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literaltrash's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
mugs_it_is's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Slavery
Minor: Sexual violence
melsmagicalreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
tense
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? N/A
4.75
Kicking off 2022 with a graphic novel and I couldn't have chosen a better way to start my year! The world is on the brink of war, with humans and witches of the Cumaea against the Arcanics, half-human half-Ancient hybrids. Monstress follows a 17 year old girl, Maika, who travels deep into enemy territory. While doing this, she is fighting to keep a literal monster at bay who is residing inside her. With the unlikely traveling companions of a sentient cat and a cute little half-fox, she seeks answers to her unknown past while dodging all the different people who want her and her monster dead.
I was so impressed by the depth of world-building in this graphic novel! It is so complex with multiple sentient species, warring factions, complex systems of power, and of course, monsters. The art is absolutely outstanding, unlike any other graphic novels I've read. It's definitely got a dark and gory steampunk vibe.
The story had the potential to be too dark for me, but the addition of sentient cats and a cute little half-fox sidekick for our monstress added much-needed comic relief. I imagine I will be flying through the next few volumes this week!
I was so impressed by the depth of world-building in this graphic novel! It is so complex with multiple sentient species, warring factions, complex systems of power, and of course, monsters. The art is absolutely outstanding, unlike any other graphic novels I've read. It's definitely got a dark and gory steampunk vibe.
The story had the potential to be too dark for me, but the addition of sentient cats and a cute little half-fox sidekick for our monstress added much-needed comic relief. I imagine I will be flying through the next few volumes this week!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Slavery, Trafficking, and Violence
happysami's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Violence
rainbowshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, War, Body horror, Torture, Gore, Medical content, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Murder
elly29's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
This was hard to read. At times the plot seemed nonsensical, and it was very, very violent. Like, dismemberment, rolling heads, blood, wanton killings, life-sucking tentacles that make you age in the blink of an eye, etc etc. The art style is mostly beautiful when it's not bloody, and Kippa is cute and Ren the Nekomancer is funny. I'm not sure they and even four-tailed nekomancer Professor Tam Tam can keep me reading the next installment... I have it checked out of the library, so I probably will give it a go...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Slavery, Trafficking, Torture, and Physical abuse
Minor: War and Suicide
robinks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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
4.5
I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into when I started this graphic novel. It is very intense and very mysterious, and even at the end, I have many unanswered questions (like Maika). The illustrations are beautiful and horrific.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Torture, and War
Minor: Death of parent, Genocide, and Sexual violence
book_of_the_north's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Slavery, Body horror, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, and Animal cruelty
syllareads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Monstress is a beautiful Graphic Novel series and the first volume alone shows that beautifully. I'm in love with that artstyle!
Sadly, the story itself was extremely confusing to me and I found it very hard to follow it. I'm not that great with Graphic Novels to begin with, so I don't 100% fault the series, but I had a hard time trying to understand what was happening and who these people were. The worldbuilding itself felt great but I was given no time to try and understand it and the weird and long history lessons in between only helped to a certain degree. I was also left feeling emotionally unattached to the characters (which was probably because I literally forgot every single name and had a hard time assigning faces to things that were happening).
It did intrigue me enough to continue on, though, so...goal achieved?
Sadly, the story itself was extremely confusing to me and I found it very hard to follow it. I'm not that great with Graphic Novels to begin with, so I don't 100% fault the series, but I had a hard time trying to understand what was happening and who these people were. The worldbuilding itself felt great but I was given no time to try and understand it and the weird and long history lessons in between only helped to a certain degree. I was also left feeling emotionally unattached to the characters (which was probably because I literally forgot every single name and had a hard time assigning faces to things that were happening).
It did intrigue me enough to continue on, though, so...goal achieved?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Cannibalism, Child death, and Slavery
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: War
robyn_quick's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Sana Takeda's outstanding art is the best aspect for me, her ability to have super cute characters and horrific nightmares on one page is a testament to her incredible skill.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore