What do I want to say about the graphic novel Love Kills by Danilo Beyruth?
This book was majorly screwed up! I mean, I liked it, despite the ending being blunt, ending on a smack you in the face realization, then nothing afterwards, but overall everything works out well. Though, I would say things lend themselves to be more of a 3.5 and not “just” a three, as I was not a fan of the violent images in some cases, but still thought they set the tone well. The illustrations when they went for the shock feature felt gratuitous and just there to be torture porn. Though, I would think that if this is your jam, most people will go with a 4 or 5 because of that as they really capture the soul of the story and let you know what is happening.
You see, this is a horror graphic novel and like “good horror” there can be a lot of physical gore, grief, and downright nasty. There is violence. I mean, you are supposed to think these creatures are vampires or vampire adjacent. So, blood, biting, stabbing, more blood… And then there is what the human does to try and protect himself with a knife and fire ax. And I’d go as far as the hypnosis of humans is pretty freaky, the mind warping and drugs. Lots of drugs. Along with hookers, homeless people and some pretty skeevy AF people.
This is not a nice book. No spoiler in saying that nobody lives Happily Ever After. Nobody singing and toasting marshmallows around the fire. Oh, but there is fire. And a scabby male member hanging out between some bubbled up legs…. So, yeah, what really hit me was the fact that there is no hiding what is happening on the pages, explaining what you need to know and what you see is pretty much what you’ll get as we follow unlikable characters who hunt humans for food, try to live their best afterlife, who want revenge, and maybe a little love. We follow a woman who is trying to stay low profile, but has a bad habit of standing out in the crowd in all the wrong ways. We have a human trying to make a living with a shifty boss and a weird sense of right and wrong or when to be chivalrous. And there are several characters that flow in and out of their lives to advance things.
In the end my feelings are if I knew there was a sequel I probably wouldn’t read it. If there are other books by Beyruth, I might read them. And while I can’t say this was a favorite book, it was not a unfavorite and was an experience that I probably wouldn’t repeat with this book, but know that I won’t say no to another book that has the same emotional impact or message.
