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Daughter of a Thousand Faces #1
Daughter of a Thousand Faces: Volume 1
From the most disappointing daughter in her family to the disciple of the world’s most infamous demon . . . The Eisner Award-nominated webcomic by Velinxi is now available in print for the first time.
Shen Yuhua is the disgrace of her clan. She inherited none of her immortal father’s powers, she’s been rejected by more than twenty suitors, and her mother was executed for treason. With no one but her bumbling servant Swallowtail on her side, Yuhua seems destined to live in shame and obscurity.
Her world turns upside down when she encounters Chu Tian, the fearsome Demon with a Thousand Faces—and accidentally frees him from the abyss where her father imprisoned him decades ago. Even worse, she’s forced to become his disciple. Can Yuhua finally develop powers that will make her a warrior worthy of the Shen name, or will her new teacher become her greatest downfall?
Volume 1 collects episodes 1-20 of the Tapas webcomic Daughter of a Thousand Faces.
Shen Yuhua is the disgrace of her clan. She inherited none of her immortal father’s powers, she’s been rejected by more than twenty suitors, and her mother was executed for treason. With no one but her bumbling servant Swallowtail on her side, Yuhua seems destined to live in shame and obscurity.
Her world turns upside down when she encounters Chu Tian, the fearsome Demon with a Thousand Faces—and accidentally frees him from the abyss where her father imprisoned him decades ago. Even worse, she’s forced to become his disciple. Can Yuhua finally develop powers that will make her a warrior worthy of the Shen name, or will her new teacher become her greatest downfall?
Volume 1 collects episodes 1-20 of the Tapas webcomic Daughter of a Thousand Faces.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published August 25, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
September 15, 2026
daughter of a thousand faces is velinxi's best yet. there was so much worldbuilding, family drama, intriguing relationship dynamics, and fun action sequences on top of the stunning and expressive art. the humor was right up my alley and i loved the small bits of references to memes. as an artist who's been following her since her early tumblr days, it was such a treat seeing how dotf came to be and how it was almost a visual novel (a visual novel by velinxi would rock btw). i can't wait for future volumes!
Want to Read
March 15, 2026i love velinxi's artwork with a thousand passions. i also love her storytelling with a thousand passions.
so i'm basically a daughter with a thousand faces too, all of them painted in adoration of velinxi
so i'm basically a daughter with a thousand faces too, all of them painted in adoration of velinxi
September 28, 2026
Shen Yuhua is the disgrace of her clan. Her mother was executed for treason, she didn't inherit any of her immortal father's powers, and she's been rejected by twenty suitors. Her twenty-first suitor is it - there won't be any more chances after this one...and unfortunately this meeting goes badly as well. In a moment of despair, she falls into the Abyssal Well, the same place her mother was sent to die. Supposedly, anyone who makes it out of there will become stronger than they were before, but no one has ever made it out.
Until Yuhua, that is. But she has a secret she doesn't dare reveal to anyone: she only made it out with the help of Chu Tian, the Demon with a Thousand Faces. The two of them are now bound to each other by a blood pact that makes Yuhua Chu Tian's disciple.
Velinxi's art is gorgeous. Chu Tian's design reminded me a bit of Velinxi's designs for LBH and his father in the US editions of MXTX's Scum Villain's Self Saving System, so I occasionally felt like I was reading some kind of SVSSS AU starring LBH's dad. Not necessarily a bad thing.
There are lots of intriguing bits and pieces here. There's Swallowtail, Yuhua's devoted servant who's hiding things about himself from her and also interfering in her life more than she realizes. There's Chu Tian, obviously - everyone says he's evil, and he definitely isn't trustworthy, but for most of the volume he feels more mischievous than villainous...which could simply be a ruse to get Yuhua to let her guard down. Then there was Yuhua's father - even Chu Tian seemed more trustworthy to me.
I'm very much looking forward to the next volume.
