I was drawn to this book because of the beautiful cover work I saw floating around on Twitter. The art perfectly conveys what lies beneath the cover. A beautiful creature in a lake. She seems so beautiful and inviting, but beneath the surface is decay. How can this woman of the macabre look so friendly and inviting? All the tales within this book feature that air of whimsy and mystery.
If my opening didn’t sell you on this book let me tell you a little more about it. Self-Identifying women and non-gender confirming writers came together to create this book of 25 tales about female monsters. Each tale is an original story with amazing artwork. This anthology is something I believe many different personality types can enjoy. There is a story in here for everyone. I’d like to give you a little taste of what lies in this book by giving a synopsis for two stories that spoke to me.
The first tale I’d like to highlight is called Zira and the Little Fire. This story is written and drawn by Katie Shanahan. We see a travelling hungry orc thinking about her past experiences with humans. Even though this orc is very friendly, they are terrified of her appearance which makes the humans hostile. As Zira is walking along she comes across a food offering for spirits. Zira notices there is no one around, so she asks the spirits for forgiveness and eats up all the offerings. She decides to not hang around for too long, and as she is walking away a flame bursts to life greeting her. Being that the flame was just brought to life it asks to travel with Zira.
Zira can’t say no to the adorable baby flame, so they set off on their journey together. This gives the flame and Zira time to talk and become good friends. As they reach the next village the flame learns of Zira’s past troubles with the humans and becomes enraged. The baby flame grows into an inferno. Will Zira use the flame to burn the humans that attack her?
The next tale I would like to highlight is Skin Deep written and drawn by Elodie Chen. This tale starts off with what appears to be a re-animated corpse getting ready for her day. She has a bunch of makeup to make her pigment look more like that of a living girl. Her name is Isabelle and she is always in the public eye, so she has to look a certain way. But, it’s obvious she’s tired of painting herself daily to pass as a living human. Will she be honest with who she really is and show the public the truth?
Some of the tales talk of kind monsters that aren’t accepted because of their appearance. Some tales are about monsters simply accepting themselves for what they really are. In contrast some of these monsters are gorgeous creatures that lure you in only to chew you up and spit you out. All of us have monsters, and even though these tales focus on monsters and mythological beings, humanity shines through each tale. There aren’t any bad tales in this amazing anthology. If you have an appreciation for mythological creatures, monsters, and strong women you absolutely need to own this book.
Rating 8.5/10
