Cover Image: Bloodlust & Bonnets

Bloodlust & Bonnets

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Member Reviews

After reading the synopsis for Bloodlust & Bonnets and seeing that it was by the creator of "My Life As a Background Slytherin" I knew that had to read it.

The cast of characters is amazing. There's Lucy who is a classic heroine with a twist, she's sick of the life that is imposed upon women in her time and begins wailing on her male companion. She is then approached to join a prestigious vampire cult by Lady Travesty who is in turn dispatched by Lord Byron, yes, the one from the books.

This is all within the first chapter. The humor that you would come to expect from Emily McGovern is there on every page paired with her unique art style and a beautiful color palette. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I would recommend it to all of my friends.

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Very fun concept but I felt the joke wore thin in places, and there wasn't enough depth or character work to sustain a story this long. I think it worked a lot better as spaced out chapter updates than read all as one. That being said, it is funny and easy to read!

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I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into this, but I do enjoy Emily McGovern's other works so I wanted to give it a chance. This story was definitely full of a lot of twists and turns and McGovern's dry humor. It was definitely a fun romp that kept me guessing!

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Bloodlust & Bonnets is by the author of the hilarious webcomic “My Life as a Background Slytherin” and her humor doesn’t fail in B&B.

It starts as any normal comic where in a young woman slays boring men, almost becomes a vampire, and is saved by Lord Byron. Yes, that Lord Byron. From Books.

There are so many one-liners and random gems of panels but the story also holds up as well. The characters are colorful and entertaining and awkwardly hilarious and I couldn’t get enough of them.

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Things I liked about this book: the characters, especially Lord Byron (he's pretty spot on), the psychic eagle, and the sentient castle. There are some really neat ideas here, but to me, the plot was lacking. Sometimes this is okay in a graphic novel, but I'm not sure the things I liked redeemed the plot, which didn't make a lot of sense most of the time -- was this a webcomic first? It reminded me of reading webcomics one day at a time that when you took a step back and thought about, you'd realize that there wasn't much plot to talk about. The art is cute, but also felt web-comic-y to me.

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Consider this as a pastel-wrought Pride and Prejudice and Vampires, until it starts to get much weirder in about, ooh, chapter two. Byron (yes, that one), a lovely heroine, and a third character nobody can tell the gender of, all get involved in trying to defeat the vampire queens of their time, but none of them are really any good at it. The artist that is so successful at hiding gender is also great at fashioning people so that even though their faces are on the slightest angle from true, they appear to only have one eye. It all looks quite childish, with these colours as well, but add in a bit of gore, and quips against Sir Walter Scott, and it all seems a mishmash with no real thinking as to target audience. And it's a bit of a humourless plod at times.

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I received an advanced digital copy of Bloodlust and Bonnets from @netgalley, and I must say it’s been quite a fun read!

Bloodlust and Bonnets follows a group of intrepid not-quite-friends on their quest to locate a cult of vampires. Lucy, an under-informed girl looking for a way to make her mark on the world, Sham, a mysterious bounty hunter, and Lord Byron, an easily distracted poet, team up to search the land. However, it soon becomes apparent that “teaming up” is different then being a team, leading them to struggle both with the execution of their quest and with their motives for going. No one is quite who they seem to be, as plots tangle together until no one knows who to trust!

Bloodlust and Bonnets is an excellent graphic novel, set as a regency era adventure. Hilarious characters and circumstances make this an engaging, quick read.

My Recommendation-
I recommend this book for lovers of fantasy, adventure and quick witted humor. This book’s style is reminiscent of Month Python’s humor, and is sure to entertain all who read it.

You can get your copy of Bloodlust and Bonnets on September 17th!

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I'm a huge fan of McGovern's comics 'My Life as a Background Slytherin' so I was looking forward to her book. I thought the book was a funny read but at times the plot seemed a little disjointed. The humor tends to be more between the lines than outright, I think younger middle grade readers may not find it as funny, but your older teens will definitely get a kick out of it. Definitely recommend as a purchase!

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I absolutely adored this book! This is a snarky, madcap adventure with great one-liners, hilarious characters, and a fun story. The illustrations were well done. They were very expressive, extremely colorful, and fit the tone of the book perfectly. This graphic novel had a similar tone to something like Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series. The main character is a strong, unconventional woman who embraces adventure and combats stereotypes. I laughed through this whole book and can’t wait for more from this author!

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This book is a swashbuckling tale of romance, vampires, secret societies, magical castles and nefarious schemes. The plot was very over the top, but in a good way; it all added to the style. The main characters- Lord Byron ("from books!"), Lucy (a queer woman who wants to make her own destiny) and Sham (a non-binary bounty hunter with a mysterious past)- come face to face with evil vampire cults. They have a plan to defeat the vampire cults, but they're not quite sure what it was.

I really enjoyed the story, although the art style took a bit of getting used to.

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Despite downloading the book several times, I am unable to access it on the Aldiko application... All the pages appear blank. I am excited to read this book, thus request tips on how else I can access this copy.

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After unhappy and bored debutante Lucy slaughters her suitor (and an extra several others, for good matter) who happened to be a vampire (along with the others), she’s approached by Lady Travesty to be a member of her special Immortal Vampire Cult. That is, before Lord Byron (yes, that Byron, from books) temporarily explodes Travesty with his sword and convinces Lucy to be in his vampire slaying group of one (plus his psychic eagle Napoleon and his magical-but-not-very-competent castle, Castle). The two began a journey to defeat Travesty, find a third partner in the mysterious Sham, and bumble their way about England and Scotland.

