Title: Monstress Volume 3: Haven
Series: Monstress #3 (Issues 13-18)
Author: Marjorie Liu (writer), Sana Takeda (artist)
Genre: Dark Fantasy/Horror
Trigger Warnings: Blood, death, death of children, gore (extreme), torture, torture of children, death of parents, body horror (extreme), child abuse, refugee camps
Spoiler Warning: This book is third in a series, and reading beyond this point will expose you to spoilers of Volume 1 and Volume 2.
Back Cover:
Maika Halfwolf has begun to unlock the mysteries of her past – but the challenges are only going. In this third volume of MONSTRESS, collecting issues 13-18, Maika’s journey takes her to the neutral city of Pontus, where she hopes to find temporary refuge from her pursuers. Unfortunately, Pontus may not be as safe as Maika and her allies had hoped.
As the impending war between humans and Arcanics creeps ever closer, and powerful players fight for the chance to control her future, Maika finds she must work with Zinn, the Monstrum that lives inside her, in order to ensure their mutual survival. But even that alliance might not be enough to prepare Maika for the horrors to come.
Review:
Like Volume 2, this entry in the series is more like a chunk of the middle of a story than a complete story, but the story is finally starting to get into the meat and action. Maika is still hunting for answers, but she keeps finding more questions (or at least I do, since I as the reader get to see conversations and events that Maika doesn’t) and in this volume her enemies have started finding her.
I am loving the dynamic developing between Maika and the progressively-more-talkative demon creature inside her, who now has a name and some of a backstory. Zinn, the demon, is expected to be a bad guy (by the tropes and by most of the characters in the story), but compared to violent and recklessly self-endangering Maika, it almost seems like the voice of reason. Maika is now up against enemies who are proving she is actually not basically unkillable, but that doesn’t stop her from knowing she can take whatever pain they throw at her and continuing to fight.
And the more this series goes on, the more I love Kippa. The little fox is so young but insists on seeing and believing the best of Maika and it’s just so darn sweet. No matter how much Maika tries to push Kippa away, Kippa still cares for her – and this entry in the series shows that Maika may actually care for Kippa a little, too.
As always, the art is stunning and the plot is fantastic. I struggle to keep track of all the warring factions in this world, but I’m not sure if that’s a problem with the storytelling or my difficulty in reading graphic novels. I am grabbing Volume 4 immediately.
Bluejay Reads 