Reviews with content warning for Racism - Am liebsten mag ich Monster: Bd. 1

2017: A coming of age murder mystery, the story and art are intricate and enthralling.

2024: now in the permanent library and recommended many times. Preteen Karen Reyes lives in 1960s Chicago and imagines she's a monster, though the adults around her, apart from her mother, are the ones that can't seem to keep their monstrous aspects in check.

There is a mystery of how a neighbor died, so Karen dons a trenchcoat and brimmed hat to investigate, all while being bullied at school, harboring a crush on a schoolmate, inventing an imaginary friend, and trying to navigate issues of race, class, poverty, and the morass of her family's secrets that keep getting withheld from her.

Karen is such a beating heart of a main character. I adore her and fear for her.

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katkinslee's review against another edition

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dark sad 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

4.0

This book made my heart hurt

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tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

This book isn't perfect, but it's perfectly captivating, and now I'm among the legions of fans (im)patiently dreaming of Book 2.

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krys_kilz's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-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

5.0

This graphic novel is super unique and the artwork is truly NEXT LEVEL. It's crosshatched and drawn with ballpoint pen, which gives it a style and color palette unlike any graphic novel or comic I've read before. I loved that it was written as the main character's notebook and enjoyed the memorabilia and famous paintings included throughout.

The main character and narrator, Karen Reyes, warms my little queer heart. I love how unapologetically weird she is, how full of curiosity and spunk. I appreciated all the LGBTQ characters and the pro-SWer sentiment. With the body horror subplot, you could definitely read this as a trans narrative too.

The use of horror and multiple meanings of what makes a monster was also incredibly powerful. There is some sharp social critique / political analysis woven throughout that is really striking in conversation with the artwork. I also appreciated the threads comparing trauma to being haunted.

There is a lot of heavy content and I agree that the narrative was a bit scattered at times, but overall I loved this book and am excited to read Volume II.

tw: adult/minor relationship, pedophilia, antisemitism, Holocaust, cancer, rape

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