has a ton of horror elements, but if you cannot handle gore I would not pick this up. 

So the art is 100% 5/5. It is absolutely gorgeous, and I can stare at some of the pages forever. On the flip side of that there are some terrifying scenes. The artist can make someone look beautiful in one panel, and then grotesque when they show their true colors. It's really fantastic. Some character designs and outfits really give off a Final Fantasy feel as well. 

The story is quite interesting, and I am invested in the characters. I for sure want to continue this series, but it kinda falls into the trap of Fantasy books where you don't really understand what the characters are talking about in the beginning, because we don't know the words for the places and people yet. At the end of a lot of the chapters there is an info dump page as well that goes more in depth on the history of the world and why this conflict exists. It just shows how complicated the universe this story is based in is. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder

hanarama's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

First off, the art is beautiful. I was first drawn to this book by the art. It's very elegant and expressive even in depicting violence. 

I don't know how much I can say on the story yet. The first volume (issues 1-6) set up a lot of the groundwork for what I suspect will be explored later. This early on, the story consisted mostly of world building and character establishment. 

The world building is very good and is what carried me through most of the book. So early on the characters haven't undergone a lot of character development so it's really the world building that gets you interested in learning more. There seem to be many secrets hinted at, just waiting to be uncovered later on. 

This volume ends on a major twist/reveal, that I think is going to drive a lot of character moments in the next volume. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent

pamshenanigans's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

More thoughts will be shared on my Youtube channel! Subscribe to my channel!

"'There's more hunger in the world than love.' When we were slaves, we knew endless hunger. What I feel now is worse. Why can't I stop it? Why don't I want to?"

Monstress follows the story of Maika Halfwolf, an Arcanic teenager, who survived the Great War and slavery at the hands of the Cumaeans. She is haunted by the past and is driven to uncover the truth behind her mother's murder when she was young. Plagued by the past and the present, where a monster inhabits her body, Maika has to fight for her life while discovering and embracing who she truly is.

The writing is amazing and lyrical at times. It is apt for the 1900s Asia setting and the steampunk theme it is evoking. Mixed with the fantastic art, it made for such an enthralling, adventurous, and imaginative read.

It perfectly dives into the consequences of war. How lust for power yields to deadly wars. Races fight against each other, whether for freedom or power, it depends.

In case you need some proper convincing, there are TALKING MAGICAL, SWORD-WIELDING CATS

Trigger/Content Warnings: death, violence, slavery, suicide, war

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Minor: Suicide

inferiorwit's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Sexual violence and Death of parent

scavenger's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Sexual violence