Monday, December 22, 2014

REVIEW: "Luminae" by Bengal

Disclaimer: I received a free, advanced e-copy of this graphic novel in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Type: Graphic Novel, Comic Book, Series, Book One, Magic, Demons, Dragons, Light vs. Dark, Fantasy, Thong Armor is Totally Impractical

About the Book: Six young warriors are tasked with protecting the mysterious Luminae, a holy creature of Light in exile from those forces of Darkness that would decimate humanity. When one of the warriors disappears, the others know it is the sign of a superior evil soon to arrive. A stylish dark fantasy by the celebrated artist of Naja and Meka. [Summary from Goodreads.com]

My Review: Nope. Just nope. I wish I could saw I enjoyed this, because it sounded really cool. But readers are thrown right into the middle of a story, with no explanation as to what is going on or why some of these people are important. While the several small story-lines are clearly all part of some over arching dangerous plot, there is no transition from one story-line to the next. So you go from girls searching for their sister to a king talking to his adviser, then suddenly to a kid in a village, with no apparent rhyme or reason.

This had a lot of potential, really. I think the story itself could have used more editing, especially when it came to transitions. Also, I was not a fan of the art. I liked the colors, though several of the characters ended up looking very similar due to their coloring. But what really made me roll my eyes, groan, and grumble were the outfits. Seriously? Why would this warrior girls be wearing thongs and a shirt? Not logical, in the slightest. And even when one character activated her special power, which created some seriously awesome looking armor - her thong was still clearly visible, which means her hips and thighs were very vulnerable. To the writer and artist - trust me, you can make women look sexy in armor without skimpy underwear.

Cover Lovin': This is a very eye catching cover. The art and color lines were what originally attracted me to this graphic novel.

Recommendation: For readers of graphic novels, and people who enjoy weird things with little explanation? In general: Not really recommended.

Final Rating: TWO out of FIVE stars. I saw some potential there, but this fell so flat. You can't have a huge fantasy world like this and then give it so little description, build up, or.. I don't know, explanation. 


Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda at Novel Addiction ~!~

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