This was a short but extremely powerful book. As a parent, I felt strongly for the protagonist and the emotional tumult throughout the book. In the end, it left me feeling good about life, but also thinking melancholy thoughts about some tragedies in my life.

A generous and hopeful look at the harrowing process of losing a child and rebuilding again with hope. Sad yet inspiring.

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. It was a very personal and emotional story about two women trying to have a child and I couldn't stop reading. The artwork was beautiful and heartbreaking. I'm thankful that Ingrid Chabbert decided to talk about such an important topic,

This graphic novel based on the author's own experience features a lesbian couple who faces infertility and infant loss. It is full of grief, yes, but above all, it focuses on the couple's love and how they rebuild. The artwork is wonderful, and I love the powerful way color/black & white is used throughout to highlight and/or invoke moods. A poignant, hopeful, and beautiful book.

This was an extremely moving graphic novel, and the authors note at the end really gave the book context (and broke my heart).

An absolutely beautiful book. I highly recommend this for anyone suffering miscarriage or fertility problems. It doesn’t hold back from pain or provide easy answers, but it does show a way through. Even if you don’t connect with it on a personal level, the artwork is beautiful - the technique of dropping out the colour and then gradually bringing it back in again is simple and clever.

This book was tragic, but also uplifting.

The main character writes about a miscarriage she had years ago and the pain she and her partner experienced. While describing her grief, the author uses metaphors about floating in an ocean and having the color drained from all life/personal interactions. The feelings are raw and even if you haven't had the same experience, its easy to relate to and have empathy for the characters. I would definitely recommend this to friends.

As it gets closer to the publication date, I will provide a more extended review.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Wow! What a stunningly beautiful and heart wrenching book. Ingrid Chabert has always impressed me with her writing and her range, but this goes beyond anything I would have asked for. This book is truly from the heart and is a work of art. This is a book that I want to read over and over again. The depth of emotion and the rawness of reality is present in every single page. Truly a stunning piece of work.

In Waves, a couple is trying to have a baby.  In the beginning, we learn that this is probably not their first foray into being pregnant.  In all of the tries before, the pregnancy has failed.  For some reason, this time it doesn't fail and we get to watch the happy couple prepare for their son.  Through a tragic experience, they lose their son and small pieces of themselves in turn.  The remained of the story focuses on how the women get through the pain and heartache of losing their child before they were able to get to know him, and how those feelings of loss and depression manifest and how to adapt those emotions into other ways can be productive to healing and acceptance.  This graphic novel is truly a beautiful work of art with a touching story that has affected and still affects so many people and couples. 

The art is what really drew me to this graphic novel.  It is colorful and simple, but still has a hint of whimsy or almost dreamlike quality.  The colors are mostly blues, greens, and grays, while there are some pops of red and warmer colors at times.  The illustrator did such a good job matching the art with the mood and actual storyline.  This story could have been told through the art alone and still be as powerful and moving as it was with the text.  Much of the art also does a fantastic job demonstrating things like depression and loss by using things like the ocean and drowning.  Sometimes, our emotions can seem to bury us or pull us under.  The metaphor used within the art here is so compelling and hard to turn away from.

I think that the subjects in this graphic novel alone --miscarriage, loss, and relationships-- are such important things to talk about and make light of.  All couples, no matter the gender or sex, deserve to be happy.  With that, all experiences between people such as miscarriage and living after a tragic loss, are just as important.  I liked that life after tragedy and getting through depression are central themes here that are discussed in a way that is soothing and introspective.  I hope that this book and the personal story attached to it can help others who have suffered through this sort of experience or need help to remember how to live and be happy afterward.

On Goodreads, I gave this graphic novel 5 stars because how could I not.  There were so many touching ideas and images in this book as well as a strong message of hope that made me feel so many emotions.  I didn't think I would get emotionally attached to the story and the characters because it was short, but I was so very wrong.  There are so many heavy emotions at the beginning but it is so well-balanced at the end with the hope and love.  This is so sweet and sad and touching and I think so many people should read this.  I genuinely loved reading it and falling to the story.

Losing a child is arguably the greatest pain a parent can experience. This is the heart-breaking reality of two women, trying to conceive a child, hopeful and frustrated all the same, finally getting the good news just to have the little solace they latched on be swept away from them with the stillbirth of their son. From there a gentle journey of regaining the courage to live again begins.

The illustrations are wonderful and they add a lot to the lyrical quality of the story. With the reiteration of fighting against the sea and a imagery dominated by the presence of the color red, turned black and white with the loss and slowly reclaiming its colors as the process of healing takes place, the book captures in an understanding, powerful way the turmoil consuming the two women. Through this incredibly harsh grief they have each other's support, of course, but also that of other parents with similar experiences, part of the therapy group they attend which showcases the importance of reaching out for help.

In the midst of all of the struggle, the need of change propels one of the two women to really turn her life around by commiting to being a writer. Writing has been an integral part in her process of recovery, a safe haven that offered her strength and peace, a tool used to both escape and unleash what she was feeling.

When waves keep coming at you and you find yourself lost in what seems to be an endless ocean of grief, mantaing yourself afloat, getting back to your boat, to your stability is a task that leaves you breathless almost every single day. But humans are resilient and despite the odds, despite what life throws at them they hope and rebuild. Ingrid Chabbert stands as proof of that and her sharing such a deeply personal story has the power of giving comfort to others. Healing others with her story of healing. What a beautiful, brave way in which to use your words.

