Monstress, Vol. 3: Haven

WHY: Continuing the series in lockdown with awesome free delivery from my local library.
STORY: Unlike The Blood's journey across waters to the Isle of the Dead God, Haven is set completely in the city of Pontus, neutral in the Arcanic-Human war. Maika is trying to survive as the Blood Queens, Dusk (and Dawn) Court, Prime Minister and Pontus themselves try to use her and the ancient within for their own ends. There are a lot more POVs this volume, a welcome return from Volume 1 that helps the worldbuilding, and the plot seemed a lot more streamlined - war tensions are simmering, Pontus needs its shield from the old times to be activated and an Old God is straining against its bonds to enter this realm. The cats are also doing their own thing as usual, though this time it intriguingly includes the pure fox Kippa.
ART & WRITING: The art in this series is just amazing - the darkness seeping through the page, facial expressions and changing panel size and structure each page which drives energetic action and creates huge moments of dramatic tension. The themes of power and bloodlust are represented visually in graphic destruction, and otherworldly tales and creatures are visually engaging. I definitely take longer to read the writing here than with other graphic novels due to the sheer density of backstory to the world and inference of character motivation and relationships. The dialogue is brutally uncensored, gender flipped and still influenced somewhat by the Asian setting just like previous issues; "brother-f**ker/ father-f**ker".
WHO: If you are enjoying the Monstress series, then just keep reading it. I know that there's always something new to discover, although this definitely leaned more towards the style of Awakening which I preferred.