actual rating: 2,5 stars

The story had potential, but I felt lost most of the time.

Mary is Mary Shelley's great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter; she has big shoes to fill, since most the women in her family are great authors, like their ancestor. But Mary is just a teenager, still figuring out what she wanted to be, and her mother is pushing into her the dream of being a writer. But Mary learns she can heal monsters, real monsters. I was confused at her reaction when she met a Frankenstein-like monster holding their foot, asking casually for her to sew, which she gladly did. I wish I had this control over my nerves, the way she handled all the stuff thrown at her.

Mary's mother is just the worst, and I feel bad because there are a lot of parents who push their children into some career paths just because it's more acceptable or to carry the family's legacy. I hated her when even faced with her daughter at the end, she was still holding on to the fact being a writer is much better.

Mary Shelley has a lot to live up to. The last-born in a long line of successful women writers, she’s been raised in the shadow of her ancestor and namesake, the famous author of Frankenstein. Everyone expects her to carry on the family legacy and become a writer, but her calling might be something else.
As monsters start to show up on her doorstep asking for her help, Mary realizes that she inherited a gift for healing supernatural creatures of all kinds.


This spooky story starring a goth, moody teenager was a fun and easy read. The artwork is beautiful and I loved the way the different relationships were explored, especially the friendship between Mary and Rhonda. Though the pacing was fast and the romance seemed to evolve a bit too quickly for my tastes, the plot was interesting and the characters engaging.

Overall, I enjoyed this graphic novel, which would make for a perfect Halloween read.

THIS IS SO MUCH FUN TO READ I CANT WAIT TO BUY FIVE OF THEM
let's bullet point:
• the story: is something i would have loved to read in my late teens and i loved reading now because we all go through what-am-i-supposed-to-do phases. and as someone who recently joined the shelley admiration club i really liked the thought of mary shelley's descendants following their calling as writers.
• the writing/dialogue: it's really funny and meta at times which is something that i love
• the characters: i want to be mary's friend please. the family was intriguing, adam was cute, the monsters were unforgettable.
• the art style: it might be the reason why i would just pause and stare at pages, completely in love with their expressions and the colors, this obviously took so much time but it's worth it.
IN CONCLUSION, the second i see this in a store i'm buying it, no second thought. and i hope there will be more volumes 👀.

So much fun! Enjoyed reading this book. Very interesting story. Not scary despite the theme. I think that should be mentioned in the blurb, that it's not horror. For horror shyaways like me.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

Mary: The Adventures of Mary Shelley's Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter
by Brea Grant, Yishan Li
★★★★☆
144 Pages


Mary is a cute teen story about finding yourself, your strength, and how hard it is to live up to expectation. With a dash of romance of the Twilight-esque variety.
The story was good, playing on cliches in teen romances, with a huge dose of Mary Shelley inspiration, and a lot of female empowerment. There were a mass of paranormal creatures involved, a best friend, a witch, a cute dead guy, and a whole lot of trouble that gets Mary grounded. Add in some good Emo angst, artwork that plays perfectly on the Emo, Goth, and Edgar Allen Poe vibe, and you have Mary, the graphic novel. Mary has a bit of an existential crisis on her hands, a romance with a dead guy, and a family to battle, with a mysterious enemy on the horizon, and self-doubt drowning her, while a host of supernatural creatures need her help. There is A LOT going on in this story, but it does end a bit vague. I imagine that means there will be more to come, but I'm undecided on whether I'll read it.
For me, the story was far more teen-orientated. I found myself wanting more and feeling uncomfortable with the love interest, who could appear a bit stalkerish at times. Then there was the familiarity between Mary's mother and Adam, the love interest, that wigged me out a little. And, is it a trend of YA or the author's experience that Mary calls her mother by her first name? I see this so often in YA fiction, but I don't get it. I'd never call my mother by her name.

With a few pet peeves, a heavy dose of angst, and a vague plot, I generally enjoyed Mary, but I'm not itching to read it again, or read more. It needed some expansion, a bit more time to develop, and that romance was entirely unnecessary, as was the way Mary prettied herself up – by masking her Goth/Emo vibe – for a boy she barely knew.

