A fresh take on a classic. Exciting, disturbing in all the right ways... engaging and unique. It's thoughtful and powerful. The Daughters of Salem will keep you reading until the end. Can't wait for part two!

A unique and interesting take on the Salem witch trials. I appreciated the focus on the victims as outsiders within their community, and some of the artwork is quite charming. However a couple characters are too similar in appearance making it difficult to tell them apart and follow what is happening. The Native American characters have a Magical Native vibe that feels casually racist, and the reality of Tituba's slavery is largely ignored which is a fairly major think to overlook given the themes of the story.

Was excited to read this book as I love stories of witches and Salem. The foreword warned me that this would not be a true retelling, however I still wanted to give it a shot. The art was interesting (purposefully grotesque), but the story was sometimes disjointed, and left me wondering if I missed something important. I was confused by the inclusion of Tituba and other characters with similar names to other Salem stories: were they meant to be comparisons or the same people? Maybe part two would help complete the story.

The Daughters of Salem was a graphic novel about Salem Massachutes and the horrible things that happened there. This was truly a bizarre read for me and I'm not sure what to make of it. I also don't know where we would shelve it in our collection as some pretty horrible things happen it in.

Daughters of Salem is the beginning of a gritty story of how quickly neighbors turn on each other and how scary those considered "other" are, seen through the lens of the early Salem days. The book closes before the actual witch trials, which was disappointing, but does a fair job of setting up characters and the views of the mob-like townsfolk in a superstitious time period.

I received this via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was volume 1 of the story so as such doesn't feel particularly self contained at this point. Some of the chapters tell more of a stand-alone story than others and this doesn't cover any of the witch trials, those presumably follow in later volumes.

Since I only know The Crucible in detail and not the historical events on which it was based, I can't comment on how much it deviates from history but certainly it is quite different from the plot of the Arthur Miller play.

The art style does seem to suit the subject matter well and conveys the harshness of life in such a town. The content is quite gruesome in places (as the name suggests) and is certainly not for kids. I'd be interested to see where the story goes in the next volume.

Expectations/Recommendations: I did not know what to expect when starting to read this graphic novel, as I have never read one before. When I read the description of the book, I thought this would be right up my alley...but I just did not like it at all. 

The Artwork: Having not read any other graphic novel, I don't know how the artwork compares to others, but I thought that the artwork was only so so. Sometimes I had a hard time distinguishing between the characters, as everyone looked so similar. Additionally, it was very violent...entrails, brains, a Native American shot in the face, a dog whose brains were bashed in. Not for the weak at heart and all the detailed violence just seemed gratuitous.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Gilbert's stylized artwork and muted colours create a strong setting and sense of place. There are a lot of references to true events, but the story diverges from history in many key places. As can be expected with the subject matter, the Daughters of Salem is gory and brutal at times, with graphic depictions of violence that could make it a difficult for some readers (this one included). The lettering and dialogue is a little jarring, but the beautiful illustrations evoke a powerful sense of dread and convey the story well.

The Daughters of Salem is surely grave and suffocating, but in a good way. You surely feel the chill in your bones. The story is set in Salem that is quite famous of the witch burnings, though this story is fictional. The main character is Abigail Hobbs, who's fourteen and sets the wheels in motion by not responding to a courting, but still accepting a gift from the boy. Bad winters, infertile soil and everything makes people angry not to forget the Indians around Salem. Abigail befriends one of them, a man from Abenaki tribe, and even the walls have ears. The atmosphere is heavy and the looming darkness everywhere is awful. Gilbert moves the story well and builds up tension deliciously and you can taste the distaste and hunger in the story. I'm very much intrigued about what happens and how it happens as we all know how it went down with the trials.

The art is crude and thin veiled in darkness. It's beautiful in its own way and works so well with the story creating a perfect combination. I wanted more pages though. I'd want Gilbert to take his time with the story, since this deserves it. Everything in the comic looks so dead and lost that wow. You can taste desperation. I cannot wait for the continuation.

I didn't like this. I thought a fictionalized account of the Salem Witch Trials in a graphic novel format would be just my thing. But I found it to be a rather weak book all around.

For starters, some of the writing just doesn't ring true. At times, some characters use turns of phrase that sound like they're from the 21st century.

Second, I really disliked the artwork. Everyone is drawn to be haggard and ugly, and as a result, the whole village looks like it's populated by senior citizens. The main character is only supposed to be fourteen, but she looks more like she's forty. Because of this style that permeated everything, I also had a hard time telling the characters apart. The men and women sometimes look so similar that if you can't see their full bodies, you might not know who you're looking at.

Third, this is a graphic graphic novel. I mean, the scenes of violence are stomach-churningly awful. You see brains. You see entrails. You see a man with his face blown off. There are graphic animal killings as well, including a dog who gets his head bashed in. This book is not for anyone who can't stand seeing explicit violence. Reader discretion is definitely advised.

Like many graphic novels, we just start to get into the plot when the book ends. We haven't really seen much in the way of the familiar parts of the Salem Witch Trials story yet. But I'm afraid I don't have any interest in continuing with this series. It's too slow, too modern, and far too graphic for my taste.

