Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Am liebsten mag ich Monster: Bd. 1 by Emil Ferris, Torsten Hempelt

36 reviews

kjboldon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

2017: A coming of age murder mystery, the story and art are intricate and enthralling.

2024: now in the permanent library and recommended many times. Preteen Karen Reyes lives in 1960s Chicago and imagines she's a monster, though the adults around her, apart from her mother, are the ones that can't seem to keep their monstrous aspects in check. 

There is a mystery of how a neighbor died, so Karen dons a trenchcoat and brimmed hat to investigate, all while being bullied at school, harboring a crush on a schoolmate, inventing an imaginary friend, and trying to navigate issues of race, class, poverty, and the morass of her family's secrets that keep getting withheld from her. 

Karen is such a beating heart of a main character. I adore her and fear for her. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

yrioona's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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

Absolutely stunning art and storytelling, funny and emotionally devastating. I found the last chapter or two pretty disorienting/confusing and I couldn't tell how much of it was intentional. Maybe things are cleared up in volume 2!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Antisemitism

katkinslee's review against another edition

dark sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book made my heart hurt

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Violence, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

lancakes's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, and War

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2nd read, 2024: Liked this even more on a second read. Caught so many more Easter eggs and throwaway jokes and just found a lot more meaning in it.

1st read, 2022: This book isn't perfect, but it's perfectly captivating, and now I'm among the legions of fans (im)patiently dreaming of Book 2. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Moderate: Saneism Minor: Nonconsensual drug use

krys_kilz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

This graphic novel is super unique and the artwork is truly NEXT LEVEL. It's crosshatched and drawn with ballpoint pen, which gives it a style and color palette unlike any graphic novel or comic I've read before. I loved that it was written as the main character's notebook and enjoyed the memorabilia and famous paintings included throughout.

The main character and narrator, Karen Reyes, warms my little queer heart. I love how unapologetically weird she is, how full of curiosity and spunk. I appreciated all the LGBTQ characters and the pro-SWer sentiment. With the body horror subplot, you could definitely read this as a trans narrative too. 

The use of horror and multiple meanings of what makes a monster was also incredibly powerful. There is some sharp social critique / political analysis woven throughout that is really striking in conversation with the artwork. I also appreciated the threads comparing trauma to being haunted.

There is a lot of heavy content and I agree that the narrative was a bit scattered at times, but overall I loved this book and am excited to read Volume II.

tw: adult/minor relationship, pedophilia, antisemitism, Holocaust, cancer, rape 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Rape, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, and Blood

Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Homophobia, and Racial slurs

goldenjunegem's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

mothdan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Stalking, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

caedy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Suicide, and Antisemitism

aerialcataloger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder