A review by art_books_chemistry
Orisha, Volume 1: With Great Power by Huzayfa Umar

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

3.75

It's been a while since I read a manga and this art style was definitely a bit different for me. I did end up liking it though I need to get a tablet or e-reader that can do apps so I can read NetGalley directly instead of needing to use my phone. It's hard to see all the detail when I need to zoom in just to read the words. NetGalley's format of making two pages into one page doesn't help. 

The fight scenes were a little visually confusing sometimes with a lot of lines all over the place but I was still able to follow blow by blow reasonably well. The plot is pretty well set already for a first book of a series, thought I actually think it could have been extended and split into two with the last couple chapters of this book being a climax of Vol. 2 and a longer journey to the location be the rest of Vol. 1. It felt a little rushed and the character development of Oya was lost because of it. 100+ years old and she trusts this new young kid without second thoughts? Whether she should or not was beside the point, it just seemed unrealistic the way it happened. 

I found the character's faces to be wonderfully expressive and thankfully wildly different enough to be able to tell them all apart. I'm hoping, later in the series some of their facial markings, etc are explained. I'm guessing they are relevant to the Orisha mythology of Nigeria so maybe other people don't need them explained but I'd love to learn more. 

Overall, I think it was a solid first book from a debut author and I'm excited for more! 

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this for my honest review. 

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