It’s been awhile since I updated this blog and wrote a book review. I’ve read a couple of very small books since then and they weren’t worth the post. My time has become precious and am trying to read more again with difficulty.

I had to write a review for this graphic novel. I had read reviews about this last year and it sounded intriguing with its dark and Asian inspired themes.

I loved it. I haven’t been so impressed with a graphic novel in years; it can easily be among my favourite graphic novel series ever which include Alan Moore’s Promethea, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, and Craig Thompson’s Blankets. I do not read a ton of graphic novels, but I do read a couple every year. For the most part, they are fine and fun, but not memorable or as engaging as the aforementioned novels or Monstress.

I loved the visuals by Sana Takeda. It is very dark, but for some reason, it never felt sensationalist or violent and gory for its darkness sake. Every panel and piece of dialogue seemed to deliver story points or character development. I found it one of the most well crafted stories I’ve read in a long time.

It is a novel which has predominantly female characters. Feminism is not about injecting women in the media or giving them prominence for the sake of representation. It’s about real characters who happen to be women and have problems associated with it, who are nuanced and three dimensional. There are so many wonderfully drawn characters in this and I wish more things in popular culture were like this work. It’s a story by women about women but it’s a story for everyone who enjoys dark fantasy.

There are themes of war, discrimination, genocide, gender, and self-destruction. It is also a story of bravery, friendship, fear, and overcoming it.

This graphic novel is fantastic. I can’t wait to read more from the series.

Read May 3, 2017.