Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Monstress - Despertar by Marjorie Liu

74 reviews

30something_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Wow, this was such a gorgeous graphic novel. Visually impeccable. And the story is fascinating.

I found myself struggling just a bit with some of the time jumps because they were not always labeled or easily identifiable. (I do think there were some nice differentiations with the color pallets used, but, again, it was not always easy to spot.) I did find my groove towards the end though.

I'll absolutely be continuing this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and War

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

meg_thebrave's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.75

This is a really cool first entry into a world and story I’m excited to read more about! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Slavery, Violence, and Blood

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

kadomi'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Gorgeous art, and a complicated story in a sort of steampunk fantasy world that is dominated by women. It follows the teenager Maika, who has a monster living inside of her. I already struggle to describe the plot, it's so mysterious that I feel I haven't got a full grasp on it. But it's intriguing, as I said the art is gorgeous, but it is incredibly violent, with a high amount of gore practically dripping from its pages. But I want read more of this, for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Blood

jasisreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and War

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

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