Tina N. Lugo’s The Changeling: Volume 1 was not a “pure” three, but is not a 2 either. Maybe a 2.75? It is a series that needs all volumes to be read at once and that would have probably boosted the rating. Volume 2 should be available and volume 3 is due end of April/early may 2025. There are a few pages of introduction in this first volume that allows the reader to have background information on the characters, which allows you to be able to start in the “middle” of a story without being too lost, with most plot points that come in as you read. A review says that the story is “Drawing on Indigenous Taíno culture and the stylings of 20th-century manga.”
The Manga style of illustrations (though you read in a Western format) sets a mood of simplicity but there are panels that are overpacked with text and that can overwhelm those scenes. My book was black and white, but I do wonder how color would have affected things. Sometimes it was difficult to see which character was who. Unless they were an owl or a rock tortoise. There were a few places where there are distinguishable markings, clothing or some do (or don’t) have a tail. The characters are lycans: a human touched the heart of a beast (but something tells me more than a heart was touched)) and the result was the half beast/wolf-half human. Lycans, by the way, are not fans of humans as at least one of the clans of lycans has been made extinct by humans. There is fantasy action and violence. It is “tame” considering it could be a lot more graphic, but so far, things are no more than a headless crocodile who tried to eat the main character and a woman-eating/killing plant.
Are these “loveable” characters? Probably not. Are they likeable characters? To a point. However, they can be relatable even if you are not the illegitimate child of a great lady and have a literal Dark Star prophecy hanging over you.