![\"NIcnevin\"](\"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/NICNEVIN-AND-THE-ST-COVER.jpg\")
<\/p>\n*Cross Posted from the Circulation Desk.*<\/p>\n
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Nicnevin and the Bloody Queen<\/em>\u00a0by Helen Mullane, art by Dom Reardon, layout art and title page illustration by Matthew Dow Smith<\/p>\n Humanoids, 2020<\/p>\n ISBN-13: 9781643377131<\/p>\n Available:\u00a0Paperback, Kindle, comiXology<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nicnevin \u201cNissy\u201d Oswald and her younger brother Gowan are sent to spend the summer with their mother in Northumberland, something about which Nissy is less than pleased. While they are there, Gowan comes across a dead body when he is out playing football with his friends. A modern-day druid is committing ghastly murders, thinking he could free the power of the ancient gods of Great Britain. When he targets Nissy, he makes a terrible mistake. She has a connection with the land and animals around her, one that she hasn\u2019t accepted yet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A few parts of the story were lacking. For instance, I\u2019m not sure why Nissy, Gowan, and their mother are spending the summer in Northumberland. It is clear there is a strained relationship between her and her mother, but it doesn\u2019t seem like a divorce situation, given how the parents give each other a parting kiss prior to their leaving. Readers can see the partial content of a letter regarding Nissy being expelled from school. We see Nissy\u2019s frustration and anger toward her mother about having to be away from her friends for the summer. Nissy simply comes across as argumentative for the sake of being argumentative. We don\u2019t get a glimpse of her previous life, and what has led her to become so angry with her mother.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another aspect of the story I can\u2019t come to terms with is Nissy\u2019s crush on a 35-year-old man named Reggie. There is a series of panels where Nissy pleasures herself while thinking about him, and the animals outside engage in sex outside the cottage. While it helps illustrate her connection to nature, I can\u2019t help but wonder if there was another way this could have been played out. A troubling panel depicts Reggie and Nissy nude together. Later, she attempts to engage him in a kiss, which he thankfully refuses. if you are squeamish about teens exhibiting sexuality, you might want to skip this. I don\u2019t mind a healthy dose of sex and sexuality in my horror, but I\u2019m not a fan of this particular type.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Contains: brief nudity, murder, sexual content, violence against women<\/p>\n Recommended, with reservations<\/p>\n Reviewed by Lizzy Walker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" *Cross Posted from the Circulation Desk.* Nicnevin and the Bloody Queen\u00a0by Helen Mullane, art by Dom Reardon, layout art and title page illustration by Matthew Dow Smith Humanoids, 2020 ISBN-13: 9781643377131 Available:\u00a0Paperback, Kindle, comiXology Nicnevin \u201cNissy\u201d Oswald and her younger brother Gowan are sent to spend the summer with their mother in Northumberland, something […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[76,119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-graphic-novels","category-horror"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Eu9f-wP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2036,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035\/revisions\/2036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"page4\"](\"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Pages-from-Nicnevin-and-the-Bloody-Queen-lite-5_Page_4-scaled.jpg\")
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Most of the story is great. Nissy discovering her family history, who she really is, and what she can do, offers an interesting coming-of-age tale. The folk horror content is solid.\u00a0 Reardon\u2019s artwork is perfect for a story full of folk horror, mythology, and ethereal creatures. The illustrations of the Wild Hunt were especially eerie and beautiful.<\/p>\n