Extras:
An author's note and several pages devoted to the evolution of this series, which was originally planned to be an RPG Maker game.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Until Yuhua, that is. But she has a secret she doesn't dare reveal to anyone: she only made it out with the help of Chu Tian, the Demon with a Thousand Faces. The two of them are now bound to each other by a blood pact that makes Yuhua Chu Tian's disciple.
Velinxi's art is gorgeous. Chu Tian's design reminded me a bit of Velinxi's designs for LBH and his father in the US editions of MXTX's Scum Villain's Self Saving System, so I occasionally felt like I was reading some kind of SVSSS AU starring LBH's dad. Not necessarily a bad thing.
There are lots of intriguing bits and pieces here. There's Swallowtail, Yuhua's devoted servant who's hiding things about himself from her and also interfering in her life more than she realizes. There's Chu Tian, obviously - everyone says he's evil, and he definitely isn't trustworthy, but for most of the volume he feels more mischievous than villainous...which could simply be a ruse to get Yuhua to let her guard down. Then there was Yuhua's father - even Chu Tian seemed more trustworthy to me.
I'm very much looking forward to the next volume.
Extras:
An author's note and several pages devoted to the evolution of this series, which was originally planned to be an RPG Maker game.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
September 1, 2026
4.5 ⭐️
As a huge fan of Velinxi and xianxia in general, this was such a delight to read. The art is beautiful, the action is fun and the story is very well paced, so it grabbed me from the first page. The character dynamics are interesting, especially the master/disciple (possibly, father/daughter) relationship between Yuhua and Chu Tian, which is as dark as it is funny and I'm living for it. The side characters are very well written as well, so I can't wait to learn more about Swallowtail, Leng Feng and more about Yuhua's family.
My only complaint is the amount of pages that have nothing but text on them, telling me what happened, instead of showing me because, you know... this is a comic. I think it's fine to have panels with just text in them sometimes, but I did find it quite excessive in this case and it kept throwing me off.
That being said, I can't wait for Vol. 2 because I devoured this!
As a huge fan of Velinxi and xianxia in general, this was such a delight to read. The art is beautiful, the action is fun and the story is very well paced, so it grabbed me from the first page. The character dynamics are interesting, especially the master/disciple (possibly, father/daughter) relationship between Yuhua and Chu Tian, which is as dark as it is funny and I'm living for it. The side characters are very well written as well, so I can't wait to learn more about Swallowtail, Leng Feng and more about Yuhua's family.
My only complaint is the amount of pages that have nothing but text on them, telling me what happened, instead of showing me because, you know... this is a comic. I think it's fine to have panels with just text in them sometimes, but I did find it quite excessive in this case and it kept throwing me off.
That being said, I can't wait for Vol. 2 because I devoured this!
August 27, 2026
*4.5-5
September 21, 2026
so so so so good!! i was introduced to velenxi via her artwork with svsss so i already knew this was going to eat. the story itself was so fun and all of the characters have fun dynamics with each other. i especially love the way shen yuhua and chu tian interact with each other and i xant wait to watch it develop more and more. also i just love chu tian, he’s such a little shit lmao
Review of advance copy
I read this on tapas and absolutely loved it! It’s the main reason I kept the tapas app.
Read
October 6, 2026"A boon, for my little victor. If you survive this ... I shall accept you as my newest disciple." — Demon of a Thousand Faces, Chu Tian
After being condemned to a mortal life, Shen Yuhua loses both her status in the clan and her mother in quick succession. The only value she has left to her immortal father is to marry well, but Shen Yuhua manages to fail even that and scares off over twenty suitors.
Despairing, Shen Yuhua throws herself into the abyss for a chance for power, only to accidentally free the dangerous demon her father sealed in there more than half a century ago: the Demon of a Thousand Faces, Chu Tian. Even worse, after surviving a battle royale between the demons stuck in the abyss, she must become Chu Tian's disciple, otherwise both of them will perish. With no other choice, Shen Yuhua must become stronger while keeping her new two-faced demon mentor a secret.