~

Favourite Panel

This panel is the moment Mary's life changes, and the story begins to take shape. I love how simple it is, that it tells you a lot in not a lot of visual material.

<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/46/42/4c/46424c856faf5b83c008cc7dcff33353.jpg" width="60" height="150" alt="description"/>

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Mary Shelley is an author that I completely love and I'm totally obsessed with. So, every time I find something about or related to her I can't help but read it.
I really liked the concept behind this graphic novel. It's about Shelley's descendanta, in particular a sixteen-year-old called Mary, and here they are all portayed as strong and independent women and that's something I enjoyed a lot.
The artwork is very beautiful and the story is very intriguing and interesting. I really recommend it.

This first volume sets up a promising start to this new series that follows Mary, a descendant of Mary Shelley. The women in her family are all famous writers and Mary struggles fitting into what's expected of her, so we see her coming to terms with what she wants to do - and that's healing monster.

Overall, it's a fun and easy read and the artwork is stunning. The characters were designed well, I especially loved the way the monsters were drawn. The fact that Mary is goth was an interesting touch that brought her character life.

Something that made me lower my rating was the world-building or lack of, mostly. Some of the MC's choices weren't explained that well, which felt like we jumped from one idea to another, without tying them together.

Thank you Netgalley for the copy in exchange for a review!

I enjoyed this graphic novel it is about a modern teenager who has to live up she's a legacy of her family one of which is Mary Shelley. Without giving you too much spoilers it really shows a young woman finding her own way and being unique in her own way.

This was a great and unique read but it was fast-paced, a bit too fast-paced and rushed honestly. The romance between Mary and Adam was very rushed, but still cute... even if he is a zombie.

I loved the relationship between Rhonda and Mary, it is amazing and they flowed very well together.

I really didn’t like Mary's mother because she wanted Mary to be like her in her writing career, she was very pushy and immature in most of the parts where she interacted with Mary.

I liked how all the members of the Shelly family were writers and every other generation had a sort of magic.

Also, I'd like to point out that there is a hole in the story.. Mary is told something by her aunt, about her mother, and told to ask about it, which she does, but nothing else comes of it and it's really pointless to me to have it in.. pretty much just filler.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

The premise sounded awesome and I was in the mood for a good graphic novel so I picked it up. It was loads of fun and overall, I didn't have any problem with it but I still have some minor (or not so minor) nitpicking to do.

The artwork was great (especially when it came to the monsters, my favourite part). In the beginning we get really cool frames of the Shelley family as an amazing way of setting the tone for the rest of the story and introducing the reader quickly. However, I wish more of that could've been used later on. I looked forward to the illustrator to have fun with the composition but it wasn't quite there. Nevertheless, it still was stunning work.

I also liked the story and how the characters came together, the scene at the lake was my favourite. A highlight would be the family dynamics explored. In addition, Mary as a moody teenager was really balanced, it wasn't too on the nose, which is great. More character development could've been done, but it was good anyways. Even though I was entertained and from the get-go one can tell the story will be sort of campy and one shouldn't overthink everything, the reveals at the start of the story were rushed.

The thing I definitely didn't like was the romance. I'm just tired of centuries-old beings falling for teenagers (I'm looking at you, T*ilight).

I flew trough it and had a good time. 3.5 stars

i'm a big fan of the podcast brea grant co-hosts with mallory o'meara, reading glasses, so being able to read and review an early copy of her graphic novel is truly an honour!

so much of this fits my wheelhouse. i adore mary shelley and stories that feature descendants having to face the modern equivalent of what their ancestors have to experience. identity and discovering your own path in life separate from family is a timeless woe, and is especially difficult when you discover you're a monster healer, while everyone else in your family wants you to be a writer. i love that mary is goth, too; goths are grossly underappreciated in graphic novels!

while i do think extra pages would have been perfect to further flesh out characters and their relationships to add a bit more of a punch to familial conflicts and some character reveals that read as a bit left-field at times, i think it's a perfect length to jet through quickly and have a fun time reading it while still empathising with mary's struggles. yishan li's art is absolutely beautiful, her character designs are all distinctive and i love the detail put in to all of the monsters and assortment of creatures you see through this graphic novel.

i also can't write this review without mentioning that one of my favourite horror authors possesses a toy bunny in this. it's incredible.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't quite enjoy this one. The description sounded great and I was really intrigued to know more since but I found it to be quite disappointing. The story drags a bit which makes it hard to keep reading and enjoying. had to put it down a couple times.

