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A review by lalanier
Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu
5.0
I squealed at the end! One of those "soo fucking good" squeals. I know not everyone will have the same reaction, and that's fine. I just loved how this volume ended after such intense sequences. Maybe I'm a sucker for it, but don't care, 'cause I loved it! And the way things are in the real world, I need a lot more things I read to love/bring joy.
This has fantastic artwork that captures the heart and story of Monstress beautifully. I love the title's wordplay, and I am all for reading more comics created by women. I don't read a lot of fantasy, and I am sure there are common tropes here, but *shrug* this was a solid story. It's compelling from the first page and even made me laugh out loud, within the first few. Mostly due to characters' reactions. The story doesn't strike as a straightforward good versus evil, so I definitely appreciate a greyer or more complex approach. I cared about Maika from the second page. It's difficult not to be invested with how she's introduced and I just enjoyed how the story unfolded thus far. I'm a sucker for cats, if you don't already know from other reviews, so that probably helped bump this bad gal to five stars. I also have a soft spot for adorable characters, whatever their form and Kippa is such a heart snuggler. Like several times I just wanted to jump into the pages and hug the little one. Oh yeah, sometimes I thought the dialogue got a little F bomb happy, but wasn't a deal breaker for me (obviously).
Another aspect to the series I can't deny meant something to me was simply seeing so many women/female characters. It's a bit of a given since matriarchal universe, but even knowing that going into it and actually seeing/reading it was a special experience. It also looked like Liu and Takeda gave attention to making the majority of characters more distinct instead of being lost among a sea of faces, all of which also helped secure a five with me. Anywho, look forward to seeing where this series goes. I might not have access to next volume for a while, but it's definitely on my to read list now.
This has fantastic artwork that captures the heart and story of Monstress beautifully. I love the title's wordplay, and I am all for reading more comics created by women. I don't read a lot of fantasy, and I am sure there are common tropes here, but *shrug* this was a solid story. It's compelling from the first page and even made me laugh out loud, within the first few. Mostly due to characters' reactions. The story doesn't strike as a straightforward good versus evil, so I definitely appreciate a greyer or more complex approach. I cared about Maika from the second page. It's difficult not to be invested with how she's introduced and I just enjoyed how the story unfolded thus far. I'm a sucker for cats, if you don't already know from other reviews, so that probably helped bump this bad gal to five stars. I also have a soft spot for adorable characters, whatever their form and Kippa is such a heart snuggler. Like several times I just wanted to jump into the pages and hug the little one. Oh yeah, sometimes I thought the dialogue got a little F bomb happy, but wasn't a deal breaker for me (obviously).
Another aspect to the series I can't deny meant something to me was simply seeing so many women/female characters. It's a bit of a given since matriarchal universe, but even knowing that going into it and actually seeing/reading it was a special experience. It also looked like Liu and Takeda gave attention to making the majority of characters more distinct instead of being lost among a sea of faces, all of which also helped secure a five with me. Anywho, look forward to seeing where this series goes. I might not have access to next volume for a while, but it's definitely on my to read list now.