Reviews tagging 'Death'

Awakening by Marjorie Liu

70 reviews

celestriakle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I was just lamenting the way western comics tend to be stiffer and less dynamic than most manga, and then along comes monstress. the art in this is absolutely stunning. (though a few points lost for some characters who look so similar i struggled to tell them apart.) the lore is DENSE and they just throw you in, but its still progressive enough you can put things together. dont sweat the names, you'll pick it up. i never felt overwhelmed.

i also really liked how most of the characters were women, even mooks and minoe bg charaters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, and Pedophilia

Minor: Rape, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Abandonment

mim72's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Child death

kaminskiic's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

Gritty and fast-paced, you are launched into a world filled with lore and conflict, and discover darkness alongside the main character. The art is beautiful and pulls you into really being there and feeling the dread this comic is so effective at making the reader feel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Blood

Moderate: Animal death and Death

Minor: Death of parent

meaghanelizabook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Slavery, and Classism

Minor: War

dreamweaver's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Minor: Sexual assault

growintogardens's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The art is so beautiful. The story is a little confusing at times and quite dark.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

cthulhu_calamari's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide and Toxic friendship

startjpw23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is a graphic novel. It is the first volume in a series. The story is set in an alternate earth. I can't really place the time it takes place in, but it is fairly modern. There are no mechanized vehicles. But there are guns and airships. The main character is Maika HalfWolf. She is an Arcanic. Arcanics are half human. Maika has a powerful creature inside of her. There is a simmering dispute between Arcanics and humans. There are other races in the book (one is a race of intelligent, speaking 3 tailed cats). The Arcanics and humans are matriarchal societies. The story is told from multiple POVs. There is impressive world building in this book. The story is dark. There are some brutal scenes. The art if beautiful. The characters are complex. This is one of the best graphic novels I ever read. I will definitely be continuing the series. I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a dark graphic novel about an alternate earth with complex characters, multiple races, matriarchal societies, and great world building. Possibly look at content warnings to make sure the brutal scenes wouldn't be too much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-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

3.0

Maika Halfwolf is a 17-year-old survivor in the war between humans and Arcnics. In search of her past she becomes both hunter and hunted. At the same time the monster within her starts to awaken. 

I've been wanting to read this series for a long time, but now that I've read the first book I'm not sure what I really think about it. It's an unusually complex world building for a graphic novel, so I sometimes had trouble understanding all connections. Maika is also a rather complex character, and I shift between feeling sorry for her and thinking she behaves poorly. I enjoy the steampunk inspired environment and the style of drawing, but I find it unnecessarily bloody and violent. The fact that it takes place in an alternative Asia is interesting, but the question is if it's enough for me to keep reading the series? I honestly don't know. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

rafacolog's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, and Violence