Jessica (HDB)

Yes. Yes, times a million. I loved this! Imagine a world infected by a millennia-old bacteria. It doesn't kill people. Oh no, nothing that simple. It instead activates parts of their DNA previously lying dormant. DNA that, depending on their racial or ethnic heritage, turns them into a very specific kind of supernatural being. Love stories with vampires? Wait until you meet the inhabitants of Maberry's V-Wars.

A word of warning, although I don't know how you could assume otherwise, this is a very bloody and violent graphic novel. With the world engaged in a war that very few people actually understand, there isn't a chance to breathe while reading this story. The panels are filled with clues. Peppered with violence and questions of morality. It was all I could do to keep my eyes from flitting ahead to the next page. Everything is rendered beautifully, even when there is death involved. My only complaint, and I hope this isn't the case with the finished digital version, is that this ARC had an issue with text. The speech bubbles were fuzzy, and fairly difficult to read. 

On to the story line, shall we? Chances are you've realized that this is a story involving a war against the vampires. What isn't readily obvious, and which I fell so deeply for, was the fact that this isn't a black and white delineation. There is no clear line between sides. Innocents aren't spared. There are groups of people on both sides who could be termed "good guys" or "bad guys". It's all very muddled, and it makes reading this that much more fun. As I said before, morality plays a big part in this story.

The four star rating only reflects the formatting which, once again, I'm fairly certain won't be an issue in the finished version. I'd honestly buy this in paperback anyway. Volume 1 of this has taken my breath away, and all I know now is that I want more! Based off the writing and the illustrations, this is a five star read all the way. I'm thrilled to have found a new series to fangirl over.