Hmmm… Not sure about this one. It didn't go the way I feared (from the author's introduction I thought it would be The Crucible gone lezzie), but the whole race relations aspect of things here, with the village first mentally then physically besieged by native Americans, was unexpected. Apart from that there's a case for saying the book doesn't go far enough to be different – we've seen stories of people doing wrong with what they think are the best intentions before. This works as a decent account of a girl's frustration at her lot and trying to find her way in the world, but what is done best here is the portrayal of the sheer idiocy that is religion. Nothing is bad here, exactly, beyond there being too many naive, tail-less thought bubbles as narrator, but the fact it doesn't have the tang of freshness means I doubt I'd rush to turn to the future volumes.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC.
I gave this a 4.5/5 stars.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. A part of it reminded me of The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I really like reading things about Salem I liked the aspect of the Indians. Since I have some Native America blood. My grandpa on my dads side was a quarter Native American I believe. This was only part one but I’m excited to the next parts. I totally recommend it.

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the concept of this graphic novel: it re-imagines the Salem witch trials from both a historical and fictional pointof view. It faces important themes such as feminism and racism, which are still present in current times.
The art illustrations and colours are very beautiful and realistic.
I can't give a full opinion on thi graphic novel because this is just the first part. At the moment, I enjoyed but I don't know where it'll go. So, I'll definetely read part two.
If you love stories about witches, sisterhood and Salem, this book will surely be your cup of tea

Well, that was... dark. Which makes sense considering the subject matter. This re-imagining of the Salem witch trials is somehow both historical and timely. We may have made some progress since then, but we're definitely still treating women and non-white people as less than. So in that aspect I respected the author's point. Honestly, the only thing I was really not into was the super creepy art. This book definitely takes you on a horrifying rolled coaster and if that's what you're into, you should totally read it.

The title and the description were what grabbed me. I thought the artwork was very interesting. Fans of graphic novels and/or historical fiction will enjoy this alternate history.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This is my fair and honest review.

I know this was the author's interpretation of what happened around the Salem incidents. I personally do not know what happen as I was not educated in American History. If the events depicted in these comics are very close to the real events, I feel sorry for the people that perished in the real life. I am very happy I got to read this. I will be trying to find the other volumes before making a final verdict. For now a 3 star read...

This story is narrated by Abigail whivh starts off when her friend gives her a wooden donkey toy . In salem , it apparently means entering the "womanhood'' . Abigail finds herself in the adults place and really irritates her.

The story plays along with abigail , salem trials , feminism , minority and human's fear of unnatural beautifully. There are comics of crucial violance and bloodshed so i don't feel like its for children but the story and plot is totally children's fiction.

*I thank the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion"

The art style and colors really fit the overall mood and narrative of the story. The colors ebb from dark to light based on the mood of what is happening in the story and it really helped push the narrative forward.

Although this story is based on historical facts, it is really a retelling of the Salem story through a modern lens and I really enjoyed how the author focused on what drove the actions of the men of the village: xenophobia, sexism, religion. This was done well without making it too obvious or obnoxious.

Overall I'm torn on whether or not I really liked this story so far. There was a lot of not so great things you would expect given the historical context and such, but since this is only the first part I can't judge if the violence and darkness of the first part of the story lends itself to pushing a larger narrative forward in the other parts. If it does I would bump my rating up to a solid four-star rating.

Warnings: violence and gore.

Received this as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting modern approach to the age old Salem legend. Although based on real people, the plot was overall completely imaginary.

It depicts a small town consumed by misery, choosing to punish those who are weaker, and take advantage of their women. The depiction of the neighboring Native Americans seemed believable, including the Salem townspeople choosing to demonize outsiders instead of looking within for the true root of evil. The feminist overtones were believable and the camaraderie hopeful even in a dark time. Although I can see how soon Salem will descend into a place where only the ones willing to condemn others to protect themselves will survive.

The illustration style was both complex in composition, reminiscent of Emily Carroll's eerie cartoons, but rudimentary in the line work. I would very much like to read the artist's following graphic novels to see their craft develop.

I was excited about this book after reading the author's note about how it was a feminist take, meant to paralel current events, but unfortunately I was quickly disappointed.
The art, while not something I would place on my "favourites", fits the story and it would be just fine were it not in such a low quality -- I'm not sure if this is because I'm reading a galley or not, but I would not be happy to pay for something I can hardly read -- but what disappointed me the most was the writing; right away you're faced with showing *and* telling, and it continues on to become very unsubtle condemnations on racism or sexism, and while I don't mind a bit of handholding it can quickly become too much, and all it resulted in was frustration, not to mention the boredom overall.
However, I would like to mention that the amount of text per page, which can be overwhelming in comics sometimes, was just right; and there were also some interesting developments such as the friendship with the native american boy (I'm not very content with the word "Indian" being used here) and the exposition on his religion. Unfortunately the good, for me, doesn't outweight the bad and as such I wouldn't recomend this, for there's surely better things to do with your time.