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Monstress: A Graphic Novel Review


SYNOPSIS

Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a

richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam

punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl

who is struggling to survive the trauma of war,

and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a

monster of tremendous power, a connection that

will transform them both and make them the

target of both human and otherworldly powers.

Author: Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda

Page Count: 202 pages

Genre: Fantasy // Science Fiction // Graphic Novel

Rating: 5 stars

Publisher: Image Comics

Release Date: July 19, 2016

MILANA'S REVIEW

If you can visualize tendrils of your soul being drawn in by your favourite things what would those things be? For me, the tendrils are usually encompassed by villains, by characters who are not the hero to most but may be the hero to that 1% of us. Monstress brought out most of those characters and I couldn’t be any happier with this read.

This story was rich with beautiful artwork, complicated character depth, and amazing storytelling.

When I pick up a graphic novel I cannot go through with it if I don’t connect with the artwork. That is why I usually skip superhero graphic novels, they just do not connect with my mind. I am always on the lookout for graphic novels that have striking artwork, which is solely why I grabbed Monstress. It was so beautiful, every page was captivating and the depth in the art pulled me deeper into the story than usual.

I absolutely loved the main character, she was so awesome and I found myself really resonating with her. This character has an innocence to her that could be found even when some of her darker parts came out. The side characters were so full of depth and were not overlooked, as they tend to be, each one memorable in a different way.

I was on the edge of my seat discovering the past, present and future in this book. The storytelling was so well done and truly captured the themes the author was trying to bring forward. I also want to note how amazing the world building was in this one, throughout the novel you kept getting more bits of the past while being in the present and you could visualize the future of the main character.


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