Bonastre Tur. Promotional Cover Art Cropped, Marionetta, Webtoon.
Marionetta – Information
Author of Story: Míriam Bonastre Tur
Chapter Count: 87 chapers (two seasons)
Status: Ongoing
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below; only the literary work itself.
- Death, dying, murder
- Blood, violence, gore, disturbing imagery
- Loss of loved ones
- Trauma
- Explicit portrayal of depression
- Explicit portrayal of SH, SI
- Racism, systemic racism
- Misogyny
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
Marionetta – Plot Summary
Marionetta is a fantastic webtoon with a bit of a creepy, mysterious vibe. It’s a very exciting and suspenseful story that’ll have you hooked in no time!
The plot begins with two women running to catch a bus. This bus usually takes them to their a job in uniform making, but on this day they stop off at a circus along with the rest of the people on the bus, who seem to work at the same job. The two women are known as Kamille, a beautiful young woman who is excited to experience the circus, and Julia, a stickler for rules who is not a fan of the idea.
As they enter the circus, Kamille enjoys herself freely while Julia chases after her. After a long chase, Julia decides to wait on a bench while Kamille finishes a show.
However, Kamille finds herself interested in some of the beautiful circus staff, and follows them into a tent—only to see something extremely confusing and frightening. The staff threatens Kamille’s life, and Julia leaves the circus thinking Kamille must have left already.
When Kamille doesn’t show up to work the next day, Julia runs off to chase down the circus troupe. However, she quickly finds herself in a sudden death experience while trying to stop their massive vehicle. She wakes up in a very strange otherworldly trance of sorts, and is told she can extend her life by making a pact—a promise that she will kill the ringmaster of the circus!
This story is full of suspense, secrets, plot twists, and more! It is truly a fantastic webtoon with a super engaging plot and even a little romance along the way (of course!!) so be sure to check out the rest of the review, and read this awesome comic for yourself!
Bonastre Tur. Promotional Cover Art Cropped, Marionetta, Webtoon.
Why You Should Read Marionetta
Plot:
In the spirit of this website’s theme, let’s talk romance first. Obviously the main plot of this comic isn’t necessarily romance-focused, but it sure does come up often. There’s actually two separate romantic stories that occur for each of the girls mentioned in the plot summary, although there’s a bit more focus on Julia—who seems to be the primary protagonist.
Her new circus adventure contains a slow burn romance full of suspense, push-and-pull, and unexpected sweet moments. Julia’s love interest is her total opposite when it comes to flirting, which makes their dynamic so fun!
I also really enjoyed the slow pacing of romance in this comic, especially with how the characters try to deny their true feelings at first. It’s super cute, but also lets the characters have time to grow as individuals, too.
The romance feels very exciting, especially considering how suspenseful the rest of this webtoon’s plot is—they aren’t exactly frolicking around the circus in love, haha. Even though romance is not the primary focus of this webtoon, the author has done a great job at creating an amazing chemistry between two characters that keeps you wanting more! I’ve really enjoyed the secondary romance in the series, too.
But don’t just read for the romance! Marionetta has a fantastic plot to offer even outside of the exciting romances found in the series. It primarily follows Julia as she explores the secrets of the circus and the strange contract she’s made.
She struggles between her morals and her desire to live, which leads her to some wild choices and discoveries. Everyone in the circus seems to have their own secrets and longstanding history…and there seems to be something sinister happening outside of the circus, too. This comic may be colorful, but it often portrays some dark or serious topics!
This webtoon is full of mystery and suspense, so it is very easy to get hooked! I don’t want to give too much away about the story here, but you can start this webtoon while awaiting tons of fun fantasy elements and a mysterious conflict that’ll keep you at the edge of your seat.
Characters:
The characters in this story are all incredibly unique. It takes place primarily in a circus—but that’s not the only thing that makes the characters interesting. All of the characters have such strong, expressive personalities and opinions that allow each of them to stand out (in addition to their designs).
Starting with the main protagonist, Julia is a very interesting character who experiences quite a lot of development throughout the series.
She starts out as someone who seems to have grown up blindly following the guidance of her father, and believing everything she is told by him. She lives by-the-book, and strongly rejects change. This leads to prejudices against others and things she cannot understand, which may make you dislike this character in the beginning.
However, after being forced into the unique circus environment, Julia finds her values and opinions being challenged often—a very exciting development for her character!
Kamille, on the other hand, is a much more easygoing character. She is excited to experience the unknown and to step outside of the restrictions placed on her by society. She’s very laid back, and simply wants to enjoy the ride and meet new people. She’s such a huge contrast to Julia, which is pretty nice and keeps some interest throughout the story while you learn more about the circus.
