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A review by morganpk7
Monstress, Book One by Marjorie Liu
3.0
This is an overall review for volumes 1-5.
The setting is very interesting, but I think the story would have been much better as prose rather than a graphic novel. Sometimes comics are good, but in this case I had a very difficult time telling what was occurring from the art. Many of the characters look very similar and are difficult to tell apart, and dramatic or climactic events were frequently unclear.
The story was interesting enough to keep me reading, despite frequent confusion due to the art. However, the writing wasn't perfect either - I was frequently at a loss when it came to character motivations, even those of our protagonist. Many of the problems and storylines seemed disconnected, without a clear reason - i.e. why did our protagonist go to this city? why is she killing this demon but rescuing this almost-the-exact-same demon? This may be due in part to the serial nature of the comic, but reading everything at once made this somewhat off-putting.
I read this immediately after finishing Saga, which was incredible and had extremely clear art and also a strong narrator throughout. The comparison may have contributed to my more negative view here. Despite my complaints, I liked Monstress and may continue reading - though I probably won't go out of my way to do so.
The setting is very interesting, but I think the story would have been much better as prose rather than a graphic novel. Sometimes comics are good, but in this case I had a very difficult time telling what was occurring from the art. Many of the characters look very similar and are difficult to tell apart, and dramatic or climactic events were frequently unclear.
The story was interesting enough to keep me reading, despite frequent confusion due to the art. However, the writing wasn't perfect either - I was frequently at a loss when it came to character motivations, even those of our protagonist. Many of the problems and storylines seemed disconnected, without a clear reason - i.e. why did our protagonist go to this city? why is she killing this demon but rescuing this almost-the-exact-same demon? This may be due in part to the serial nature of the comic, but reading everything at once made this somewhat off-putting.
I read this immediately after finishing Saga, which was incredible and had extremely clear art and also a strong narrator throughout. The comparison may have contributed to my more negative view here. Despite my complaints, I liked Monstress and may continue reading - though I probably won't go out of my way to do so.