'Water Memory' by Mathieu Reynes with art by Valerie Vernay is about a young girl living in a strange new place and the secrets she finds.

Marion and her mother move in to an old family house that her mother has inherited. It seems like a new start of sorts, and there are lots of things to explore. Marion finds weird carvings on the cliffs and in the caves by the sea. There is a lighthouse, but the lighthouse keeper is kind of a loner. When Marion gets stuck at the lighthouse when the tide comes in, the keeper saves her, but is gruff. What is the secret he holds and why are the townspeople not talking to him?

I liked this kind of slow moving tale. The characters were interesting, and even though I kind of knew where the story was going, I still enjoyed the journey. The art is very nice and in an afterword the creators talk about how they modeled things on real places.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lion Forge, Diamond Book Distributor, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This book tells the story of a family who has to move to a small village.

The art's pretty, however, that doesn't make the book enjoyable.

I wasn't able to care for the characters or story, everything felt bland.

Rating: 1 star

While I LOVED the art and story, I felt like there was more to tell. It started off so strongly but then the ending felt rushed and opened up more questions than gave answers. That being said, the details, coloring and emotions of the characters/art/story were amazing and I enjoyed the book for that reason alone. But I'm unsure who I would give this book to. Overall, I am very happy I was able to read it.

I enjoyed this graphic novel. Marion's Mother is returning to her childhood home on the coast of France. Marion enjoys exploring the beach and befriends the local lighthouse keeper. Underneath the water however there lurks a dark family secret. The artwork is good and fits the story. The story holds you attention but the ending could have been better. Enjoy this easy to read spooky story

Spooky! When something starts with someone moving to a big old house unused for a long time you expect that something's going to happen. And when you have the kid wandering about, even more.
Despite its intentions of being a spooky story, the drawings and the nice people Marion and her mother encounter in town made this comic very warming for me.

Loved this graphic novel about a young girl who stumbles upon the mysterious legend that plagues her village.

The watercolor art of this graphic novel was interesting and new to me. Unfortunately, I found the story predictable and much of Marion's dialogue tells us what she is doing instead of letting the pictures/art tell the story. Not much new here.

I loved the first two thirds of this book: the slow, atmospheric build-up, the promise of ancient familial curses and supernatural forces. These things are great fodder for graphic novels. I even loved the art style. What I didn't love was the final third. It was a bit of a let down. to go from a slow metered release of information to suddenly dumping revelations in a letter felt like a cheat.

It seems like a lot of stories targeted at younger readers start off with a move, and this one follows suit. This isn't a bad plot device because it can speak to the isolation that people feel at times. Water Memory is a little different in that the characters are moving back to somewhere familiar rather than away from something else (albeit the daughter never visited this town before).

I like the emphasis on family that permeates this book. It gives the main character, Marion, a connection to this place and drives her to explore. There is a little mystery that comes along with her exploration. It helps move the story along, but didn't seem overly important to the whole work. Instead, there is a focus on the characters, especially showing how they integrate into this new lifestyle and interact with the people there. The stories that are shared and the attitudes of the characters give it the feel of a small town.

The imagery is wonderful, particular the landscapes and background pieces. I could feel it when the storm hits because of how beautifully the art is done. There is a little bit of the fantastical or supernatural that creeps into the story too. The art helps hold the line on this until well into the book, giving hints of what is to come without showing off too early.

A cute little story with decent art. Marion and her mother inherit a little place on the ocean. Marion eventually comes across a local legend about a cursed family and monsters of the deep. But will she find out the stories are true?

I love a good, spooky story, and if it's a good, spooky graphic novel that I can share with my library kiddos, even better. Marion's mom inherited an old family house. It's got a private beach and overlooks the ocean. It's too good to be true, right? Right. Marion discovers some strange rock carvings and that a chilling local legend may be coming to life. The artwork is beautiful, and the translation from the original French to English is seamless.

This graphic novel was such a joy to read! The art is both mystic and cute, and the story is so captivating that I was on the edge of my seat by the end.

Marion and her mother inherit an old house, complete with a private beach. While they expect to have a good life at their new home, Marion soon finds strange rock carvings, a creepy lighthouse watchman and discovers local legends that seem to be coming to life.

This graphic novel is translated from the French, and Valerie's art is lovely and full of details. The end of the book also includes notes from the author and artist, and sketches of the character design and the world-building after trips to Brittany for inspiration.

Marion is a curious little girl, exploring the area around her house, the stones with faces that were set up, and even trying to go to the lighthouse despite stories from the villagers about the watchman. The story unfolds steadily, and we learn more about the village and its history.

It's a simple overall story, in that there are no subplots and not too many characters to really complicate things. The focus is on Marion and the steps she takes to learn more about the village legends, and in the process we do, too. The book is likely to appeal to middle-grade readers as well as adults interested in the supernatural.

I really enjoyed this. The translation was well done, I didn't even realize it was originally in another's language until the end. I don't know if Lovecraft was an inspiration for the author but the mystical aspects were similar to the kind of maritime lore in his stories. The heart of the story is universal with questions about family past, struggles with breakdowns in families and uncertainty about the future. The art brought the ocean and the town to life beautifully.

wasn't able to figure out how to open the attachment to read this graphic novel.

