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jessicarose's review
3.0
Lupa is named after the Moon Goddess, Lupina. Her sister bickers with her, tells her she was found on her parents doorstep as a baby, that her name means outsider, alien, monster. But her mother tells her not to listen, tells her her name means change. That they knew her arrival would change all of their lives.
Tragedy strikes, and suddenly 4-year-old Lupa finds herself alone in a new world, alone until she’s found by the she-wolf, Coras. Guided by the Goddess Lupina, we follow their journey.
“Hush, little one. Sleep… And when you awake… There will be a new world waiting for you…”
A lot of the storytelling in this novel is told through it’s art. There were some incredibly powerful panels in here. Lupa’s new world is dark and brutal. We see her grow, learn and change to adapt to this new, harsh life of hers, and it’s represented really well on the page over time. I liked the addition of a new colour (representing one of the eight aspects of the Goddess Lupina) with each phase of the story. I also loved the alternate cover included in the back of the novel!
Unfortunately I felt a little lost during most of the story, as things were happening with little explanation, but upon finishing it, reading the afterword and the pages covering the eight aspects of the Goddess Lupina, things made a lot more sense and I started piecing together parts of the story that had initially gone over my head.
I wish there was a little more world building at the beginning of the novel, maybe more about the Goddess Lupina, or the fantastical aspects of this world. I think I would have understood the story better had I known more going in.
There are still plenty of unanswered questions, and the novel left off on a cliffhanger that I really want to see the other side of. I’ll definitely give the next one a read.
Thank you to Netgalley and Legendary Comics for providing this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Tragedy strikes, and suddenly 4-year-old Lupa finds herself alone in a new world, alone until she’s found by the she-wolf, Coras. Guided by the Goddess Lupina, we follow their journey.
“Hush, little one. Sleep… And when you awake… There will be a new world waiting for you…”
A lot of the storytelling in this novel is told through it’s art. There were some incredibly powerful panels in here. Lupa’s new world is dark and brutal. We see her grow, learn and change to adapt to this new, harsh life of hers, and it’s represented really well on the page over time. I liked the addition of a new colour (representing one of the eight aspects of the Goddess Lupina) with each phase of the story. I also loved the alternate cover included in the back of the novel!
Unfortunately I felt a little lost during most of the story, as things were happening with little explanation, but upon finishing it, reading the afterword and the pages covering the eight aspects of the Goddess Lupina, things made a lot more sense and I started piecing together parts of the story that had initially gone over my head.
I wish there was a little more world building at the beginning of the novel, maybe more about the Goddess Lupina, or the fantastical aspects of this world. I think I would have understood the story better had I known more going in.
There are still plenty of unanswered questions, and the novel left off on a cliffhanger that I really want to see the other side of. I’ll definitely give the next one a read.
Thank you to Netgalley and Legendary Comics for providing this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
geekwayne's review
3.0
'Lupina Book One: Wax' by James Wright with art by Li Buszka is a graphic novel about a young girl who finds herself being raised by a strange parent.
When a young girl named Lupa finds herself suddenly orphaned, she finds someone to help raise her in the form a she-wolf named Coras. It may also be that Lupa is the child of the moon goddess Lupina.
It's an interesting start to the story, and all the pieces don't completely make sense yet. The art starts in black and white and subtly gains a ew color with each volume. I'm not completely certain this works either as I think story lacks needed color.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Legendary Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
When a young girl named Lupa finds herself suddenly orphaned, she finds someone to help raise her in the form a she-wolf named Coras. It may also be that Lupa is the child of the moon goddess Lupina.
It's an interesting start to the story, and all the pieces don't completely make sense yet. The art starts in black and white and subtly gains a ew color with each volume. I'm not completely certain this works either as I think story lacks needed color.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Legendary Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
dinnureads's review
2.0
I received an e-book copy of Lupina through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This graphic novel made me highly confused. The art was very dark and things kept happening suddenly and without detailed depiction, sometimes even in time-lapses. Most of the time I just didn’t understand it nor care much for the characters. Perhaps it’s only because it is a first volume and there will be more hopefully with better explanations.
This graphic novel made me highly confused. The art was very dark and things kept happening suddenly and without detailed depiction, sometimes even in time-lapses. Most of the time I just didn’t understand it nor care much for the characters. Perhaps it’s only because it is a first volume and there will be more hopefully with better explanations.
alexbthelibrarian's review
3.0
I received an eARC of this title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
I liked this graphic novel. The story was interesting. Lupa is young and learns the horrors of the world early. The goddesses of her culture guide her on her journey along with a lone wolf.
I think the artwork was well done. I liked how each chapter incorporated a different color which correlated to each of the goddesses.
I think the concept is really cool. I also would like to understand more of what is going on. I hope more is explained in the next book.
I liked this graphic novel. The story was interesting. Lupa is young and learns the horrors of the world early. The goddesses of her culture guide her on her journey along with a lone wolf.
I think the artwork was well done. I liked how each chapter incorporated a different color which correlated to each of the goddesses.
I think the concept is really cool. I also would like to understand more of what is going on. I hope more is explained in the next book.
jugglingpup's review
2.0
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I got an ARC of this book.
I don’t really know what I expected from this. I liked the name so I gave it a shot.
The art is sometimes hard to figure out what is going on, but that added some style to it that I appreciated. There characters are distinct, though they weren’t always introduced in a way that made any sense. If you catch every little detail and are great at names, this will be less of an issue for you.
