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A review by crystalisreading
Belle: Beast Hunter #1 by Dave Franchini, Bong Dazo, Juan Rodriguez
2.0
Belle: Beast Hunter is about a well-endowed female monster hunter from a long line of monster hunters. A series of attacks leave her scrambling to defend herself and those she loves, and trying to solve the mystery behind these incidents so she can put a stop to them. Sounds good, right?
Things I enjoyed about this book:
There are lots of female characters in important roles.
Those women are tough and smart and strong.
They have conversations with each other that aren't just about men.
There didn't appear to be any romance in this story.
The shots of the male monster hunter showed him shirtless, so he was not any more appropriately clad for battle than the women.
I'm sort of curious about what happens next.
Things I did not like about this book:
The first 3/4 of the book felt very repetitive. I didn't feel like the plot really got moving to anything other than monster fighting til the last quarter of the book. Otherwise it seemed to be about Belle getting the snot kicked out of herself and complaining about her life sucking.
The costuming. Aside from a brief section in a jumpsuit, Belle's clothes are offensively sexualized and impractical. If you are fighting vicious fanged/ clawed monsters, would you really leave uncovered access not only to your enormous breasts but also, I dunno, YOUR HEART? IMO she could have melted down those fancy epaulets and made herself a handy breastplate. Besides, ladies wear sports bras for a reason. Breasts, especially large ones, have a habit of flopping around inconveniently when one is active and they are inadequately restrained by like, say, a very low cut shirt. And don't even get me started on the impossible gravity of the strapless costumes. Straps under the armpits don't count.
The anatomy. and the way it was featured. Belle was remarkably well-endowed, which was always on display. And the artist loved to frame that and her butt as the central focus of the scene. Seriously? it's a tense action scene, and you flash to a shot that focuses on her spandex clad rear as she's fighting??
The way many scenes were framed. Not just the butt and boobs shots, but also the fight scenes. They were deadly fights between monster and woman...yet they managed to look sexualized and kinda rapey, like creepy 80s advertisements.
I really didn't get how this was in any way connected to Beauty and the Beast. This is not a retelling. All that I noticed that they had in common was inspiration for the costume and similar coloring.
I did not like this story enough to slog through future editions to find out what happens, so now I guess I won't get closure.
In summary? I was probably not the intended audience for this book. I'm sure there are plenty of fanboys who are, however. I enjoy reading graphic novels with fantasy/ paranormal/ superhero themes, especially ones starring strong females. But this was just super disappointing and unappealing to me. I guess I should be glad that I got this free from Netgalley.
If this sounds like something you'd enjoy more than I did, the publication date is January 15, 2019.
Things I enjoyed about this book:
There are lots of female characters in important roles.
Those women are tough and smart and strong.
They have conversations with each other that aren't just about men.
There didn't appear to be any romance in this story.
The shots of the male monster hunter showed him shirtless, so he was not any more appropriately clad for battle than the women.
I'm sort of curious about what happens next.
Things I did not like about this book:
The first 3/4 of the book felt very repetitive. I didn't feel like the plot really got moving to anything other than monster fighting til the last quarter of the book. Otherwise it seemed to be about Belle getting the snot kicked out of herself and complaining about her life sucking.
The costuming. Aside from a brief section in a jumpsuit, Belle's clothes are offensively sexualized and impractical. If you are fighting vicious fanged/ clawed monsters, would you really leave uncovered access not only to your enormous breasts but also, I dunno, YOUR HEART? IMO she could have melted down those fancy epaulets and made herself a handy breastplate. Besides, ladies wear sports bras for a reason. Breasts, especially large ones, have a habit of flopping around inconveniently when one is active and they are inadequately restrained by like, say, a very low cut shirt. And don't even get me started on the impossible gravity of the strapless costumes. Straps under the armpits don't count.
The anatomy. and the way it was featured. Belle was remarkably well-endowed, which was always on display. And the artist loved to frame that and her butt as the central focus of the scene. Seriously? it's a tense action scene, and you flash to a shot that focuses on her spandex clad rear as she's fighting??
The way many scenes were framed. Not just the butt and boobs shots, but also the fight scenes. They were deadly fights between monster and woman...yet they managed to look sexualized and kinda rapey, like creepy 80s advertisements.
I really didn't get how this was in any way connected to Beauty and the Beast. This is not a retelling. All that I noticed that they had in common was inspiration for the costume and similar coloring.
I did not like this story enough to slog through future editions to find out what happens, so now I guess I won't get closure.
In summary? I was probably not the intended audience for this book. I'm sure there are plenty of fanboys who are, however. I enjoy reading graphic novels with fantasy/ paranormal/ superhero themes, especially ones starring strong females. But this was just super disappointing and unappealing to me. I guess I should be glad that I got this free from Netgalley.
If this sounds like something you'd enjoy more than I did, the publication date is January 15, 2019.