Mini graphic novel review – Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern (4.5 stars)

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Title: Bloodlust & Bonnets

Author: Emily McGovern

Published: 17^th of September 2019 – Andrews McMeel Publishing

Format: Paperback – 205 pages

Hello Hello! How are you all?

It’s the start of another busy week for me and the opportunity to post another review that has been sitting in my drafts folder for way too long. I plan on getting lots of thesis work done this week, hopefully enough to start writing it all out. What do you have planned?

I read Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern with some buddies from The Write Reads Gang a few months ago and it was such a fun read. It also made me want to pick up more graphic novels, so if you have any recommendations, let me know in the comments! Now without further ado, keep on reading for my thoughts on this book!

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS

From the creator of the hit webcomic, My Life As a Background Slytherin comes a hilarious graphic novel pastiche of classic Romantic literature led by a trio of queer misfits—and several angry vampires.

Set in early nineteenth-century Britain, Bloodlust & Bonnets follows Lucy, an unworldly debutante who desires a life of passion and intrigue—qualities which earn her the attention of Lady Violet Travesty, the leader of a local vampire cult.

 But before Lucy can embark on her new life of vampiric debauchery, she finds herself unexpectedly thrown together with the flamboyant poet Lord Byron (“from books!”) and a mysterious bounty-hunter named Sham. The unlikely trio lie, flirt, fight and manipulate each other as they make their way across Britain, disrupting society balls, slaying vampires, and making every effort not to betray their feelings to each other as their personal and romantic lives become increasingly entangled.

 Both witty and slapstick, elegant and gory, Emily McGovern’s debut graphic novel pays tribute to and pokes fun at beloved romance tropes, delivering a joyous, action-packed world of friendship and adventure.

MY REVIEW

Trigger warnings: blood, gore, violence, beheadings, drugs, alcohol.

Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern is a historical fiction fantasy graphic novel that we picked for the TWR Gang book club in March and it was absolutely hilarious and such a fun reading experience. I’m going to try to keep my review short because the beauty of this book is really going in blind and diving into this wild adventure head-on.

I have been wanting to get into more graphic novels since I fell in love with the Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman and I’m so glad this book was picked because I read it in barely an hour and it had me totally immersed.

You know that I love anything historical fiction and I thought that the different references to historical people like Lord Byron, Walter Scott, Napoleon, etc were so well executed and actually, fairly hilarious. I actually really liked Lucy and while Lord Byron came across as a bit of a dramatic pain in the arse, I thought that how the book started was so funny. I think I was laughing out loud within a few pages. I loved how it suddenly went from two people strolling about in a garden to a full-on massacre, people getting their heads chopped off and vampires appearing out of nowhere.

There are so many great characters in this book and I don’t want to say much about them because you’ll want to meet them yourselves, but Lucy, Napoléon and Sham were my personal favourites and I loved the different relationships and teams that were built in this graphic novel.

The plot is hectic and completely chaotic, but with the addition of the sharp and witty humour, the beautiful drawing style and the quick dialogue, this one had me immersed right from the first page and I literally did not stop reading until I came to the end of it.

MY THOUGHTS AND RATING

Overall, this was a fantastic graphic novel that had me laughing out loud so many times. I really liked the artwork in this book and while I do prefer more realistic drawing styles, I found that the way the characters and places were drawn and coloured made this very unique.

From the minute you start reading this book, you are thrown back and forth in a frenzied adventure that is completely ridiculous, hilarious and so binge-worthy. I personally loved all the little jibes and Napoléon being “psychic”, that had me sniggering every time.

I gave this book 4.5 stars (full ASPECTS rating below). This was just dramatic, hilarious, fun, exciting and a fantastic take on historical characters, with tonnes of humour and a really fast and snappy writing style that kept me engaged throughout.

If you are looking for a really quick foray into graphic novels and don’t know where to start, I highly recommend this book.

Please give me graphic novel recommendations in the comments, I think this book has started an obsession!

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed reading this post and will consider picking up this book, see you soon, stay safe,

Ellie xx

ASPECTS RATING

Atmosphere – 6.5

Start – 7.5

Pacing – 7

Ending – 8

Characters – 7.5

Theme – 6.5

Style – 8

Total = 51

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If you would like to purchase this book, you can find it here: Amazon UK – Amazon FR – Amazon US – AbeBooks – The Book Depository – Waterstones – Barnes and Noble – Blackwell’s – BetterWorldBooks – Wordery