The character were alright but slightly boring so I also had zero interest learning more about them sadly.
Overal this was quite a disappointing read in my opinion.

Every female in her family is a writer since the famous Mary Shelley. That much was interesting enough for me to want to read this graphic novel. But it turns out that there is more to the Shelley's and it is a bit of magic.
I adore the drawing and like the Addams Family vibes, it gives me. The story is really good, however, it may progress to fast. This graphic novel is great when you are already a fan of Frankenstein and are interested in a modern continuation and meet new monsters.

This was a really unique take on the female descendants of Mary Shelley. I really enjoyed the story and the illustrations were fantastic. The illustrator has done some amazing work on well-known comics in the past so that comes as no surprise. The romance portion was a bit cheesy and instantaneous but it plays well to the nature of the story. What angsty teenager wouldn't fall for a cute zombie? I really love the friendship between Rhonda and Mary too. In a short novel, their relationship development was really well done. The only things I didn't like were that it was so short; I felt like parts of the story were rushed and confusing. I also didn't think it was very realistic that Mary simply accepted everything so nonchalantly. That was a bit strange but the fact that she was a Shelley constantly surrounded by weirdness may have played into that. This would be a great graphic novels for fans of Shelley, spooky lovers (perfect for Halloween!), and teenagers. Definitely check it out when its released in October.


Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Absolutely fantastic, engrossing, in parts funny, in parts a bit sad and touches on issues of family and what happens when you don’t live up to your mother’s expectations.

Mary is a high school student who doesn’t want to be a writer even though every member of her family has been for generations. When she meets Adam she realises she’s destined to help those who need her.

A great graphic novel. I’m already eagerly awaiting the sequel.

I will be publishing a review on my blog closer to the release date of this phenomenal graphic novel.

Thank you to Netgalley for the Advance Reading Copy for review!

I enjoyed this, the art is beautiful (I wasn't surprised to read that the artist has worked on Hellboy) and the story was really interesting. It set up the characters and the story arc perfectly with parental intrigue, magical intrigue, romantic intrigue...there were a lot of things I found myself excited for after reading this. The instaromance was strong, but these are teenagers - and they act as such - strops, rebellion and crushes as swift and powerful as a jet plane. Who wouldn't have swooned over a zombie at that age if the zombie was that cute?
I'd guess it's aimed at slightly younger audiences than myself but it didn't detract from my enjoyment and oh lord I can imagine 15 year old me being absolutely obsessed with this graphic novel as I desperately tried to dress like Mary like the baby gothlet I was. I wish I'd had this graphic novel!
The only other negative I can think of is how easily Mary accepted what was happening. Someone appears with a missing foot and you're fine with it that quickly? I'd have liked to have seen a bit more shock, and maybe a bit more tension as she tries to desperately hide her new life from her family who also just... Know about all this? And are cool with it?
The above aside though, I'm too used to reading established webcomics now and wish there was a 'next chapter' button on this one...

**I received an e-ARC from NetGalley for an honest review**

I love Mary Shelley, so I was intrigued when I saw this graphic novel.

The overall story was basically your usual teenage "Who am I?", "What should I do with my future?", "I'm nothing like the rest of my family", "How can I be who the rest of my family wants me to be and still be myself?" questioning of a mid to late teenager, but it was done in a unique way.

I really liked that it followed the original Mary Shelley's great-something granddaughter, but I would have like a little more focus on the original's life and its parallels the the younger. Not bad for the beginning of a series.

Lovely artwork, the colors really suit the mood of the story. Can't wait to read the next part!

Stars: 3.5/5

Thank you to the publishers for an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't realise just how into this story I was until around 1/2 way. I zoomed through it and probably finished it within an hour (though scattered).

At first I thought it was a bit jumpy - not clarifying certain scenes but you make your own assumptions and they're generally correct - this may be an issue I have with graphic novels and not just this particular book, mind.