◆ Xianxia-style Chinese Fantasy Setting
◆ Mentor/Disciple Dynamic
◆ Found Family & Sibling Bonds
◆ Action & Intrigue & Martial Arts
◆ Gorgeous Full Colour Art!!! 😍
FIRST OFF, I am absolutely soooo in love with the stunning art style, every single panel is utterly delicious and even the backgrounds are crazy detailed!!! The FMC is so cute, with all her funny expressions and half a dozen unique outfits. I also love the beautiful designs of every character, from her siblings to her servant to the new visiting disciples!
The pacing of the webcomic is fast and furious, and we are quickly introduced to many loveable characters who each have their own little quirks. I enjoyed seeing the different relationships between the FMC with her siblings, friends and mentor, along with how they evolved over the course of the plot (which is sometimes much darker than I expected 🫣 ). I also love the worldbuilding and have so many questions about everyone's motives, especially those of the FMC's father! Not to mention the absolutely brutal cliffhanger?! 😳
If you love Chinese-inspired fantasy, an entertaining cast and beautiful art, then Daughter of a Thousand Faces is a must-read! I can't wait for the next volume!!!
After being condemned to a mortal life, Shen Yuhua loses both her status in the clan and her mother in quick succession. The only value she has left to her immortal father is to marry well, but Shen Yuhua manages to fail even that and scares off over twenty suitors.
Despairing, Shen Yuhua throws herself into the abyss for a chance for power, only to accidentally free the dangerous demon her father sealed in there more than half a century ago: the Demon of a Thousand Faces, Chu Tian. Even worse, after surviving a battle royale between the demons stuck in the abyss, she must become Chu Tian's disciple, otherwise both of them will perish. With no other choice, Shen Yuhua must become stronger while keeping her new two-faced demon mentor a secret.
◆ Xianxia-style Chinese Fantasy Setting
◆ Mentor/Disciple Dynamic
◆ Found Family & Sibling Bonds
◆ Action & Intrigue & Martial Arts
◆ Gorgeous Full Colour Art!!! 😍
FIRST OFF, I am absolutely soooo in love with the stunning art style, every single panel is utterly delicious and even the backgrounds are crazy detailed!!! The FMC is so cute, with all her funny expressions and half a dozen unique outfits. I also love the beautiful designs of every character, from her siblings to her servant to the new visiting disciples!
The pacing of the webcomic is fast and furious, and we are quickly introduced to many loveable characters who each have their own little quirks. I enjoyed seeing the different relationships between the FMC with her siblings, friends and mentor, along with how they evolved over the course of the plot (which is sometimes much darker than I expected 🫣 ). I also love the worldbuilding and have so many questions about everyone's motives, especially those of the FMC's father! Not to mention the absolutely brutal cliffhanger?! 😳
If you love Chinese-inspired fantasy, an entertaining cast and beautiful art, then Daughter of a Thousand Faces is a must-read! I can't wait for the next volume!!!
Review of advance copy
I knew about this comic for a couple of months because I am a huge fan of the authors other fan works posted on social media. I was super excited to buy a copy once it got released and I was not disappointed in the slightest.
This comic has a great underdog fmc with a lovable supportive cast. What really caught my attention though was the found family dynamic between Yuhua and Chu Tian. I am a hugeee sucker for father daughter relationships especially when they aren’t blood related and especially when they originally want nothing to do with one another. It’s one of those dynamics where they start off indifferent towards each other - dare I say even hateful - then as the story progresses it turns into “oh crap I actually care about this train wreck” at least on one side.
I did have one issue with it that being the fact that a lot of the story is written in text, rather than shown thrown illustrations but honestly this is such a non issue and it’s more of a writing style choice that it didn’t affect my reading experience at all. When I found out that this comic originated from Tapas and had more chapters there I happily spent another 20$ to catch up to the latest chapter and I’m so so glad I did.
If you like action with actual realistic impact, I highly highly recommend this series. Because really, if you’re getting jumped in a cave and watching people kill each other willy nilly, you’re gonna have ptsd and nightmares from it especially if you almost die. Nothing gets brushed aside and the impacts actually feel like they make a difference. I’m so excited to follow this series and I’m highly looking forward to the physical copy of volume 2!