This will post on my blog The Windy Pages on May 6, 2019
Thank you for the galley and for sharing this beautiful book.


An intimate and exquisite portrayal of one couples' hope, loss and recovery.

I wasn't sure what exactly Waves was about when I offered to review it. Sure, I knew the basic premise. What really drew me in was the artwork and the promise of a deeply moving story. Both the story and illustrations did not disappoint.

The couple's love and support for one another is so clearly personal and loving. I loved seeing how they were there for each other, and their own ways with grief. The story unfolds starting with hope and excitement, mirroring what many soon to be new parents consider. Sadly, things take a turn and the couple finds themselves coping with a deep loss, trying to find their way back to happier times and a sense of normalcy..

The writer's tone and words are perfect, filling the reader with all of the complicated emotions that one may feel during this difficult time. It was so easy to see a piece of myself in this suffering woman.

The beautiful illustrations match the text perfectly. Sometimes the text takes center stage while others the art flows quietly over the page. I love the empty spaces, the uses of color and how the world slowly begins to fill again after their tragedy. The dreaming quality of the art really heightens the heavy subject matter.

Overall, Waves is a beautiful and delicate book that filled my heart.

Emotional and intense; Chabbert's graphic novel explores loss, grief, depression, rebuilding and finding hope and meaning in life once again after experiencing the traumatic loss of an unborn child. A short, poignant and heartbreaking story, accompanied by beautiful illustrations, that tugs at your heart strings.

Truly heartbreaking. Stunning illustrations pair with an all too familiar story for anyone who has ever struggled with fertility. I bawled while reading. It was cathartic.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

Triggerwarning: blood, loss of a child

A young woman and her wife have been trying for years to have a baby. When she finally gets pregnant and makes it through a complicated pregnancy, she did not expect to lose the child the last minute. The heartbreak, loss and hurt is almost overwhelming. The panels where she is drowning are terrifying. I personally cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a child.

Yet, there is still hope. With the help of her wife, our protagonist might be able to overcome her trauma and resume her life.

Very beautiful, very sad, very short, beautifully drawn. 5 Stars.

This was a beautiful story. One I think everyone should read.
When something tragic happens, things don’t go back to normal right away. Or even several months later, sometimes even longer. I can relate to this story, not with a miscarriage, but with another tragedy. Things get better very slowly and this is told in such a beautiful way.
I absolutely love how the beginning was in color and when the miscarriage happens, it turns black and white. Then as she slowly gets better, things start getting their color back. It’s seriously the best representation.
The illustrations are also very beautiful.

"Sometimes we drown, drinking in the sea. A sea as red as a heart that's stopped beating."

Waves is the true story of author Ingrid Chabbert's terrible loss of a child. After years of trying to have a child, Ingrid and her wife finally anounce that Ingrid is pregnant. But the pregnancy is problematic, with blood loss and pain and struggle, and finally, a surgery to remove the dead child inside of her. Ingrid is drowning in a sea of pain, heartbreak and loss as she is trying to move forward when her heart seems it had stopped beating. She channels the pain through writing, and discovers a passion she did not know, storytelling.

This graphic novel also explores the birth of Ingrid Chabbert as a children books writer, her recovery and is filled with beautiful illustrations. I particularly liked how the colors turned to gray after the loss of their child, with little spots of color on the journals she writes on, the clothes of people who inspire her to move on, and gradually return to everything as her journey of healing continues.

I wish the author portrayed the struggles of trying to conceive this baby as well, it would've added a lot more depth to the story but I understand her point of view - not wanting this to be yet another story about two women trying to have a baby, as she points out in the ending of the book.

A very touching story I wholeheartedly recommend to people going through a similar experience.

Beautifully haunting.
Waves tells us the story of a couple in recovery. After the miscarriage of the main character, we have both women trying to carry on while recovering from the traumatic event.

Just remembering the story and how they brought it to Graphic Comic makes me stunned. The strength to write it down, Ingrid is an awesome woman who has all of my respect, as her partner.

And the way Caroline mixed with the colors, how it was all colors, and then black and white; how the colors slowly comes back as they slowly come with peace with it.

It was all just beautiful and touching. Something that I would have given to a family member years ago when she went through it.

I highly recommend it, though I really warn you if you are sensitive.

Really, thank you Netgalley for the chance of reading this Graphic Comic in exchange of a honest review, I really have no words for how amazingly touching and beautiful.

a moving story about loss and still finding strength to keep living and going forward. this was about a topic i could empathize with even if it's something i've never faced myself, but i felt the weight regardless

Oh man this book. I have not tried to have children, and one of my greatest fears is that I will be unable when the time comes, so I have a weak spot for books with mother/child stories. This story, briefly, is about a couple who has wanted children for a long time, but when they are finally able to get pregnant, lose the child, nearly at term. This story was somehow devastating and enlightening at the same time. I cried big ugly tears through most of it, and I want to go out and buy my own copy.

Additionally, the author's use of alternating colored, black and white, and monotone panels accentuated the mood wonderfully.

Both beautiful and heart breaking in its honesty and poignancy, this very personal account of the loss of a much wanted child and the long and difficult grieving process that followed may be simply told and illustrated but that does not detract from its impact. The author compares grief to being lost at sea in a boat, and the illustrator does a wonderful job with this concept. The use of colour and black and white by the illustrator is very well done , and there are several panels where no words are needed to convey emotion, somthing which can be difficult to pull off. Despite the difficult subject matter, this truly is a beautiful book, and one that I suspect would give comfort to many people who are grieving a loss.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.