Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu Graphic Novel Review

Title: Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening
Author: Marjorie M. Liu
Genre: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, SciFi
Illustrators: Sana Takeda, Rus Wooten
Publisher: Image Comics
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Goodreads 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.

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*please note that this graphic novel has mature content and not recommended for children

I finally picked up this beauty of a graphic novel and let me tell you that the hype surrounding this one is all worth it! Filled with steampunk elements, witches, darkness, and monsters, this graphic novel is one that I would highly recommend.

Summary/Plot

Monstress follows the story of a teenage girl, Maika Halfwolf. Maika is trying to find answers to her questions in regards to her past and her mother. She is also struggling with a monster that lives within her who has massive power. Maika Halfwolf is trying to fight the monster within, while still trying to keep some of her humanity. In search of her past, she is also being hunted and maybe the answers she’s been looking for is closer than she thinks.

Thoughts

I really enjoyed Monstress, the artwork is stunning and there is a lot of dialogue. Usually, graphic novels take me less than a day to read but since this one had a lot of heavy reading material, it took me about two days. I loved how detailed the art is, I think that is also why I took long to read it because I found myself slowly absorbing at each piece.

Image obtained by the publisher’s website

This graphic novel is rich with elements that I previously mentioned. I felt that although it had all the elements of steampunk, witches, darkness, and monsters, there was balance. We have the Arcanics who are everything opposite of Humans & Witches. Some Arcanics are half animal/half human, some animals who can speak with special abilities, etc.

The world is already built and set once you open to the first page, which I find to be the norm for comics/graphic novels. I enjoyed how at the end of each comic section, there was a page filled with lessons on the culture of this world. So although the world is already set, we get to know how a lot of the culture came to be with the Arcanics and Humans.

We get glimpses of Maika’s past. Therefore, we get a lot of Maika’s life within the pages. I’m a big fan of past and present when done well and I thought it was executed okay here. Some times the author didn’t let us know when we were in the past. So I found myself a little confused at times.

We meet a lot of characters in this graphic novel due to the extended plot which is why this part will be kept short. Some of my favorite characters were Kippa (little fox) and Master Ren (cat with 3 tails who talks). These two were cute and hilarious. I loved when Master Ren made references to poets (in their world) and poetry. He has dark humor. Kippa is a child human/fox and his innocence throughout this graphic novel was comforting and admirable.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel but the reason why I bumped it down a star was because I wasn’t surprised with where the plot was going. I guessed a lot of what was going to happen with the plot and certain characters. I still want to read the next one though.

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have you read this or plan on to? what were your thoughts? let’s chat in the comments!

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Twitter: @ChicNerdReads

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Graphic Novels/Comics or Comics On My TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature with new topics every Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. If you would like to participate, the link provided will lead you to the feature and upcoming topics for the rest of the month and first half of January.

Today’s topic is:  All about the visuals: Top Ten Favorite Graphic Novels/Comics or Ten Comics on My TBR or Top Ten Favorite Picture Books

I don’t have ten favorites, however I do have 5 faves and 5 on my TBR.

Top 5 Favorite Graphic Novels/Comics:

Who is Wonder Woman? by Allan Heinberg

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In this volume from acclaimed writer Allan Heinberg (The OC) , the Amazon warrior Diana has gone missing, leaving Donna Troy to take up the mantle of Wonder Woman! When Diana returns, she goes under her former alias Diana Prince, acting as a secret agent and member of the Department of Metahuman Affairs. Her first assignment is to save Donna Troybut will she re-take the role of Wonder Woman?

 

 

 

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Deadly Class, Vol. 1: Reagan Youth by Rick Remender

Synopsis from Goodreads:

 It’s 1987. Marcus Lopez hates school. His grades suck. The jocks are hassling his friends. He can’t focus in class. But the jocks are the children of Joseph Stalin’s top assassin, the teachers are members of an ancient league of assassins, the class he’s failing is “Dismemberment 101,” and his crush has a double-digit body count. Welcome to the most brutal high school on earth, where the world’s top crime families send the next generation of assassins to be trained. Murder is an art. Killing is a craft. At Kings Dominion School for the Deadly Arts, the dagger in your back isn’t always metaphorical. 

Collecting the first arc of the most critically acclaimed new series of 2014, by writer RICK REMENDER (BLACK SCIENCE, Fear Agent) and rising star artist WESLEY CRAIG (Batman). Experience the 1980s underground through the eyes of the world’s most damaged and dangerous teenagers. Collects DEADLY CLASS #1-6.