Seriously. Read. This. Comic.
This comic has a great underdog fmc with a lovable supportive cast. What really caught my attention though was the found family dynamic between Yuhua and Chu Tian. I am a hugeee sucker for father daughter relationships especially when they aren’t blood related and especially when they originally want nothing to do with one another. It’s one of those dynamics where they start off indifferent towards each other - dare I say even hateful - then as the story progresses it turns into “oh crap I actually care about this train wreck” at least on one side.
I did have one issue with it that being the fact that a lot of the story is written in text, rather than shown thrown illustrations but honestly this is such a non issue and it’s more of a writing style choice that it didn’t affect my reading experience at all. When I found out that this comic originated from Tapas and had more chapters there I happily spent another 20$ to catch up to the latest chapter and I’m so so glad I did.
If you like action with actual realistic impact, I highly highly recommend this series. Because really, if you’re getting jumped in a cave and watching people kill each other willy nilly, you’re gonna have ptsd and nightmares from it especially if you almost die. Nothing gets brushed aside and the impacts actually feel like they make a difference. I’m so excited to follow this series and I’m highly looking forward to the physical copy of volume 2!
Seriously. Read. This. Comic.
September 5, 2026
I wanted to like this, but the RPG style artwork (the author mentions the concept and design were originally for an RPG game) created an emotional distance from the characters that just made me bored by them. Additionally, the panel orders were hard to follow. It seemed like sometimes I was meant to read from the top right panel down to the bottom right and then up to the top left panel and down again. Other times, I was meant to read from right top to left top, then right middle to left middle, etc. There didn't seem to be any order; rather, it was like a hodgepodge of Western and Japanese style panel orientation and it made it quite annoying to read and keep up with the storyline.
Additionally, there were a lot of places of straight narrative paragraphs with no clear reason why. Were those scenes too difficult to draw, was there an issue of pagination limits, or was it just plain laziness?
I could continue but I don't want to needlessly bash the author. She states at the end notes that the book went through several iterations planned for several different purposes and formats before it wound up as the final product and I'm sad to say that lack of purpose SHOWS.
Additionally, there were a lot of places of straight narrative paragraphs with no clear reason why. Were those scenes too difficult to draw, was there an issue of pagination limits, or was it just plain laziness?
I could continue but I don't want to needlessly bash the author. She states at the end notes that the book went through several iterations planned for several different purposes and formats before it wound up as the final product and I'm sad to say that lack of purpose SHOWS.
October 26, 2026
Read more graphic novel reviews at The Graphic Library.
This is a stunning, hefty graphic novel full of beautiful illustrations that readers are going to want to take their time with. Many pages of Velinxi's work include paragraphs full of rich descriptions, emotional connections, and scenery information that portions of this book read closer to a visual novel. There is lots of humor sprinkled throughout, and Yuhan's reactions to Chu Tian's goading are hilarious. Velinxi has given hints to several little mysteries that readers will want to uncover in addition to becoming invested in Yuhan's journey and familial struggle. This is a beautiful introduction to a series that will definitely appeal to readers who appreciate stories with a setting drawing inspiration from Ancient China and similar mythologies, such as The Apothecary Diaries.
Inklore rates this book for Teen+ (ages 16+). There is some violence and one suggestive panel.
Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12
This review was made possible with a copy from the publisher.
This is a stunning, hefty graphic novel full of beautiful illustrations that readers are going to want to take their time with. Many pages of Velinxi's work include paragraphs full of rich descriptions, emotional connections, and scenery information that portions of this book read closer to a visual novel. There is lots of humor sprinkled throughout, and Yuhan's reactions to Chu Tian's goading are hilarious. Velinxi has given hints to several little mysteries that readers will want to uncover in addition to becoming invested in Yuhan's journey and familial struggle. This is a beautiful introduction to a series that will definitely appeal to readers who appreciate stories with a setting drawing inspiration from Ancient China and similar mythologies, such as The Apothecary Diaries.
Inklore rates this book for Teen+ (ages 16+). There is some violence and one suggestive panel.
Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12
This review was made possible with a copy from the publisher.
September 20, 2026
Oh I reallyyyyy liked this! It was almost part graphic novel part light novel, and the story had me eating this up! I love the complicated dynamics at play and how everyone has secrets they’re keeping from one another. Also who doesn’t love a troublesome demon amiright? Not to mention the art is stunning, each page is a feast for the eyes and I was so sad when I realized I had reached the end. Consider me invested because I’m ready for volume 2!!
September 25, 2026
Rating: 4.5 stars
An amazing underdog story filled with so much character depth! I loved how the characters were rarely who they seemed to be, which made me even more intrigued by their backstories and motivations. There are secrets, mystery, and family drama. Honestly, there are so many layers to uncover, and I am here for all of it!
I was completely invested in the story and the characters, and I can’t wait to continue this series!
An amazing underdog story filled with so much character depth! I loved how the characters were rarely who they seemed to be, which made me even more intrigued by their backstories and motivations. There are secrets, mystery, and family drama. Honestly, there are so many layers to uncover, and I am here for all of it!
I was completely invested in the story and the characters, and I can’t wait to continue this series!
Review of advance copy
The artwork is lovely in this - the colors are rich and vibrant. A fun entry into the Xianxia genre, this story is a fantasy mixed with Chinese mythology and classic culture. Perfect for fans of Xianxia, or those just discovering it for the first time, volume 1 of Daughter of a Thousand Faces is delightful.
(Thanks to Inklore/PRH for providing a galley to my work for review.)
(Thanks to Inklore/PRH for providing a galley to my work for review.)
August 31, 2026
dont even joke lad i was there when dotf was just a series of art pieces of swallowtail and then doodles with yuhua and chu tian.. i was there waiting for the first webcomic episode to drop and i was there actually paying for tapas ink for once in order to read weekly DONT JOKEEEE ive been waiting for this for so long I LOVE YOU VELINXI!!!!!! hoping to buy her merch at lightbox 2026 hehehe!!
October 30, 2026
What a fun read! I love when books pull you in and make reading fun again. I'm also a sucker for a good action fantasy featuring an underdog. I especially love it when women are depicted as capable, strong warriors. Looking forward to Volume 2!
Read
January 18, 2026Read this on tapas but goodreads is dumb and won't let me rate this one before August. lol.
Review of advance copy
READ IT TRUST ME!
THE STORY IS GREAT AND YOU WILL QUICKLY BE ATTACHED TO THE CHARACTERS
Shen Yuhua is my girl‼️
THE ART STYLE IS IMMACULATE.
I’m actually obsessed with it no lie
THE STORY IS GREAT AND YOU WILL QUICKLY BE ATTACHED TO THE CHARACTERS
Shen Yuhua is my girl‼️
THE ART STYLE IS IMMACULATE.
I’m actually obsessed with it no lie
Review of advance copy
shen yuhua zasługuje na wszystko co najlepsze
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
It's wuxia in a book. A pretty, pretty book.
August 22, 2026
art? exquisite. story? banger. i’m hooked. characters? absolutely so funny and interesting. i love velinxi, and my eyes are so blessed by her beautiful artwork.
August 30, 2026
I truly cannot wait for more so I'll probably start reading this one on Tapas now..... I love Swallowtail hhhhhhh
August 31, 2026
I’d like to find a way to break a blood pact.
September 3, 2026
I loved this so much!! Might even end up buying a copy.
October 15, 2026
Beautiful artwork and such a compelling story; really hoping there's a Volume 2 soon
October 25, 2026
I love you Swallowtail, I love you Chu Tian, please I need more!!
October 29, 2026
exceptionally good, and it’s only volume one?!?!
November 10, 2026
i really enjoyed spending time in this story.
thats honestly all i can ask for sometimes.
thats honestly all i can ask for sometimes.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews