'Monster Crush' is a very flawed graphic novel.
It has pacing issues, and ideas that needed to be fleshed out further. Despite its title, the "monsters" themselves don't factor into the story much, nor are they shown much, as "monsters". Mostly it is a slice-of-life YA book, with science fiction elements added in here and there.
The monsters, how they exist in the modern world, and how they appear to have different, individual powers besides shifting into beast mode - none of this is ever properly explained. Healing? Phasing through solid objects? Each power is introduced once and then never again. These "monsters" might as well be the X-Men. Or the X-Men as werewolves.
Then there's a bullying aspect at the beginning, that goes nowhere once the first monster we meet is revealed, and it amounts to nothing. It's bizarre. What is the point of the bully character, Penny, if you're going to drop her once the supernatural comes along, and then have her appear in one more scene, and she does nothing? Nothing when faced with the supernatural? Really? Especially a vindictive, petty, bruised and beaten teenage bully? What is Penny's problem with Ruby, the protagonist, anyway? Ruby mentions they used to be friends. What happened? We never find out.
Every character is white, save a single minor player, Bree, the girlfriend of Ruby's mother, Jane.
If not for a few sudden swear words, 'Monster Crush' would easily have been suitable for children to read.
Its white, black and light purple abstract artwork isn't very good or special, either, and five panels out of the whole thing are in colour, for reasons that I think are meant to be meaningful and significant, but in actuality it comes across as random more than anything else.
'Monster Crush' is a messy comic.
And yet... I like it.
It's just so cute!
Its characters are very likeable and human, including the "monster" family, the Mooneys, who I adore. The monster teen girl of the family, Ella, a new girl in high school, is naïve and a sweetie. She is the love interest of Ruby Reid, a skater girl and tomboy, who, on top of finding out that monsters do indeed exist (not what she'd feared in childhood), is finding out she likes girls; like her mother before her.
It's sweet to witness - Ruby and Ella go to a fair together and everything - if rushed towards the end, where they declare their love after knowing each other for, what, a week? (This relates to the pacing issues I mentioned, and there are no indications of how much time takes place in the comic's story.)
I also adore the positive parent-and-teenage-child relationships, as well as showcasing one toxic parent - the main villain scientist, Dr. Delarosa, with her poor, guinea pig daughter Maria - to contrast them.
Ruby is on good, if still shaky and uneasy, terms with both her separated parents, and her busy but exuberant mother Jane, who lives away from her, tries to make time for her daughter, and make things up to her.
Ella's parents are similarly great, funny, and supportive, if overprotective, since they are shapeshifting beast creatures hiding amongst humans. However, they are not nearly observant, cautious and vigilant enough, when it comes to protecting their kids from scientists wanting to do experiments on them, and they are kind of stupid. It's not always charming; it's weird and inconsistent characterisation. What about their backstory with dangerous humans, and doing anything to keep their children safe?
But the Mooneys are still a laudable, loving bunch.
It's just such a relief, a breath of fresh air, to see good parents represented - in comics and everywhere else. Lovely, breezy, accepting, yet human parents who love their children as their own individual selves, and who are clearly trying their best in any situation, are unfortunately, extraordinarily rare in, well, anything. In our cynical, jaded times - and due to burnout culture - genuinely good parents are often seen as an outlier, an exception to the "norm" of shitty, toxic, narcissistic parents who exist for the sake of "conflict" (we already have this with Dr. Delarosa, and her toxic parenting of Maria is highlighted for how wrong and harmful it is). I welcome the vital change of pace, and praise 'Monster Crush' for it...
... and for its effortless LBGTQ+ representation. As well as the romance between Ruby Reid and Ella Mooney, and Ruby's mum being gay and in a relationship with Bree, there is trans representation - all of which is accepted and treated as normal and a normal part of life by each party's family, even if the rest of the world isn't fully accepting. Heck, even Dr. Delarosa, the villain, is openminded and respectful of trans people, no big deal. She certainly doesn't see them as "monsters".
Sapphic love and exploring gender identity are the graphic novel's quilt and stitching, and soul.
I cannot overstate enough how positive and loving 'Monster Crush' is when it comes to representing families. It's needed, it's important, and it's life-affirming for a YA book. Cut out the supernatural and science fiction stuff and you have a heartwarming, progressive, LBGTQ+, coming-of-age, slice-of-life comic that's full of love and accepting, supportive families.
Not that it isn't heartwarming as it is. Its "monster" and mad scientist elements could have been developed better, definitely. But with its human components, and normal everyday charm, the underdevelopment of the supernatural isn't a dealbreaker. At best, it demonstrates how brave and capable the characters are when faced with high stakes. Like the risk of exposure of monster teens and their parents. There isn't even anything metaphorical in use for what constitutes as "monsters" in society - no "fantastical" racism or queerphobia - that I could see. It simply is what it is.
It is a fun, funny, heartfelt, caring, female-empowering, messy read overall. Not a dull moment to be found. It's a darling poppet of a comic.
There you have it: my somewhat vague, hopefully spoiler-free review of 'Monster Crush'. Redheaded Ruby has a crush on the blonde, pretty, new "monster" girl Ella, who will do some crushing of her own to protect her loved ones.
Okay, that's it, I'll shut up now.
How did my review end up longer and more disorderly than I'd planned?
'Monster Crush' - my second guilty pleasure graphic novel of 2025 (my first is 'Mimi and the Cutie Catastrophe'). Recommended for fans of both LBGTQ+ rep and supernatural/paranormal LBGTQ+ rep.
Final Score: 3.5/5
P.S. Final, last second highlight: Jenny. The owner of Jenny's Diner (not Denny's), where Ruby and Jane have their scrumptious meal together. She is a hoot, the best one-scene character in 'Monster Crush'.
