'Watersnakes' with art and story by Tony Sandoval is a weirdly beautiful book, but somewhere along the way lost coherence for me.

Mila is a loner. One day during summer vacation she meets a strange girl named Agnes. She is attracted to Agnes, but Agnes is a ghost who has a mouth full of teeth that used to be the guardian warriors of a king. Mila follows Agnes on a quest to return a strange octopus back to the sea and fight off other evil.

The book has a sort of dreamlike look and story, and if I'd been able to stay in that place, I might have liked the book a bit more. I think the story loses it's way, then tries to be more important than it is. Still, that art by Tony Sandoval is probably better than anything else I've seen him do, and that's saying something.

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

Watersnakes features beautiful artwork and a subtle story that builds to a fascinating climax, featuring strong fantasy elements and a bridge between our world and one of magic. I love the artistic style - it’s both subtle and incredible detailed, tending toward a darker feel for the novel.

I didn’t know much about this book or the author going into it, but thought the title and the cover made it seem like I’d love the illustrations and the creepy vibe the cover gives off. It’s true that I loved the Illustrations and there definitely was a creepy vibe throughout that kept me interested initially. Unfortunately this overall didn’t impress me. I wanted to love it, but the story and the characters just lost my attention. Then there were some truly odd details included that just left me confused and weirded out. I wouldn’t overlook the author in the future, however, I probably wouldn’t have such high hopes like I did going into this one.

This was a very odd and creepy graphic novel, but the art was AMAZING! I loved the facial expressions and movement the illustrations portrayed. Definitely need a hard copy for my shelf!

Perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Watersnakes by Tony Sandoval is a brilliant and strange tale that will keep you asking what was real and what wasn't.

The illustrations were gorgeous and the story was very unique. I enjoyed it so much although some parts were a bit confusing at first.

This graphic novel is honestly a bit trippy, but that’s definitely the style and the intention. And I will fully admit that when I read graphic novels, I’m all about the artwork, and I LOVE the style of the artwork in this book. Some parts of the story were … strange and a little disturbing (for instance, there’s a bit of a weird tooth fetish thing going on that I didn’t quite understand—and an army of teeth creatures that … yeah, I’m not sure). Still, I found myself compelled to keep reading, and while I was sometimes confused and a little disturbed I was entranced by the story. Definitely an upper/mature YA graphic novel, though. If you like dark and creepy and a little bit weird, you’ll definitely be a fan.

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

I haven’t really read a lot of graphic novels for me to evaluate the true merits of this book. However, from the standpoint of a consumer I would say that I enjoy the story towards the very end.

At the start of the story I did not have a clear idea of what each character stands for. However, as the story unfolds things began to reveal itself. The illustration is somehow unique as well, not a typical comic book I’ve seen before.

I chose this book because I wanted to explore Mexican literature, and I must say I had a general first good impression after all.
I loved this story, it's both quirky and disturbing but also sweet in some way, very emotional and there's a lot of introspection. It also made me feel very sad though, but in a good way - it was more a sort of empathy or melancholy rather than true sadness.
But I feel a little bit mocked. I was truly being interested and captured in a special way by the lesbian or questioning plot behind the paranormal/horror one, it was described with a particular gentleness and softness which are honestly not common at all. Hence the reason why the final part and the octopus' story didn't satisfy me. At the end I found myself a bit disappointed.
I loved the coloring too, but I must say I'm not a huge fan of this kind of traits. The general styling looks a bit childish, whilst the story is a very deep one, so a little bit more of accuracy would have been more appropriate. Some panels are freaking scary, perfect for someone who is in a mood for a creepy reading.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the author for a free preview of the book.

A tentative queer romance entangled, dreamlike, with magic and mystery, where an octopus can be a prince and a girl's teeth his soldiers? This should be right up my street, especially when the art recalls Dave McKean, Shaun Tan and whoever illustrated that picture book Elena Ferrante did. But while the animals and landscapes are gorgeous, the people have such stick limbs and round heads that they seem off-puttingly anorexic. Also, I think the Netgalley file may have been missing some pages early on, though TBH the story didn't become noticeably more linear once that stopped.

