yrioona's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

Absolutely stunning art and storytelling, funny and emotionally devastating. I found the last chapter or two pretty disorienting/confusing and I couldn't tell how much of it was intentional. Maybe things are cleared up in volume 2!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

katkinslee's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lancakes's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

Go to review page

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
2nd read, 2024: Liked this even more on a second read. Caught so many more Easter eggs and throwaway jokes and just found a lot more meaning in it.

1st read, 2022: 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. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

krys_kilz's review against another edition

Go to review page

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 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

goldenjunegem's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mothdan's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

caedy's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

aerialcataloger's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

The illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful! The content is very difficult. It is a lot of sadness upon sadness without much respite at all, expect in a few small places.

The characters are very interesting and I really enjoyed reading about their stories. I know that parts of this are inspired by true events.

I will definitely read the sequel when it comes out.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings