Reviews with content warning for Violence - Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu

86 reviews

sophiesmovingcastle's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

straight off the bat, this comic is rated mature so please heed the trigger warnings before reading.

I came for the art, and stayed for the dark and gripping story which addresses the horrors of conflict and those stuck in between in a eerily fascinating fantasy world.

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clara_wiecks_no_1_fan's review against another edition

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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

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enbygolem's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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totallyshelfaware's review against another edition

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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

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house_of_hannah's review against another edition

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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.

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hanarama's review against another edition

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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.

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pamshenanigans's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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"'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

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