Creepy and odd and lovely art about sums up this story of girls, teeth warriors and a magic distant shore octopus.

Thank you to the publisher for extending an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"Watersnakes" is about a girl named Mila, who rides down to the river one day and meets Agnes. The two girls become fast friends. Mila is intrigued by Agnes' teeth and all of her wild stories. After an incident occurs between them, Mila finds out from Agnes' brother, Julien, that Agnes has actually been dead for 11 years.

I'll be honest - I picked up this graphic novel because I loved the cover artwork. I wasn't sure what to expect from Tony Sandoval as I've never read his previous work, but I was incredibly impressed with his artwork. This is a beautiful book. The characters have large heads with thin bodies and spindly arms and legs. The color palette is often black and white with other neutral tones, then you'll be shocked with a bright spot of color. The style emphasizes the idea that sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish between dreams and reality. Some of the scenes are quite visceral and disconcerting.

I would give this book a solid 4 stars. I found some parts of the story to be confusing and lacking in development, but overall, I found the concept eerie, unexpected, and magical, and the artwork was mesmerizing.

This book was unique. There are somethings that I am a little confused about but the art work and everything else is amazing. I loved how you are just pulled into the book. I definitely want to read more books set in this world

Page 1 reaction – dayum! This is gonna be good.
The artwork is gorgeous. It’s like an ethereal watercolor anime.
Mila is the hero in all of us. The weird hero but still the hero.
I really hope we get to see more adventure of Mila and Agnes.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This dark fairy tale is so haunting, I know it will stay with me for years to come. The simple obsession Mila has with Agnes's teeth was an incredible trick in the story. The art is beautiful and luminous. I was stunned to the last page. Fans of Neil Gaiman and Shaun Tan will find a great deal to love here.

Well, that was gloriously fucked up & beautiful at the same time. Stunning artwork, WTF storyline with a little bit of girl on girl curiosity.

*Digital review copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

The artwork in this book is AMAZING! It was both dark and whimsical at the same time. That said, the story left me confused for the most part, and it seemed like the book was just leaping to the different plot points without having much to connect them. Also, what was up with explaining away the romance between the two female characters with something as lame as the prince being inside Agnes?? Come on!

I loved the artwork in this graphic novel, it’s what made me interested in reviewing it. Unfortunately I don’t think the story was on par with the illustrations. I’d say about 70% of the book leaves the reader pretty much in the dark about what’s going on and when you do get to the back story it’s so rushed and crammed into such a small portion of the book that you’re left feeling like it didn’t really explain anything at all. If it weren’t for the beautiful imagery I’d think it was a waste of the half hour or so I spent reading it which is a shame because I do feel like the story has potential but in the end it feels unfinished. Unfortunately this one was not for me.

Wow what a crazy ride that was! So strange, definitely never read anything like that! Read it all in one go. To be honest I didn't even realise I'd requested a graphic novel until I started reading it, but I gave it a go. The illustrations were incredible, I love the style of them!
The story was really far-fetched, and some of the gory strange illustrations weirded me out, but I'm pleased I finally read a graphic novel.

Are you looking for an incredibly dark and gothic lesbian graphic novel? Well here you go!

This is one of the hardest reviews to write. It's so hard to put into words what this graphic novel is about because the story is mostly told through the beautiful gothic and macabre art style. Let's try... We are following a young girl named Mila who one Summer has a run in with a pretty girl named Agnes and the reader is immediately aware that something isn't right. I'll be honest, I WAS CONFUSED AS FORK probably %60 of the way through but then we encounter a plot twist and the puzzle pieces started coming together and you know what I did after finishing? I re-read it. Immediately. With my new found knowledge, I began to understand the things that were happening. Is this a cute love story? NOOO! This is dark and bloody and verging on the edge of horror. Some panels were absolutely bone chilling!

Is there world building? No. Are there backstories for characters? Not really.

but as a whole, this graphic novel is its own genre. A standalone unfortunately which I find hard accepting so I'll be keeping my fingers crosses for another volume.

I love the artwork! The story is surreal, disturbing and poignant. The artwork is beautiful, delicate, surreal and extremely competent. My only quibble is with the large heads on the protagonists, something that initially made my reluctant to even look.