betrayal

Monstress, Volume 6: The Vow by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda – Graphic Novel Review

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Monstress, Volume 6: The Vow by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda - Graphic Novel Cover

Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s graphic novel series is a mind-blowing creation that takes place in a fantasy world like no other. A world that’s unbelievably complex, brutally unforgiving, and heartbreakingly beautiful all at once. Monstress: The Vow, the sixth volume in the series, continues the saga full of power struggles, hidden supernatural beings, betrayals, and horrors—where Maika Halfwolf, the protagonist, not only faces countless enemies, but can’t even trust her friends—or her own family. The only one she might be able to count on is the ancient, bloodthirsty entity lurking inside her.

Monstress Takes the Graphic Novel to a Whole New Level

The creators of Monstress, the Lennon and McCartney of the graphic novel world—Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda—have basically swept every major sci-fi and fantasy award with their joint masterpiece. And if they haven’t yet, they definitely will. Deservedly so.

The war between humans and Arcanics is being manipulated by otherworldly forces. Supernatural beings walk the earth, sometimes in their true forms, other times hiding behind masks—or in someone else’s skin—fighting each other for power. In this chaotic, utterly opaque, and constantly shifting web of alliances, Maika Halfwolf and her few remaining friends are just trying to stay alive.

All of this is delivered in panels that look like paintings.

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Blood Ties by Jo Nesbø – Book Review

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Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo – Book Cover

Roy Opgard may look like your average gas station attendant in the small Norwegian town of Os, but he’s a whole lot more than that. Much more. He’s a protector of the family, a business whiz, and, above all, a true fixer—the kind of guy who solves problems. And Os? It’s got no shortage of those. The Opgard brothers’ past (and present) is soaked in violence (see: The Kingdom). But for anyone who wants to become the king of a town like this, that’s hardly news. Except maybe the part where blood ties start to matter less and less… What follows is, naturally, a classic Jo Nesbø thriller — clever, twisty, and in this case, laced with an unusually heavy dose of melancholy.

It Was the Man at the Pump

Yep, the guy at the gas station. He did it all. Every single murder in Os… For the record, Roy Opgard is not a brutal, bloodthirsty monster. The fact that an alarming number of Os’s dearly departed met their end at his hands isn’t entirely his fault.

It took an abusive, tormenting father who targeted his own son. And a mother who looked the other way. Everything else followed from that. Oh, and of course, there was the charming, likable, but weak-willed brother, Carl, too.

The prequel to Blood Ties — The Kingdom — may be a thriller, and a solid one at that, but at its core, it’s also the life story of a lonely man longing for love. Its heavy, melancholic tone stands in sharp contrast to the looming sense of fate and the constant return of violence.

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