“To quote the poets… we’re fucked.”

whenever i pick up a graphic novel, i never really think about why they would never be in novel formats, because they’re usually very beautiful in graphic novel format and sometimes better that way, but monstress i’ve never been more curious as to how this story would unfold. this novel is extremely beautiful, and the artwork by sana takeda really took my breath away, i really had to take some extra time looking at the details of the illustrations after reading.

but one of the main reasons i’d love and lowkey wish to read this graphic novel in normal book format is due to the amount of world-building and character substance there is in this comic; this is truly limited when it comes to not only dialogue, but space for developments in graphic novels. thats of course not to say that this wasnt absolutely perfect in comic book format.

“Yes. Miss Halfwolf scares me a lot. But that doesn’t make her a monster. Don’t be like the Witches, Master Ren. They call us monsters because it makes it easier to hurt us. But monsters are people, too.”

the story is set in 18th century asia alternate matriarchal steampunk Asia, where a seventeen yr old girl by the name of Maika, is forced to learn how to use the demon inside her to help survive a war that has been going on for way too long. the war seems to be between humans and immortals, being creatures who use magic against those who wish to eliminate it from the earth. Maika just wants to stay out of violence whilst searching for the truth of her obscure past and her deceased mother.

personally, i found it very hard to summarize the story, because, if im being honest here, i’m still very confused myself (lol). the world and story are both very complex, not in a way thats annoying; nothing is unclear, missing, or has no context, it is, on the contrary, very easy to understand whats going on, alas, we are being thrown into the world and its characters, and we just rarely know whats happening at first. in my own opinion, i dont find it that bad, because as i said, graphic novels are very limited, and sometimes you just have to dump all the info in the first volume, which we do get, at the end of every chapter, but i’m so excited to read the rest which i definitely will.

“There’s more hunger in the world than love.”

i genuinely loved the story, even with its confusing counterparts. the characters felt very three dimensional and real, if not very intense. oh, and trigger warnings for very graphic gore, abuse, racism, and slavery. dont say i didnt warn ya. in my opinion, the tension and gore is what made the story all the more real to me; like in some weird alternate world, all these creatures might exist.

all in all, i truly enjoyed and loved this graphic novel; it was beautiful, creative, and i would highly recommend for anyone out there who hates slow burning and wants to get shoved into the story from the beginning, getting immersed into an intriguing fantasy read.