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A review by zombiecupcake29
Houses of the Unholy by Ed Brubaker
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
*Thanks to Image Comics and Netgalley for an ARC of this graphic novel. All words and thoughts in this review are my own and not swayed by receiving this in exchange for a review.*
I wasn't exactly sure what I was expecting when going into this novel but I'm sure glad now that I requested it on Netgalley. I've always had a fascination with cults and the satanic panic of the 80s and 90s and I'm not sure if it's just because I grew up in the deep south during that time period so it was all everyone in my small town talked about and the fact that my childhood revolved around what my grandparent's believed would and would not push me towards satan or if it's just a curiosity of how people can be swindled into believing these things but whatever it is it's not going away.
I really loved the storyline of this novel and the fact that it jumped back and forth each chapter from present to past giving you the context that you needed to understand what was going on. I also really liked Natalie the main character. While I could see how some could dislike her disposition I feel like because of what she did as a child it shaped how she was as an adult and that she wanted to separate herself from the world and therefore people so she would not impact anyone else's life the way she did back then.
I had my suspicions that there was something up with one of the characters, I won't say which one to avoid spoilers, but I wasn't fully certain of it until it was revealed so koodoos to the authors for that. I also really loved the illustration style of this novel. I felt the color scheme used put you in the melancholy dark place that you need to be to fully imerse yourself in the story and connect with the characters and what's going on. The only thing that I felt was unnecessary in this was the sex scene and that's not because I have anything against sex scenes it just felt un-needed and I feel like the story would have played out just the same without it. All in all I will definitely be looking for more to read from these authors.
I wasn't exactly sure what I was expecting when going into this novel but I'm sure glad now that I requested it on Netgalley. I've always had a fascination with cults and the satanic panic of the 80s and 90s and I'm not sure if it's just because I grew up in the deep south during that time period so it was all everyone in my small town talked about and the fact that my childhood revolved around what my grandparent's believed would and would not push me towards satan or if it's just a curiosity of how people can be swindled into believing these things but whatever it is it's not going away.
I really loved the storyline of this novel and the fact that it jumped back and forth each chapter from present to past giving you the context that you needed to understand what was going on. I also really liked Natalie the main character. While I could see how some could dislike her disposition I feel like because of what she did as a child it shaped how she was as an adult and that she wanted to separate herself from the world and therefore people so she would not impact anyone else's life the way she did back then.
I had my suspicions that there was something up with one of the characters, I won't say which one to avoid spoilers, but I wasn't fully certain of it until it was revealed so koodoos to the authors for that. I also really loved the illustration style of this novel. I felt the color scheme used put you in the melancholy dark place that you need to be to fully imerse yourself in the story and connect with the characters and what's going on. The only thing that I felt was unnecessary in this was the sex scene and that's not because I have anything against sex scenes it just felt un-needed and I feel like the story would have played out just the same without it. All in all I will definitely be looking for more to read from these authors.