**Thank you to the author and the publisher for providing a free eARC of this book in exchange for a fair review.**

The Daughters of Ys is a graphic retelling of an ancient Breton folktale, and in this it stay pretty true to the tone and the style of delivery of folktales, particularly of Breton/Celtic origin. It is dark, filled with magic, and doesn’t really have a happy ending. If those are things you are looking for, then this book is probably not for you. However, I grew up with these tales and I appreciated that this adaptation didn’t flinch from darker aspects and created a very atmospheric retelling.

Jo Rioux’s illustrations are quite lovely. The style is unique, and if really leant itself well to the atmosphere of the story. As I mentioned above, M. T. Anderson did a good job of preserving folklore tradition in a very modern style of retelling. I did find that there were points in the story where the transitions were jarring, and didn’t flow well for me. Those moments did detract from the overall flow—which was very much akin to the water that was so thematic throughout the story. I also found that I wanted more detail in the writing, that even though it is a graphic novel so text is sparse, that I wished for more text to create more of a narrative structure, particularly for the climax.

Overall, I think it is worth the time to pick it up, especially because there are not many graphic novel folklore retellings like this. I think it could be a really interesting visual exploration and counterpoint to what was once a largely oral tradition.

When their mother dies, two princesses handle their grief differently. One sister finds solace in the beauties of nature, and the other learns everything she can about her mother's magic in the palace. Ys is a city built with dark magic. As the sisters grow up, the evil of their kingdom can no longer be contained.

I did not enjoy this graphic novel. There are very graphic violent scenes with a lot of blood and gore. And there are sexual scenes, and that ruined it for me. I wish the story could have been told in a more classy way.

I liked the magic and the legends of an ancient city born from the sea. The artwork is beautiful. I love the story-telling style. The magic is interesting. The characters are compelling and complex. Every element for a marvelous story is there, but it was ruined with the violence and sex.

Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

A beautiful and amazing story. I absolutely enjoyed reading this! The artwork style was beautiful and perfect for the story. I found the story to be a wonderful fairytale. The story deals with grief, growing up, and consequences. The different paths each sister chose that affected their fates was a interesting story. Overall this was a great story that I would recommend for everyone.

Es más oscuro de lo que esperaba y muy diferente de lo que leo. El inicio me hipnotizó, pero creo que falta muchas explicaciones el mundo o como funcionaba la magia, porque me perdí por un momento. Los personajes son buenos pero debido a que necesitaba estas explicaciones se me hicieron muy planos.
El destino de un personaje en específico fue bastante más oscuro de lo que merecía
Estoy muy muy enamorada de las ilustraciones

I received an electronic ARC from First Second Books through NetGalley.
A modern retelling of an ancient Breton folktale. Anderson spins the tale of two daughters who go separate directions after their mother's death. Their father married a woman from another realm (fairy). He has become weak and lets his younger daughter take on the dark sorcery that keeps the kingdom alive and wealthy. His older daughter chose to live with nature and represents the good. This story has been told and retold and Anderson gives it some new life through a few twists. The story continues on to share what inhabitants know and remember from several generations later. A hint that the maiden pulled under the sea may still be out there completes the tale.
The illustrations are lovely and pull readers in. The background details are fascinating to study.

“We live by devouring those we love. How can we help it? They’re the ones within closest reach.”

“Living exacts such a high cost on us all.”

M.T. Anderson’s The Daughters of Ys is a mythical fantasy graphic novel with an actual basis in ancient Brenton folktales. In the mysterious ancient city of Ys, Queen Malgven uses her faerie inherited magic to build walls, protecting Ys from the angry sea. After the death of the Queen, her daughters Rozenn and Dahut grow into their own identities, and apart from each other. Rozenn, the heir to the throne, lives in the moors with birds and beasts, while Dahut enjoys the luxuries of a royal life safe behind the city walls. Can Rozenn and Dahut see beyond their differences to save Ys before the city’s secrets come in with the tide?

I wasn’t always impressed with the prose of this piece, but it must be kept in mind that prose tends to be limited in this medium. M.T. Anderson did characterize the holy hermit to have some excellent lines within the narrative. The story is framed with flashback and flashforward moments that complement the folkloric nature of the book and I did appreciate the last page of resources provided if I wanted to know more about the mythos.