The plot itself was ok. I wasn’t really invested. There was some violence early on, some emotional trauma. Then cute wolves appeared. So I liked the wolves, but it didn’t make any sense why the wolf actually came to help. Maybe that is revealed in the next book, but based on book one it just felt an easy explanation to how the girl lived. It is also an example of why I don’t like fantasy, everything is a little too easy with magic and magical creatures coming to save the day.
This doesn’t really stand out for me. I don’t really have strong feelings either way on it. It is not outstanding in plot, characters, art, or really anything. It isn’t bad, but it doesn’t really do anything. So I am left trying to write a review on something that took me ten minutes to read and made me go “eh, guess I finished that”.
The best part was probably learning that all the people involved are queer. That warmed my heart.
I got an ARC of this book.
I don’t really know what I expected from this. I liked the name so I gave it a shot.
The art is sometimes hard to figure out what is going on, but that added some style to it that I appreciated. There characters are distinct, though they weren’t always introduced in a way that made any sense. If you catch every little detail and are great at names, this will be less of an issue for you.
The plot itself was ok. I wasn’t really invested. There was some violence early on, some emotional trauma. Then cute wolves appeared. So I liked the wolves, but it didn’t make any sense why the wolf actually came to help. Maybe that is revealed in the next book, but based on book one it just felt an easy explanation to how the girl lived. It is also an example of why I don’t like fantasy, everything is a little too easy with magic and magical creatures coming to save the day.
This doesn’t really stand out for me. I don’t really have strong feelings either way on it. It is not outstanding in plot, characters, art, or really anything. It isn’t bad, but it doesn’t really do anything. So I am left trying to write a review on something that took me ten minutes to read and made me go “eh, guess I finished that”.
The best part was probably learning that all the people involved are queer. That warmed my heart.
jens_1000lives's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rachelsread's review against another edition
2.0
I immediately fell in love with the art style of this comic! It's new, it's unique, and the colourization is gorgeous! Although the comic starts off in black and white, gradually the characters gain colour, and the use of startling shades is maximized to draw the readers attention to the most important subject of each page. I also found the character of Lupa to be well-written, given how young she is. Her reactions are natural to that of a terrified child and it was a relief to read about a fictional character who actually acts human.
However there were a number of negatives that resulted in me giving this comic two out of five stars. A lot of this story isn't explained, and while yes, some mystery is needed for suspense, the extent of the "mystery" in this comic just causes annoyance rather than curiosity. The wolves, which are incredibly central to the plot aren't actually explained at any point. Why they're there, why they act human, why they seem to understand everything, none of it is ever expanded on. In addition, the Goddess Lupina and her friends? sisters? are never explained either. I'm still unsure whether they are part of a religion, imaginary, real, etc. and what their purpose actually is.
Despite the intriguing plot twist at the beginning of the comic, the plot quickly deteriorates after it. Confusing lack of explanations aside, there are a number of inconsistencies that make the story feel disjointed and somewhat thrown together. If the Goddess Lupina does exist, then why did she let all of her people be slaughtered? The journey that Lupa and her wolf took looked like it would take perhaps two or three months on the map, yet we are told that it took them four years? Also, why were the snow animals at the end even a thing? What were they? Why were they there? And if they were truly made of snow, then why did Lupa bother fighting them considering they weren't real? Why did she pass out afterwards? And how did the man in the blue cloak (which we were told are the bad guys? possible? this wasn't very clear) find them just at the right moment? There are more questions than answers at the end of this comic, and overall, the "plot" itself acted more as a prologue than an actual story.
However there were a number of negatives that resulted in me giving this comic two out of five stars. A lot of this story isn't explained, and while yes, some mystery is needed for suspense, the extent of the "mystery" in this comic just causes annoyance rather than curiosity. The wolves, which are incredibly central to the plot aren't actually explained at any point. Why they're there, why they act human, why they seem to understand everything, none of it is ever expanded on. In addition, the Goddess Lupina and her friends? sisters? are never explained either. I'm still unsure whether they are part of a religion, imaginary, real, etc. and what their purpose actually is.
Despite the intriguing plot twist at the beginning of the comic, the plot quickly deteriorates after it. Confusing lack of explanations aside, there are a number of inconsistencies that make the story feel disjointed and somewhat thrown together. If the Goddess Lupina does exist, then why did she let all of her people be slaughtered? The journey that Lupa and her wolf took looked like it would take perhaps two or three months on the map, yet we are told that it took them four years? Also, why were the snow animals at the end even a thing? What were they? Why were they there? And if they were truly made of snow, then why did Lupa bother fighting them considering they weren't real? Why did she pass out afterwards? And how did the man in the blue cloak (which we were told are the bad guys? possible? this wasn't very clear) find them just at the right moment? There are more questions than answers at the end of this comic, and overall, the "plot" itself acted more as a prologue than an actual story.
queenkoko's review
4.0
3.5 stars from me. Great artwork for sure. Not enough dialogue though. Not sure what makes Lupa so special. Hopefully the 2nd book in the series comes out soon.
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I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
lucysmithyy's review
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
yellowmoonreads's review
3.0
I liked the art style, but I feel the writing was lacking a bit. It seemed like there were big time gaps and I would've liked to have seen more of what was happening during those times. Because of the big gaps it got a bit confusing for a little, until I realized it was because of jumping ahead multiple years. Since this is book one there is still a lot of story left to tell which makes it a little harder to rate it. I wouldn't mind knowing what happens next, but I'm not dying to have the next book either. The premise of the books is pretty cool, but just not executed to suit my taste. I felt it was too slow or that I was being told useless information when there was more entertaining stuff being left out. Overall I think the series has potential and it wasn't a terrible book, but I'm not sure if I will be looking for the next book or not. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.