Water Memory tells the story of Marion, a young girl whose mother brings her to her hometown to live in her childhood home after Marion's grandmother passes away and leaves the house to them. Marion begins to find sculptures of bizarre faces around the island, that she's told have roots in an old town legend about sea creatures and a curse. When Marion befriends the old lighthouse keeper, Virgil, she learns that some curses aren't just legends after all.

This graphic novel has such a lovely and gentle art style, and the story is just one of those short, fun reads that would perfectly suit anyone who likes stories about urban legends and curses.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lion Forge for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The story in this graphic novel was enjoyable enough, though the ending was a bit predictable. The artwork, however, made me think of Lilo & Stitch, which made it seem a little too cute for some of the darker themes presented throughout the story.

Water Memory: Because the ocean is redundantly frightening and super scary

If I were given the choice, between drowning in the ocean and decompressing in the vacuum of space, I would select space. Both are essentially the same, the removal of breathable material. They are different in how they are experienced and the details of timing or physical effects, but in space, my corpse would not be nibbled at by creatures. I have never been able to pinpoint why this creeps me out so much as worms and land creatures do not bother me.

The ocean contains monsters we have never even seen, monsters that hold grudges.
(Can you tell I grew up in a landlocked area? Is it that obvious?)

Water Memory (Mathieu Reynes, Valerie Vernay)
Translated by Jeremy Melloul
108 pages
Lion Forge
ISBN-10: 1941302432
ISBN-13: 978-1941302439

Marion and her mother Caroline move to a small coastal town, reviving the inherited house of Marion's deceased grandmother. The house sits in a beautiful location, set atop a hill overlooking the quaint town and the ocean.

While happy to be with her mother, Marion is disjointed. Supporting her mother, she left her friends behind and moves. With only her mother available to speak to, she is surrounded by strangers. Her cast aside father left to his new trophy wife. Marion never met her grandmother, only knowing her mother has a resemblance because the townsfolk all take a second glance and comment about her appearance. Her grandfather is dead, drowned at sea like so many other townsfolk in this fishing community.

Marion feels very alone.

Marion explores her new home. She goes swimming in the cold sea, hiking on the cliff side and country, and wanders the town. Carved on rocks overlooking the bay, Marion begins to identify strange carvings of ominous looking faces. Each carving includes cryptic initials and a calendar year. When she finds the same artwork on the town fountain, she begins to question the intent of these markers.

The community feels warm and welcoming, with no malice or ill will in the air. The exception being some strange vibes coming off the mysterious lighthouse keeper and carvings found strewn about which are vaguely reminiscent of Cthulu (insert ominous music to match). Through reading, I would take Marion to be about nine years old. She is inquisitive and resourceful.

Marion doesn't focus solely on occult-ish looking inscriptions. She has a tie to the past in her grand parents that she is also investigating. She is anxious for a connection with these well-loved individuals, filling a gap where no relationship has existed. While all she needs is her mom, she needs to explore more than just the landscape of her new home. Marion is trying to redefine herself in this new world where she resides both physically and emotionally.

This graphic novel was outstanding. I would say it is the best of the year, but anyone who reads Europe comics would blow smoke in my face and laugh at the delay my late arrival to the party.

Originally released under the Europe comics title 'la Mémoire l’eau' this graphic novel, translated from French, is both heartfelt and engaging. While the original French edition was released in 2014, it was not until this month that the English translation through Lion Forge became available.

The story by Reynes and the graphics by Vernay are beautifully crafted and you can tell by the content that this was a labor of love to bring to life. Each cell is precise in presentation and has a specific purpose. This wastes no time and leaves the reader engages in all ways.

At the end of the graphic novel, there is an author/artist section with some notations dictating their love of the work. They were careful to leave the mystery of the ocean intact and focus more on the entity of water than on any entity inside the water. I think this is wise as the ocean is a frightening beast in its own right and the unknown can serve an artist well.

The 2017 translation crafted by Jeremy Melloul is excellent, leaving no iffy descriptions or phrasing which feels incomplete. I trust that it stays true to the original text as it appeared flawless from the English perspective.

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Disclosure: This graphic novel was provided to me for review purposes by the publisher. While I thank them for the access to such a fine product, I must also criticize them for failing to do so via telepathy. I expect that all organizations on the planet are secretly working towards teleportation and telepathy. If this is not the case, I will one day, using someone else's great achievements, teleport the publisher's offices and telepathically lambast them for failing to work on these marvelous breakthrough actions alongside the rest of us. Between now and then, I shall continue to review their work honestly as this is the only way my feelings can be dictated.

After her parents split, Marion moved with her mom to her mom's hometown, the sight is great, everything is calm and they have a private part of the beach.
Marion went on exploring the place, that's where she noticed the presence of strange carved stones with initials and a date.
Why did her granny move away from such a wonderful place after her gan'pa died? and What secrets is that lighthouse hiding?
It was a great read, but I felt like more developement was needed, it ended very fast for me!

Thanks Netgalley for the copy!

The story is about a young girl named Marion. She has moved with her mother to live in her grandparents' home. Marion discovers a local legend and looks into it. What is this legend? She finds herself involved in discovering the truth of the legend. The legend includes a curse. What is the curse?

This is an intriguing story. There are secrets and mysteries, but also discoveries. It is a tale that I found intriguing. There are some twists and turns that made the story even more enjoyable. It is unusual in that the author didn't give it a happy ending. It's an excellent story.