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Harley Quinn, Vol. 1: Hot in the City by Amanda Conner

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Fresh from BATMAN: DEATH OF THE FAMILY and SUICIDE SQUAD, Harley Quinn returns to her first solo series in the New 52! The writing team of Jimmy Palmiotti (ALL STAR WESTERN) and Amanda Conner (BEFORE WATCHMEN: SILK SPECTRE) unleashed Harley on an unsuspecting DC Universe, as she encounters various heroes and villains … and leaves no one unscathed in her wake! With art by Chad Hardin and a slew of comics’ best artists including Darwyn Cooke, Sam Kieth, Tony S. Daniel, Paul Pope, Walter Simonson and Art Baltazar!

Collects HARLEY QUINN #0-8.

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Jessica Jones: Alias Vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Collects Alias #1-9. Meet Jessica Jones. Once upon a time, she was a costumed super hero — but not a very good one. Her powers were unremarkable compared to the amazing abilities of the costumed icons that populate the Marvel Universe. In a city of Marvels, she never found her niche. The self-destructive would-be Avenger is now the owner and sole employee of Alias Investigations — a small, private-investigative firm specializing in superhuman cases. When she uncovers the potentially explosive secret of one hero’s true identity, Jessica’s life immediately becomes expendable. But her wit, charm and intelligence just may help her survive another day. Thrust into the midst of a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels, has Jessica burned too many bridges to turn to old friends for help?

I have a spoiler free review here.

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Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Originally published in French as Le bleu est une couleur chaude, Blue is the Warmest Color is a graphic novel about growing up, falling in love, and coming out. Clementine is a junior in high school who seems average enough: she has friends, family, and the romantic attention of the boys in her school. When her openly gay best friend takes her out on the town, she wanders into a lesbian bar where she encounters Emma: a punkish, confident girl with blue hair. Their attraction is instant and electric, and Clementine find herself in a relationship that will test her friends, parents, and her own ideas about herself and her identity.

I have a spoiler free review here.

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Top 5 Graphic Novels/Comics on my TBR:

Wire and Nerves, Vol. 1 by Marissa Meyer

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In her first graphic novel, #1 New York Times and USA Today bestseller Marissa Meyer follows Iko, the beloved android from the Lunar Chronicles, on a dangerous and romantic new adventure — with a little help from Cinder and the Lunar team.

In her first graphic novel, bestselling author Marissa Meyer extends the world of the Lunar Chronicles with a brand-new, action-packed story about Iko, the android with a heart of (mechanized) gold. When rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers threaten the tenuous peace alliance between Earth and Luna, Iko takes it upon herself to hunt down the soldiers’ leader. She is soon working with a handsome royal guard who forces her to question everything she knows about love, loyalty, and her own humanity. With appearances by Cinder and the rest of the Rampion crew, this is a must-have for fans of the bestselling series.

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The Fade Out: Act One by Ed Brubaker

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Brubaker and Phillips’ newest hit series, The Fade Out, is an epic noir set in the world of noir itself, the backlots and bars of Hollywood at the end of its Golden Era. A movie stuck in endless reshoots, a writer damaged from the war and lost in the bottle, a dead movie star and the lookalike hired to replace her. Nothing is what it seems in the place where only lies are true. The Fade Out is Brubaker and Phillips’ most ambitious project yet!
Collecting: The Fade Out 1-4

 

 

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Monstress Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

 

 

 

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Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win Noelle many new ones.

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren’t the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona’s powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.

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Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Synopsis from Goodreads:

When Coraline steps through a door in her family’s new house, she finds another house, strangely similar to her own (only better). At first, things seem marvelous. The food is better than at home, and the toy box is filled with fluttering wind-up angels and dinosaur skulls that crawl and rattle their teeth.

But there’s another mother there and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go. Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and all the tools she can find if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.

 

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Some of the graphic novels on my favorites pile aren’t all 5 stars but they have stayed with me and are definitely worth the read. The ones on my TBR have made me eager to read them ASAP, however some other books are on my priority list. I think I’ll just try to read one graphic novel per month. What are you thoughts? Have you read some of these? And if yes, what did you think? Let’s chat in the comments!

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Twitter: @ChicNerdReads
Goodreads: Gretchen (ChicNerdReads)

Paper St. Books and Comics Unboxing

Hello everyone!!! I hope you are all having a lovely day. Today I am doing my very first blog unboxing on the Paper Street Books and Comics subscription box. The one I ordered was a September Limited edition and the theme was Mages and Sorcerers. This box comes with a graphic novel, book, and goodies.