It has pacing issues, and ideas that needed to be fleshed out further. Despite its title, the "monsters" themselves don't factor into the story much, nor are they shown much, as "monsters". Mostly it is a slice-of-life YA book, with science fiction elements added in here and there.
The monsters, how they exist in the modern world, and how they appear to have different, individual powers besides shifting into beast mode - none of this is ever properly explained. Healing? Phasing through solid objects? Each power is introduced once and then never again. These "monsters" might as well be the X-Men. Or the X-Men as werewolves.
Then there's a bullying aspect at the beginning, that goes nowhere once the first monster we meet is revealed, and it amounts to nothing. It's bizarre. What is the point of the bully character, Penny, if you're going to drop her once the supernatural comes along, and then have her appear in one more scene, and she does nothing? Nothing when faced with the supernatural? Really? Especially a vindictive, petty, bruised and beaten teenage bully? What is Penny's problem with Ruby, the protagonist, anyway? Ruby mentions they used to be friends. What happened? We never find out.
Every character is white, save a single minor player, Bree, the girlfriend of Ruby's mother, Jane.
If not for a few sudden swear words, 'Monster Crush' would easily have been suitable for children to read.
Its white, black and light purple abstract artwork isn't very good or special, either, and five panels out of the whole thing are in colour, for reasons that I think are meant to be meaningful and significant, but in actuality it comes across as random more than anything else.
'Monster Crush' is a messy comic.
And yet... I like it.
It's just so cute!
Its characters are very likeable and human, including the "monster" family, the Mooneys, who I adore. The monster teen girl of the family, Ella, a new girl in high school, is naïve and a sweetie. She is the love interest of Ruby Reid, a skater girl and tomboy, who, on top of finding out that monsters do indeed exist (not what she'd feared in childhood), is finding out she likes girls; like her mother before her.
It's sweet to witness - Ruby and Ella go to a fair together and everything - if rushed towards the end, where they declare their love after knowing each other for, what, a week? (This relates to the pacing issues I mentioned, and there are no indications of how much time takes place in the comic's story.)
I also adore the positive parent-and-teenage-child relationships, as well as showcasing one toxic parent - the main villain scientist, Dr. Delarosa, with her poor, guinea pig daughter Maria - to contrast them.
Ruby is on good, if still shaky and uneasy, terms with both her separated parents, and her busy but exuberant mother Jane, who lives away from her, tries to make time for her daughter, and make things up to her.
Ella's parents are similarly great, funny, and supportive, if overprotective, since they are shapeshifting beast creatures hiding amongst humans. However, they are not nearly observant, cautious and vigilant enough, when it comes to protecting their kids from scientists wanting to do experiments on them, and they are kind of stupid. It's not always charming; it's weird and inconsistent characterisation. What about their backstory with dangerous humans, and doing anything to keep their children safe?
But the Mooneys are still a laudable, loving bunch.
It's just such a relief, a breath of fresh air, to see good parents represented - in comics and everywhere else. Lovely, breezy, accepting, yet human parents who love their children as their own individual selves, and who are clearly trying their best in any situation, are unfortunately, extraordinarily rare in, well, anything. In our cynical, jaded times - and due to burnout culture - genuinely good parents are often seen as an outlier, an exception to the "norm" of shitty, toxic, narcissistic parents who exist for the sake of "conflict" (we already have this with Dr. Delarosa, and her toxic parenting of Maria is highlighted for how wrong and harmful it is). I welcome the vital change of pace, and praise 'Monster Crush' for it...
... and for its effortless LBGTQ+ representation. As well as the romance between Ruby Reid and Ella Mooney, and Ruby's mum being gay and in a relationship with Bree, there is trans representation - all of which is accepted and treated as normal and a normal part of life by each party's family, even if the rest of the world isn't fully accepting. Heck, even Dr. Delarosa, the villain, is openminded and respectful of trans people, no big deal. She certainly doesn't see them as "monsters".
Sapphic love and exploring gender identity are the graphic novel's quilt and stitching, and soul.
I cannot overstate enough how positive and loving 'Monster Crush' is when it comes to representing families. It's needed, it's important, and it's life-affirming for a YA book. Cut out the supernatural and science fiction stuff and you have a heartwarming, progressive, LBGTQ+, coming-of-age, slice-of-life comic that's full of love and accepting, supportive families.
Not that it isn't heartwarming as it is. Its "monster" and mad scientist elements could have been developed better, definitely. But with its human components, and normal everyday charm, the underdevelopment of the supernatural isn't a dealbreaker. At best, it demonstrates how brave and capable the characters are when faced with high stakes. Like the risk of exposure of monster teens and their parents. There isn't even anything metaphorical in use for what constitutes as "monsters" in society - no "fantastical" racism or queerphobia - that I could see. It simply is what it is.
It is a fun, funny, heartfelt, caring, female-empowering, messy read overall. Not a dull moment to be found. It's a darling poppet of a comic.
There you have it: my somewhat vague, hopefully spoiler-free review of 'Monster Crush'. Redheaded Ruby has a crush on the blonde, pretty, new "monster" girl Ella, who will do some crushing of her own to protect her loved ones.
Okay, that's it, I'll shut up now.
'Monster Crush' - my second guilty pleasure graphic novel of 2025 (my first is 'Mimi and the Cutie Catastrophe'). Recommended for fans of both LBGTQ+ rep and supernatural/paranormal LBGTQ+ rep.
Final Score: 3.5/5
P.S. Final, last second highlight: Jenny. The owner of Jenny's Diner (not Denny's), where Ruby and Jane have their scrumptious meal together. She is a hoot, the best one-scene character in 'Monster Crush'.
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