The graphic novel’s artist Jo Rioux seriously had me in awe of her illustrations just by looking at the cover. This is truly a narrative that relies on both the art and the prose of the graphic novel to tell the story which is one of my favorite things about comics and graphic novels. Rioux has a way of creatic aquatic type movement within the panels of each page, even when the characters are not near the sea. The Daughters of Ys is visually stunning.

Witchy, dark, and atmospheric, The Daughters of Ys is ultimately a tale of sisters navigating love, loss, and redemption.

Thank you NetGalley and First Second Books for providing me with an eARC of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

The Daughters of Ys will be published on August 11, 2020.

[CW: violence, depictions of blood and death.]

The art left something to be desired. The story was decent but I can't say that I was really invested in any of the characters. It's fine.

I am sorry to tell you that the book confused me a lot. I had a hard time with the format and other things. I am so sorry

The daughters of Ys have competing agendas in this moody graphic novel based on a Breton folktale. After their mother the sorceress queen dies under mysterious circumstances, the heir to the throne takes to the moors while her younger sister's hunger for power only grows. Meanwhile, the king's influence and power erode and crumble. And before long, the monsters are at the door--where they have been all along. Predictably solid and engrossing writing from M.T. Anderson is vaulted into the stratosphere by Jo Rioux's lush, dark art. Absolutely beautiful.

A beautiful rewrite of this Breton myth! ^^

We follow two half-fairy sisters in the kingdom of Ys, whose creation cost the life of their mother. But Ys sinks into chaos. Rozeen decides to flee into the wild, when Dahut assumes the power of the city for two, becoming darker than ever.

The myth is very nice to rediscover and the different themes tackled are interesting. The illustrations are very pretty and go well with the marine's universe and the magical world of this fairytale.

In short, to discover! ^^

I received an ARC through NetGalley from First Second Books. This YA graphic novel originates from an ancient Breton folktale. A young ruler infuses his kingdom with magic when his new queen uses her magic to make his kingdom grand. After her passing, his daughter Dahut continues to feed the magic so the king and his kingdom can thrive. His daughter Rozenn lives on the moors among nature. When Dahut becomes jealous of Rozenn’s simple pleasures the kingdom must pay for debts left unpaid and everything is thrown into turmoil. Overall, this was a satisfying reimagined folktale with art that felt ancient, but I found the art too muddy and dark. The story moved forward well in the wordless panels, but I would have been more enthralled if the art was crisper.

This is a retelling of an ancient Breton folktale and it’s very clear from every detail that this story is dipped in Celtic folklore.

Before I go on, I want to clarify this is not a children’s book. I thought it was for some reason, but I learned very quickly that was not the case.

The Daughters of Ys is a dark and haunting tale about two half-fae sisters heirs to an Atlantis-inspired kingdom created by their own amazingly powerful mother, Queen Malgven.

"For you, I will build walls to push back the sea and will spin you a palace of domes and towers."

She was from a Fae realm and died in her mission of giving them magic to rule and protect Ys, a city where horrors lurk just beaneath the waves.

"Living exacts such a high cost on us all."

Each character deals with her death in their own way. Both sisters start off as close but eventually their differences become too highlighted in their grief to ignore.

Rozzen, the wild one, is more fae than human. She longs for freedom and nature, hiding away in the moors at any opportunity, favouring star gazing and communion with wild animals than life at court.

Dahut is the youngest but since her sister neglects her duties, someone has to be the responsible one and do what’s needed. She surprised me as a character and I enjoyed it immensely. She’s also absolutely stunning and each gown was better than the next. Jo Rioux, the illustrator, did an amazing job and the comic would be nothing without her.

I just want to register my gratitude as this took me out of a reading slump. It contains a lot of things I find fascinating in a story: murder, sorcery, the fae folk, mythical legend, ethereal women, melancholy, a character yearning for more, pacts with otherworldly beings… I just had a great time.

I won’t dwell on the plot to avoid major spoilers but what I can say is that this is a story about the extent people will go to keep magic, luxury and power for themlseves.

"We live by devouring those we love."

After all, magic has a price. And it might be more costly than most of us can bear.

This was such a wonderful reimagining of a folklore story!

The imagery was wonderful, and the message woven within the story was a powerful one.
It took me a while in the beginning to get into the story and scenery, but this might be due to the fact that I rarely read a graphic novel.