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this as much as I did, but it was pretty funny. At times it was a bit too much of a running on gag, and I think it would have been better in smaller doses/chapters, but overall it was entertaining and off-the-wall ridiculous.

From exploding vampires to apathetic debutantes to incompetent castles to a poetic rivalry to post-Regency England to conversations on how to shoot a gun, this has almost everything.

While Lucy was entertaining, my two favorite characters were Lord Byron and BB.

Lord Byron because of his arrogant self—and how his toxic masculinity is skewered in every turn (and also how the brash masculinity of heroes is skewered as well).

And BB, because she’s 1) fabulous 2) incredibly wealthy and 3) has a habit of losing her husbands to really unfortunate and unforeseeable accidents with ornamental weaponry.

Another thing I loved about this book was the queer representation! We have Sham (she/her pronouns but responds to “either/or” questions with either “yes” or “no”), all around badass vampire slayer who nevertheless has a not-so-great sense of direction, and there’s also Lucy, a canon bisexual. And Lord Byron, who is…Lord Byron.

Altogether, it’s a sarcastic and funny parody of Regency and Post-Regency romances and adventures—and filled with vampire (and debutante) satire.

The illustrations are also entertaining, reminding me a little bit of Cyanide and Happiness and another comic that I can’t recall.

Lots of blood splatter, lots of vampires and lots of swearing, which is just up my alley for Regency-era anything.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

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This is excellent and such good fun!

Lucy joins with Lord Byron to hunt down the vampire Lady Violet Travesty. On the way they meet another adventurer called Sham who is also after the vampire. The three of them throw themselves into the hunt, killing vampires who dare to cross their paths, only for the vampires to spring up alive again and getting into lots of scrapes.

As the adventures progress old and new friends are made, magic happens and the trio get into and out of several messy situations.

The best part about this novel is that it is tremendously funny with a talking castle, a bird who functions as a taxi service (when he isn't fighting duels in France) and many funny side characters.

It is really hard to explain the story, just that there is an adventure and the characters are simply useless at sticking to it!

I throughly enjoyed this and laughed all the way through it. I loved all the characters, including the baddies, and now I want a paperback copy of my own.

Copy provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Unfortunately, when I tried to view this novel I was unable to see anything except the inside title page. I downloading it multiple times all with the same result.

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I am giving this book three stars, because I like the idea behind it/the premise, and I see others have had fun reading it. However, I was unable to read the work for myself. I tried three times on different days to download the file, and each time all I got was a blank two-page spread. I contacted both NetGalley (via FB PM) and the publisher (via Twitter DM) four days ago to report the problem, but I've had no response from either. If they are later able to help me fix the issue so I can read the book, I will come back and amend the review appropriately.

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Loved this! The drawing were fantastic. A fun, quirky read. I'd like to see more like this.

Thank you to the author/the publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to red this in exchange for a for and honest review.

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I was disappointed in this book. I thought the pictures were pinball status and it took away the fun aspect for me. It looked cheaply done but the story was funny.

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I really enjoyed this. I've always loved the My Life as a Background Slytherin comics and so when I saw this came from the same creator, I was excited to read it and it did not disappoint.

Bloodlust & Bonnets follows the exploits of Lucy, a hungry for adventure, rebellious (yet hilariously impressionable) girl who gets wrapped up in the antics of a vampire cult, Lord Byron-- yes that Lord Byron, the poet and rake extraordinaire, and Sham, a mysterious traveler with secrets who joins on their quest to hunt a high society vampire. The panels are simple and bright and very pleasing to the eye. The art matches the whimsical nature and overall humor of the story and I found it paired well with the underlying tone of the comic.

The story itself is just plain fun; it's a romp through history told through a paranormal lens with such witty cleverness that you will find yourself smiling the entire time you're reading. Lucy is such a relatable character, vacillating between a fierce insistence on independence while struggling with the idea of acceptance overall and how she can achieve it without losing anything in the process. Byron is... well, exactly what you'd expect. His character is a fantastic play on the actual poet, his ego being one of the more humorous points in the story, often regaling his companions with his dashing deeds while at the same time somehow endearing himself to his companions. And Sham, their newfound addition and mysterious mercenary, adds a note of intrigue and dry humor to level everything else out. Add in some slight touches of romance between the ladies (Lucy and Sham) and you have a delightfully sweet and silly concoction, perfectly balanced in the insanity.

Also, there's a psychic bird named Napoleon who has a link with Byron, a sentient castle with incredibly lax security, secret feuding vampire cults, and absolutely no talk of feelings. No seriously, feelings are terrible. No one should have them. Let's all avoid them. Except, not actually.. So really, what's not to love? The overall voice of Bloodlust & Bonnets comes through strong, pulsing with vibrant funny notes that will delight fans of both history and adventure.

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Oh, this graphic novel is a ridiculous and raucous romp through the regency era! Do you like Jane Austen? Vampires? Sentient castles? Drunks? Ghosts? LGBTQ characters? Psychic birds? If you answered yes to any of these, you will love this book. As long as you also have a sense of humor and appreciate mocking adventures.

I highly recommend this as a fun addition to any collection!

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

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This was super cute. There were so many funny parts that made everything better. Honestly my favorite part was how funny it was. The whole plot line was a little off and hard to understand at times but I enjoyed it none the less!!

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