Monstress Volume 5

** spoiler alert ** I refuse to believe Maika is this gullible. Your childhood best friend and girlfriend has been lying to you and plotting to kill you all these years and you somehow forgive her in 2 seconds??? How?

Another interesting volume which I can still never find proper words to describe. The art is always intricate and detailed, but this time it was a bit more on the darker side, because most of the story was dealing with war. I also felt it was more character focused than the previous ones, especially regarding Maika’s relationships with everyone around her. So, just when I felt like the story was going one way, the author just had to give that absolutely unexpected and terrifying cliffhanger. The wait for the next volume is gonna be really long.

Whatever be my feelings about the actual story of this series, I’m always excited for the new volume just to be able to finally see more of the gorgeous artwork, and it didn’t disappoint as always. However, I somehow enjoyed the story more too this time around. We get to know a lot about how Maika lost her arm in her childhood, what the hell is going on in Zinn’s head right now and how all the players are finally getting ready to fight the war. It was very interesting to see the strategies and attacks play out, especially with some amazing illustrations. I still can’t keep track of who is betraying whom but I’ll get there someday. And Kippa will always be the best part of this series and I love her with all my heart.

I've reached maximum capacity to remember these characters' faces and what's going on in this series. I spent 30% of this installment going, "Wait, who is that? Do we already know them? Hold on, what is happening?" Like, why is that a thing 5 volumes in? This was easily my least favorite installment and I'm hoping things: 1. Start making more sense 2. Progress plot-wise (it feels like we're starting to hit a stand-still 3. We start seeing where all of these storylines intersect As always: the art is to die for.

Absolutely worth the wait. We got some answers, we got more questions, and as always, we were blessed with absolutely breathtaking art that made me say, multiple times, out loud, "How the actual fuck," it was so stunning. I am already ravenous as Zinn for Vol 7.