In the end, it was a page-turner for me, and I can highly recommend this to anyone who loves retellings, folklore and fairytales.

Thanks to First Second Books and Netgalley for the digital ARC.

This is an interesting take on an old legend. The story is good with solid pacing and the artwork is an interesting style. For those who like fairy tales I would recommend it and I think M.T. Anderson has does a wonderful job on their telling of this story.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

*Huge thank you to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Rozenn and Dahut are the two daughters of a king and his powerful wife, Lady Malgven. After the sudden passing of Lady Malgven, the king and his two daughters are left to grieve. As each processes their loss separately, they grow apart and bitter towards each other. Rozenn grows to love nature, and solitude. She all but abandons her post as heir to the throne and lives a simple, almost naive lifestyle. Dahut takes on her mother’s magic, learning the mysteries behind the veil and seducing those who show interest. The king drowns himself in earthly pleasures, and is overall a hollowed version of himself. As the family is faced with sudden challenges, each handle them separately, which ultimately leads to profound loss and unhappiness between all of them.

Okay, so wow. I loved everything about this. The story was magical, dark, and mysterious. It left me wanting to know more about everything. The illustrations were so lush and breathtaking, I’ve read this probably three or four times just to enjoy them. I will give fair warning, this is not a happy go lucky type of book, so keep that in mind. But if you tend to enjoy traditional folklore and darker themes, then this is the book for you. I do have to say, I didn’t like the king one bit and that never changed throughout the book, and I wish it had a more satisfactory ending when it came to him. But overall, it was a spectacular book, one that I know I will pick up time and time again.

★★✰✰✰ 2 stars

Jo Rioux's illustrations are wonderful. M.T. Anderson's writing...not so much. The Daughters of Ys is your basic fantasy story that follows two magical sisters, daughters of the king and queen of a generic fantasy land. Their magical mother dies, the two sisters fight, skip forward a few years and one is all things good (prancing in the countryside) while the other one is all things bad (vain, a 'flirt'). There is no world-building, the relationship between the sisters is undeveloped, most of the dialogues are choppy and stilted. The story would have benefitted from focusing more on the girl's childhood rather than flashing forward to them as young adults. The plot as such is predictable. The inclusion of 'beheadings' seemed an attempt at darkness...but I didn't find the storyline to be all that atmospheric. The random bad guy at the end made little sense.

This was a tragic, deeply disturbing story, in a good way. It was bloody and brutal in it's lack of empathy to outsiders.
The art wasn't entirely my cup of tea, but it's definitely made for the story.
If you want magic, sacrifices, tragic and the complications of loyalty, family and responsibility, look no further.

Based on a Celtic folklore and has similar story line to the lost city of Atlantis but different This is a very intriguing and entertaining graphic novel. King Gradlon created the most beautiful city of Ys, also known as the city of pleasures through his wife’s magic. They have 2 daughters, Rozenn and Dahut. The wife dies mysteriously and the daughters blame the king for overworking their mother. She got older the more he demanded of her to create something. The two daughters grow up but grow apart. The younger one Dahut tries to learn her mothers magic, seduces and beheads young men. Rozenn the older sister is known to be the heiress falls in love with a commoner or fisherman. Without giving away too much, there is betrayal, nudity, demise of the most powerful and beautiful city. There is so much to this story that I truly enjoyed. This is a highly fantastical world and I absolutely enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley and First Second Books for providing me with a copy! The illustrations were equally as good as the story. Graphic novels like these make me want to keep reading them.

The artwork is beautiful and reminds me of the video game Child of Light (which I adore).

The story is engaging and I read it in one sitting because I wanted to know what happens!

There are some sexy scenes although nothing overt.

My one complaint would be I wished it was longer with some scenes with the girls with their mother.

I really enjoyed this adaptation of a Breton folktale. It captures the whimsy and darker moods of such tales perfectly in both the way the story is told and the artwork. I love how the personalities of the daughters is clear right from the beginning and how real their choices feel to them. They're not sketches or stand-ins, but people trying to do their best despite the circumstances they find themselves in. Ultimately, the most interesting thing isn't the magic or the fae or the art (which is gorgeous and the perfect accompaniment to the tale), but about the sisters and their relationship -- the tragedy of their mother's death pushing them apart and into completely different emotional worlds. I highly recommend this, with the caveat that there is no happy endings in tales of ancient dark magic.