The artwork in this series is stoning. I love the Asian/Western steampunk kind of vibe too it. Interesting writing. I enjoyed the series.

THE ART! Wow, this was really gorgeous. The cover immediately had my attention and I've been wanting to read it for some time now. Not sure what was stopping me, but we're in it now. From the first page there's a ton of info and backstory thrown at the reader. It gets confusing and hard to follow so I just ended up going with it with hopes it would all click into place down the line. It never really did for me. I'm still missing some key elements here which I guess is a good reason to continue... The middle lost my attention a bit too. It didn't seem like much was helping propel the story forward. Again with the info dump, but the good news is that it picked back up. Things get really interesting. And dark. These steampunk vibes ended up working really well for MONSTRESS as did the cliffhanger. I'm intrigued and may need to sit with Vol. 2 to see whether I continue with the rest of the series or not.

A creative feminist tale with beautiful artwork. My only complaint is that it's too short, need more!

This is one comic you don’t want miss. Stunning art, an intriguing plot and fascinating world all combine into one addicting series about the monsters within

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Over on my website death of the author reviews we covered the first six issues over Monstress in a video review.
I'll attach the links below.

I love this series. It is so fascinating, and the art is incredible. I am glad the series is still going and will keep reading!

It was good! i like the world as well as the characters.
And beautiful art!

It was lovely! http://www.fangirlhappyhour.com/2016/06/24/fangirl-happy-hour-episode-47-tiger-blowjobs/

This was a very different experience than what I usually get from comics. For one, the art was much, much better than one typically sees, and it stayed consistently good throughout. The world was much more unique and fresh than a lot of comics or fantasy fiction in general that I come across. It was also nice to be treated as an intelligent reader who doesn't need their hand held-- the world is vivid and alive and doesn't slow down to explain itself to you. The main characters were interesting, particularly the heroine whose darkness literally cannot be held at bay.
I did question the cat characters, however. They seemed too light and silly in many ways to fit in with the otherwise grimdark world. They felt more like the obligatory small animal sidekicks you so often see in mediocre anime series rather than something that was organic to the world. I just felt like the writer or artist just has a thing for cats, not that their inclusion was actually right for the story.

This review is for volume 1 as a whole.

Warnings: violence, gore, cannibalism, slavery, body horror, torture, concentration camps, severe burns to one character, fatmisia.

Takeda's art and character design is absolutely breathtaking, like if Alphonse Mucha drew visions of a fantastical, steampunk future. Visually it's an absolute pleasure to read, and the image of the ghosts of massive, eldritch gods floating unseeing above the world will stay with me a long time. I'm almost tempted to raise the rating to four stars on the basis on the art alone.

This world is not homogeneous, there's a lot of diversity in terms of race, among humans and ancients, and there's an f/f relationship between two side characters. However, of the three fat characters presented, one is horrendously evil, they and one other die horribly, and the third is lovely but not treated well because she helps the main character. I could have done without that kind of fatmisic violence. Pretty much everyone else in the comic is ethereally tall and slim.

The story is interesting, but does not have enough exposition for my taste. I did get some of the answers I was looking for by the end of the volume, but it didn't feel like enough – and I wasn't terribly invested in what happens next until the last two issues.

This volume isn't enough to make it a favourite series, but maybe the next one? Monstress certainly has all the makings of an amazing fantasy series, and almost every element of this is something I usually love, so we'll see.

3.5/5.

Copied from review of chapter 1, as this covers the volume as a whole:
Monstress caught my eye because of the absolutely gorgeous art! I didn't fall in love with the first volume however. I will say that it was intriguing enough a concept that I did purchase and read the second volume. I am glad I did, as volume 2 is so much better than volume 1. Volume 1 has action, but it is not nearly as exciting as volume 2.

What is this story about?

In this issue, Maika, Kippa and Master Ren the Cat are cornered by a mysterious winged man who came from an organization called the Dusk Court and according to him, he was sent by Maika’s longtime friend Tuya to accompany him to the Dusk Court. Maika agrees to it, even though the demon inside of her warns her that the Dusk Court means Maika no good. Meanwhile, the Warlord is on the move and is extremely close to capturing Maika!

Will Maika and her crew be safe at the Dusk Court and will the Warlord finally capture Maika?

Read this issue to find out!

What I loved about this story:

Marjorie Liu just continues to amaze me with her intriguing and creative writing of this series as more mystical creatures are introduced into this issue, especially the dark majestic winged man who is shown to be a mysterious character that I would love to see more of in the future issues. I also loved the way that Marjorie Liu drops in little hints that the Warlord may not be who she seems as she seems to possess unearthly powers that are different from her minions and I cannot wait to see what kind of character or creature the Warlord really is! Sana Takeda’s artwork is magnificent in this issue as all the characters are drawn in a creative way and I especially loved the image of the winged man who comes in to take Maika to the Dusk Court as he looks mysterious yet gorgeous at the same time! I also loved the cute little images of Kippa the fox child as she is just so adorable throughout the whole ordeal.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

Some readers might be uncomfortable with some of the strong language in this issue, such as some “f” bombs being dropped in a few places (although it is not as bad as the previous issues). Some readers might want to skim over these words if it proves to be too offensive for them.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Monstress Volume One: Awakening Part Five” is a fantastic issue from Marjorie Liu’s “Monstress” series that really shines out in this series in terms of great tension build up and new acquaintances!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

This book tells the story of a fantasy world ruled by women. There are humans and Arcanin (non-human beings that can have different appearances).

The art is stunning, it features beautiful backgrounds and breathtaking eyes.

This book’s cast of characters is diverse and every single one of them is interesting.

The story is great, it’s intriguing and dark.The ending was amazing, it made me need to pick up the following issue.

I highly recommend this book to fantasy loving readers, even to those who usually don’t read graphic novels.