 

Paper Street Books and Comics has a theme selected for each box and you get to select the plan you want. There is a graphic novel plan, a book plan, or a graphic novel + book in one box plan. Each plan does come with goodies. This box comes out every 2 months.

NOW LETS GET TO BUSINESS!

This is what the box looked like when I opened it:

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I wasn’t surprised when I saw the Harry Potter beanie because of the theme. Although, I haven’t read the books I did love the movies and so did my brother, therefore I gave him the hat.

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Melisandre Magnetic Bookmark by Jane’s Tiny Things.
That evil witch!!!

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Jade Street Protection Services #1 (1 out of 2 Variant Covers). This is a single issue that came in the box. The description of this reads as follows:
Kai, Saba, Noemi, Divya, and Emma are (bad) students at Matsdotter Academy, an elite private school for magical girls. When they all meet for the first time in a totally unfair detention, these punk rock witch delinquents cut class and discover the fates Matsdotter has in store for them are even more sinister than they suspected.

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Dragon Age: Magekiller is a graphic novel by Greg Rucka who sets this story in a immersive dark fantasy!! I love Greg Rucka and I cannot wait to pick this one up!
The synopsis goes as:
Tessa and Marius are mercenary partners united by an unbreakable bond and compelled to eliminate those who use magic to hurt others. When they betray a powerful patron who intended to kill them once their job was completed, they’re forced to run and join the Inquisition. With the breach in the sky tearing the world apart, there’s more to fear than Venatori and an angry former employer. Can Tessa, Marius, and the Inquisition overcome the greatest threat Thedas has ever faced!?

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Morrigan Art Print and Sticker by Kayleigh Causton.
Morrigan from Dragon Age (the graphic novel listed above)

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A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess is the book pick of this month’s theme!!! This book has so much buzz going on everywhere. I was really not expecting this book to come in the box, I was definitely shocked. The synopsis of this book goes as:
Forced to reveal her power to save a friend, she’s shocked when instead of being executed, she’s invited to train as one of her Majesty’s royal sorcerers. Thrust into the glamour of Victorian London, Henrietta is declared the chosen one, the girl who will defeat the ancients, bloodthirsty demons terrorizing humanity. She also meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, handsome young men eager to test her power and her heart. One will challenge her, one will fight for her, one will betray her.

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And that is all!
If you are interested in checking Paper St. Books and Comics, then go to their website where they have tons of more information. Click here

Have you read or heard of any of these? What do you think? Let me know in the comments down below =)

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Jessica Jones: Alias Vol. 1 Spoiler Free Review

Title: Jessica Jones: Alias Vol. 1
Author: Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrators: David W. Mack, Michael Gaydos, Bill Sienkiewicz
Publishing Company: MAX Comics
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Meet Jessica Jones. Once upon a time, she was a costumed super hero…but not a very good one. Her powers were unremarkable compared to the amazing abilities of the costumed icons that populate the Marvel Universe. In a city of Marvels, Jessica Jones never found her niche. Now a chain-smoking, self-destructive alcoholic with a mean inferiority complex, Jones is the owner and sole employee of Alias Investigations – a small, private-investigative firm specializing in superhuman cases. When she uncovers the potentially explosive secret of one hero’s true identity, Jessica’s life immediately becomes expendable. But her wit, charm and intelligence just may help her survive through another day. COLLECTING: Alias 1-9

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My Initial Thoughts Right After I Finished:

My Thoughts Now That It’s Been A Few Hours Since I Finished:

Before I get into the review I would like to say that this graphic novel should be read by ages 17+

This starts off with some kick-ass action! In the beginning I was comparing it to the Netflix show which I love. However, I had to tell myself to stop the comparisons and enjoy the story for what it is. And I am so happy I did that! (I also learned that the Netflix show kind of develops from later volumes which I look forward to reading)

 

While reading this, I felt that I could relate to Jessica in a way. Her emotions, the way she doesn’t want to talk about things, she goes about her day with a “it is what it is” type of attitude. She used to be apart of the Avengers and then hung up her suit (and that is all I am going to say because I want to avoid spoilers). This is when she stays with her human name, Jessica Jones, and tries to simply move on with her life. However, with the new cases opening up in her office makes it seems like she can’t get away from her once before superhero days. I liked that this isn’t your typical superhero story.

I liked the art and the different styles of reading each page.

 

Jessica Jones is set in New York City and I definitely got the NYC feel, even with the language from the characters. I feel like some people might find it offensive but as a New Yorker myself, we just become accustomed to hearing certain words and know people mean no harm by them.

I definitely will be reading the other volumes because there are so many questions that need answers.