Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening

Maika is a badass heroine, who is fighting her own inner monster to try and find the truth about her past. She doesn't trust anyone, even herself and would do absolutely anything to get her answers and reunite with her only friend Tuya.

There are lots of side characters including humans, witches, monsters, half breeds and cats, but my favorite was definitely Kippa - a cute little arcana child, who is super afraid of Maika and her inner monster but still stays loyal and decides to fight. I just wanted to keep her safe 😊😊

The artwork is absolutely stunning in this book with great detailing for each of the creatures. I also loved the use of certain colors, specifically the combination of black and gold made some panels very beautiful. But, I found the action sequences a little confusing and I, sometimes had trouble figuring out who were fighting.

The plot was also quite complicated and not very well explained, with lots of info dumps in places - but not at the right time. I couldn't really understand the motivations behind different characters' actions and I still don't know the the various kingdoms, their hierarchies or the reason for the war.

The ending was definitely a shocker, which seems to be the trend in all the graphic novels I've read and I guess I will have to read the next one to know what happens next.

Merged review:

Maika is a badass heroine, who is fighting her own inner monster to try and find the truth about her past. She doesn't trust anyone, even herself and would do absolutely anything to get her answers and reunite with her only friend Tuya.

There are lots of side characters including humans, witches, monsters, half breeds and cats, but my favorite was definitely Kippa - a cute little arcana child, who is super afraid of Maika and her inner monster but still stays loyal and decides to fight. I just wanted to keep her safe