I think aspects of the book were timed right. Without spoilers - say _ happened for two chapters - it was a good amount of time because any more and the story would be boring but any less and the story would not have been explained enough. That might be weird to point out but it's something I noticed!

I love Mary, the MC's vibe. I'm a bit of an internal goth where I like goth music and style but don't really suit it so I don't externalise it but seeing Mary, I want to dye my hair black and invest in a good choker. Just saying. Also her healing abilities - dope.

I like the history of the Shelleys too - a strong female history is not something you see a lot and it's both empowering for the reader and not for poor Mary! I really enjoyed this aspect of the story and I look forward to reading the second volume to find out more about Mary's mother and their ancestry... also Adam, hello!!

Big shout out to the illustrator - Yishan Li - loved her art though sadly it didn't translate great on my iPad... not sure why but the text was generally fine.

WARNINGS: zombies and demons?

RECOMMEND: for teenagers 13+ who are a lil bit goth and "going through a phase." Also people who like eyeliner and whoever else wants to read a cool graphic novel with writers, healers, ghosts and demons.

For ease of convenience I'm going to refer to this book as simply Mary. Mary follows Mary Shelley, the sixteen year old descendent of the famous author, and her family. Ever since their ancestor became famous for writing the first science fiction story, the women in the Shelley family have all been famous in their own rights, usually for writing too. Mary's grandmother wrote a best selling cookery book, her aunt is one of the world's most respected biographers, and her mother has a series of best selling mystery books that's been adapted into a hit television series. Faced with the success of her family, and the Shelley's who came before, Mary doesn't know what she's supposed to do with her life.

It's during this period of self reflection that something strange begins to happen to Mary. At first a frog she's dissecting in class seems to move on its own, then she begins seeing a strange pale young man, a man holding a foot. This young man finally corners her, and reveals that he needs her help to reattach his missing foot. Mary's reluctant, but agrees to help, and discovers that she somehow has the ability to reattach the foot, without any sign that it had ever been missing.

Whilst Mary just wants to forget the whole experience more and more strange creatures begin to appear in her life, asking for her medical assistance. This includes a harpy with tooth ache, and a ghost stuck in the body of a plushy bunny rabbit. It turns out that Mary has inherited a very strange ability from her ancestor, the power to magically heal monsters.

The plot itself is pretty interesting, and I love the idea of there being this secret history to Mary Shelley, that the monster she wrote about was actually a living person. It's something that takes the Shelley legacy in a new direction, and gives a lot of scope to have a bit of fun. And it's clear that Brea Grant is having a great deal of fun with the concept, introducing so very silly yet charming characters and monsters. The possessed bunny teddy quickly became a favourite of mine.

The art, by Yishan Li is really good, and all of the characters and monsters all look distinct and bold. Mary in particular looks great, and whilst she goes through a number of costume and hair changes she always stands out and looks distinct. Li's art seems to be a great fit for this book, and she draws people who look really good, but also bold and dynamic creatures.

However, there is something about the book that I'm not sure about, and that's whether this is just a first entry in a series or if it's intended to stand alone. Much of the book feels like it's just setting up a world and introducing characters, and we only ever really get a broad sense of who these people are, and the rules of the world they're living in. Come the end of the book it hardly feels like we've scratched the surface of things, and I found myself wanting more. I wanted to spend more time with these characters, to discover more of this world. Sadly, I can't seem to find any indication of if there's going to be more coming. If this is a first of many volumes it's a great start to a series, but if it's a stand alone it leaves the reader a bit disappointing.

I don't know if Mary's going to stick on this path, if Adam is the creature from Mary Shelley's original story, and how the demons who hate the Shelley family will be defeated. I really hope that there'll be more to come from this world as I'd love to see these questions answered.

Reasonable comic book for tweens, featuring a descendant of Mary Shelley in a world where all the women in the family since her have been famous authors. This Mary hates the pressure of living up to such a prestigious ancestry, but she's not to know just what her destiny actually is, until her school vivisection frog sparks back to life, and some dead-seeming hot guy wants her to sew his foot back on. It's a little too slapdash with grabbing anything from any myth or legend and doing something silly with it, and the relationship is clunky and then some, but on the whole this just about works.