Reviews tagging 'War'

Monstress - Despertar by Marjorie Liu

52 reviews

theuerma's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

allie_fawn'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This series is gorgeous. There is a lot of names and lore to consume and that can be overwhelming, but I still highly enjoy it and the artwork is beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jesspajamas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

monstress is a queer steampunk matriarcal fantasy world that Liu and Takeda bring to life with so much beauty and nuance. this series is a challenging read both for the darkness within this story (genocide, warring factions, etc) and for the scale of the world that Liu builds around Maika, the main character.

lots of reviews say that this series is confusing - and i agree that Liu presents the reader with tons of mysteries and questions - but she does a good job of dropping answers and unraveling the history of this world and Maika’s own history over the course of the series.

i picked up Monstress after starting another one of Liu’s series, The Night Eaters, and i’m so happy that i did! if you like queer dark fantasy worlds that basically don’t involve men, i would 10/10 recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Genocide, Violence, and War

laurenvoice's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

3.75

 Monstress, volume one was fun but intense!

This was way more graphic than expected; nonetheless, it was the perfect read to start the spooky season. I am curious to know what happens next! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Slavery, Cannibalism, and War

vr_alyssa's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

An intricate world with beautiful images. Very curious to see where this leads. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nadiaherondale's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

I decided to pick this up because the vibes felt similar to Claymore and oh boy it didn't disappoint. The art is amazing and deserves all the awards in the world and I'm liking the story so far. Although I can't in good faith give it a perfect rating 'cause I'm feeling way too lost about the plot and I feel everything is going too quickly, this is still a respectable 4/5. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Genocide, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Ableism and Vomit

cassandra_catastrophe's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, and War

jenniferlynnkrohn's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

mburnsides's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and War

vincci's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

It took a bit for me to understand what was going on, and the violence/gore is a bit off-putting, but I am interested in reading the rest of the series. The illustrations are beautiful and the colour scheme really sets the tone (no pun intended) for the story. Interesting to see a work like this coming from a female writer-illustrator duo! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, and War