Next we have the circus leader Anthonn Gremminger (a.k.a. Tonny). If you remember from the plot summary, Julia has been told to kill the circus leader—Tonny—in exchange for her own life.
The person behind this contract is unknown, but we do get to see plenty of Tonny. To be completely honest, it’s very hard to dislike him! So far I’ve come to like his character a lot, but of course you should read the story and decide what you think of him.
Lastly, I wanted to mention Julia’s love interest, Sahed. Sahed is an incredibly charming circus member who is strong-willed and surprisingly hot tempered. He starts out as an enemy of sorts to Julia, but they soon find themselves becoming accomplices…and perhaps something else! ♡
His character is really cool, as he’s very smart and determined to do whatever it takes to reach his goals. He’s a fun match for Julia, as he is a bit of the teasing type and is much more smooth than she is! ( ˃́▿˂̀ )♡ However, they turn out to be more similar than you may think at first.
There are plenty of other interesting characters in the story, so look forward to it!
Art:
The style, character designs, and environment in Marionetta are all tons of fun! There’s so many colors, details, and diversity to enjoy. The story feels whimsical and confusing, just what you’d expect from a story containing magic and horror.
It’s sort of trippy and unique, sometimes giving vibes similar to Alice in Wonderland. I really enjoyed the usage of different lighting and angles throughout the story; this always gave so much extra interest to this already unique and colorful webtoon.
Additionally, all of the characters have such stylish outfits. I particularly liked Kamille’s style, but everyone gets some really fun designs and clothing—and not your typical silly clothing you’d expect from a circus. Sometimes they look super cute or stylish! Many of the circus outfits are super creative and cute. The artist did a fantastic job in this aspect of the story, and I really, really enjoyed it!
Bonastre Tur. Art Posted by Author on Social, Marionetta, Webtoon.
Any Cons?
If you’re going to read this solely for romance, I must warn that you might become impatient. As mentioned before, this story isn’t primarily romance-focused, although I absolutely adore the relationship dynamics that we do get to enjoy in this series.
However, it’s very much a slow burn—and the characters have a bit more pressing matters to focus their attention on—so you may find yourself waiting a while for anything super official. If you can be patient, or enjoy plot outside of romance, go ahead and give it a read!
More In-Depth Review (Warning: Spoilers!)
Marionetta is one of those diamond-in-the-rough webtoons that actually has a super unique and engaging premise. It features an incredible art style, fantastic character designs, and a plot that just keeps getting better and better. I loved being thrown into a mysterious and uncertain plot, with a little bit of an enemies-to-lovers trope.
While there wasn’t necessarily a ton of bad blood between Julia and Sahed, they were clearly on different playing fields to start. I absolutely loved how Sahed’s teasing slowly went from teasing a stubborn newbie to teasing the girl he likes! It’s such a cute development and I really like how these two characters come to understand each other as the story progresses.
That’s why I decided to review this comic: The romance is more of a subplot, but the connection, trust, and understanding that builds between two characters that originally had totally different morals just really feels sincere and exciting!
Also, Sahed is such a well written character. He’s realistically angry at society, and makes some pretty rash decisions because of that. However, his reasons for doing so are totally justified. I liked that his character doesn’t just take things lying down, even when the odds are against him. He may make some crazy choices, but he’s got a good heart.
When he isn’t fighting for his rights, he is very cool and a bit of a smooth talker. His character is the perfect contrast against Julia’s more uptight personality, but they end up being equally passionate about their beliefs. I really like their relationship because of this!
Overall, this story is just so incredibly engaging and tons of fun to read. How will Tonny solve Julia’s contract problem? Will he end up dead somehow? I personally hope not, as I actually really like his character. However, I’m unsure if he’ll truly be able to save Julia. Just another thing to keep you holding your breath while reading this series!
First it was Julia’s stubborn personality, then it was the discovery of what the Ah’Kon go through. The fear of the characters being discovered in the circus just keeps you sucked into the story, and each plot twist just makes the story even more exciting. Fantastic writing, through and through!
Final Thoughts
Marionetta is a fantastic webtoon that you won’t want to miss out on. It’s full of mystery, action, suspense, character growth, and of course, some romance! It has such an exciting plot and a colorful art style, and is a total gem of a comic!
*Warning for new readers…this story has left off at two seasons, and is on an exciting cliffhanger! If you’re impatient, maybe wait until the series is completed to begin reading.
Disclaimer: Any images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Miriam Bonastre Tur. Marionetta, Webtoon, 2022.
