Hello hello bookworms!

Put on your steampunk hats, because we’re delving into another steampunk fantasy novel!

This time I read Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu.

The immaculate cover and blurb of this graphic novel instantly gripped me, so I had to see just how great it was. On to the review!

Blurb

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.

Collects MONSTRESS #1-6

About the Creators:

New York Times bestselling and award-winning writer Marjorie Liu is best known for her fiction and comic books. She teaches comic book writing at MIT, and leads a class on Popular Fiction at the Voices of Our Nation (VONA) workshop. Ms. Liu’s extensive work includes the bestselling “Astonishing X-Men” for Marvel Comics, which featured the gay wedding of X-Man Northstar and was subsequently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding media images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Prior to writing full-time, Liu was a lawyer. She currently resides in Boston.

Sana Takeda is an illustrator and comic book artist who was born in Niigata, and now resides in Tokyo, Japan. At age 20 she started out as a 3D CGI designer for SEGA, a Japanese video game company, and became a freelance artist when she was 25. She is still an artist, and has worked on titles such as “X-23” and “Ms. Marvel” for Marvel Comics, and is an illustrator for trading card games in Japan.

GoodReads

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The Review

This was a fantasy steampunk adventure I won’t forget anytime soon.

In this story we follow the dangerous life of Maika, a half breed arcanic human plagued by an ancient monster that lives inside her. Her world is torn between numerous races vying for power, and when she escapes captivity and finds a bizarre mask, the hunt for her only intensifies. Desperate for answers and freedom, Maika finds allies in the most unlikely of places while battling for control of her hidden power.

My favorite part of this graphic novel was the art. This has got to be one of the most beautiful and mesmerizing works of art that I’ve ever laid eyes on. Each page was filled with rich detail and a dark color scheme that reflected the hopelessness of the shattered world Maika lives in. The art was realistic with a touch of inspiration from anime styles, and it worked extremely well.

Maika is an enigma, and it was fun trying to figure her out. She is ruthless and daring, and while she didn’t have many traditional altruistic traits main characters often have, her backstory helped explain why she is the way she is. I also loved the cat characters throughout and their importance in the scheme of things, as well as the arcanic children, who were adorable.

The villains in this novel were formidable and calculating, and that helped make the story more ominous. This is a very fast-paced story, and the magic and steampunk elements gave the world an alien feel that was intriguing. One thing I would’ve liked is a better explanation of the world. After reading this, I still feel that I didn’t fully comprehend all that was going on, and my hope is that more is explained in future volumes.

If you have a hankering for a solid steampunk graphic novel, you can’t go wrong with this one.

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this graphic novel review. I hope you enjoyed it!

Have you read this graphic novel? Are there similar ones you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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