Graveneye was my first #netgalley read. Goodness, was it a read; I tore through it in less than half an hour, unable to look away. My thoughts;

Art style was good. The level of detail brought to the gore especially showed a care brought to the illustration. The panel with the arrow in the deer’s eye was especially beautiful: visceral and delicate and brutal all at once.

The story was a bit difficult to follow at first but that is not a bad thing. It clears itself up and feels complete in a way that I can’t quite explain. It feels much like a fairy tale, of the Grimm variety.

Additionally, this story hit one of my favorite tropes: the living house. Not just haunted, but the house as a living thing with thoughts and desires and feelings for its inhabitants (such as also seen in Kitty Horrorshow’s game Anatomy). It is both distant and intimate.

Would I to rate this book in numerical terms, I give it nine human corpses out of ten. Perhaps I am simply a sucker for the black white and red colors, or a lover of feral, violent women, but Isla and her home have my beating heart.

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The art drew me in initially but i stayed for the story. This was not what i was expecting it to be AT ALL, and honestly, i loved it.

Such a well crafted story and such an interesting perspective. There was a lot going on, which made me wish it was a little longer so it was able to fully dive into the story and all the little details. .

Overall, i would definitely recommend for anyone who enjoys a good horror book/comic, its definitely worth a read.

Isla has hired a new maid. The maid’s name is Marie. Isla has grown up in the house. When she was a child, she was very curious about everything. She needed to know what was behind closed doors. She opened one door too many and got in trouble. What was it? After Isla hires the maid, telling her that she can go anywhere but in the basement. Why? Isla goes hunting bringing home her prey where she cleans the prey. Marie slowly falls in love with working there. She grows to like Isla. Isla grows to like her. Isla is curious about the basement. Will Isla show her?

This novel is narrated by the house. It shows you how the house experiences the actions and adventures of Isla and the work Marie does in the house. He sees and knows everything about the people in the house. It is a chilling horror story. In is a story that has dark secrets. The author has written a story that has blended gothic horror and suspense with a pair of women. The illustrations are done in black and white with red accents making the story more creepy. There is a battle/fight (with a man ) including blood being spilled. I loved having the house tell the reader the story — it made it so much more spooky. I haven’t thought of an old saying “be careful what you say, the walls have ears.” This is a fascinating story.

It was my first time reading a graphic novel and I can say that I enjoyed it. It had a creepy and eerie feel to it and had enough mystery to make me keep going with the story.
The narration was something that I was not expecting and was quite unusual for me. Having a house as the narrator and getting its perspective on the people who live inside was very spooky. Especially, its weird infatuation with the main character.
I enjoyed the mystery regarding Ilsa, the protagonist, and what exactly is the purpose of her spending her time in the woods and in her basement, as well as the sad daily life of her house-maid Marie. However, I feel like there was not enough details and answers about the how and why each character was in the situation they were in. The story lightly touched on themes like abuse and abandonment, as well as mental illness, but it fell short on successfully developing them further in the story.
Overall, I really liked the graphic images and art as well as the creepy feel of the book. It makes for a good spooky read.

I will start off by saying this was a good book to read for Halloween. The art was great, really gory and daring. It had an odd sensuality and surrealist quality to it. This book really succeeded in subverting typical monster tropes as well. I kept trying to pinpoint what I was looking at, a vampire, a ghost, a werewolf, or just a twisted person/people. That was a neat element of this, for sure.

I also enjoyed the narration from the house itself. It was interesting and also weirdly eerie. The way the house talked about humans, animals, life, and death was creepy. The attachments the house had to different people and memories played on that as well. However, I do think reading from the perspective of the house over such a short period of time kept me feeling pretty detached from the other characters in this.

Unfortunately, this never fully came around for me in a way that felt impactful. I can hypothesize on the messages about trauma, identity, memory, compulsion, desire, etc that this may have been dwelling on, but ultimately this story felt too sparse to offer much feedback on any of that. I don't think I will think about this one too much in the future or recommend it necessarily unless someone is looking for a read that specifically deals with some of the imagery shown here. I think had the writing been stronger and more complimentary to the art, this could have been a really powerful book, but it had too many parts that felt too distant for me to ever really connect.

Thank you TKO Studios and Net Galley for an e-arc!

I was sent an ARC by NetGalley for an honest review.
Firstly, the art is striking, and beautifully done. I just found the story to be lacking, and honestly confusing. It is perfect for the spooky season though!

DNFing at 43%.

the story is not as engaging as i thought. i tried to give it a chance, thus i read as far as 43%, but i got so bored that it became impossible for me to continue. i think the only thing i love is that narration, as the narrator is a non-human entity, which i find quiet unique.

The art style in this book caught me, but the way the story was told kept me in. It took me by surprise. I would definitely by a physical copy of this book

Thank you to NetGalley, the authors and publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Once upon a time there was a house in the woods. That house kept the memory of all that had lived in it. It even remembered the time when it had been trees, part of the wood that now surrounded it. So the house could tell us the story about Isla, because it remembered when Isla had been small, a sapling, and how she grew up and left her marks on its walls, in the same way as her father left his marks on her. The house cared about Isla, and Isla cared about the house, and both grew more and more similar with time. One day, Isla hired a new maid, Marie. At the beginning, the house did not care for Marie, but little by little, it grew fond of her, of her bruised face and arms, of her curiosity.

This was all kinds of messed up in a great way. It is a meditation on isolation, on the things that make us prey or predator, on the power and the danger of pursuing the more animalistic instincts present in some of us. The conversation between characters is almost non existent, but the house is happy to share its opinions, memories and impressions with us. The sense of loneliness and isolation is very strong all throughout the novel, even the name of Isla points to it.

Isla is a hunter obsessed with taxidermy. When she hunts she almost turns into an animal, her face and hair change, her hands have claws, her teeth are sharp. She likes hunting with riffle and with knife but also with teeth and claw. It is like a madness overcoming her but also giving her a sense of freedom. Marie never stood a chance...

This is a very graphic graphic novel. The art is a perfect reflection of the characters and the story. By limiting the colour palette to only black, white and red splashes the artist is perfectly translating the bleak, savage but intimate mood of the story. The gore and horror are pictured in detail. There is some nudity but it is not overly explicit and it is relevant to the story.

This was a strange but fantastic read, worth revisiting.

Thank you for the ARC, netgalley! I received this in exchange for an honest review.

Yes! In a sense, this is a macabre and bloody story. But, I felt the story was a bit lacking in depth, so it didn't live up to my expectations.

In return, the illustrations are great! It's color scheme is very eye-catching, when taking red as the most point between white and black. The details of the villa are very detailed and beautiful. The drawings make the book attractive. Anyway, I'm glad I read it.
3.5☆

Graveneye by Sloane Leong is a graphic novel that fits well in Halloween season. It is a unique craving that follows Isla and Marie - a bloody homeowner and her maid. This is a violently gory tale that is told through the point of view of the house they reside.

Leone captures the houses emotions extremely well which makes for one of the most interesting POVs I’ve read. The house appears to be disturbing, platonic and oddly favourable in the way it tells its owners stories. There is a sensual narration to the way it portrays its loyal to its taxidermy-obsessed owner Isla. A murderously psychotic resident eclipse by the innocent maid who slowly becomes besotted with Isla. The dialogue is intriguing and the artwork is incredibly illustrated. I was invested more in the artwork than the story at most points however as the dialogue didn’t quite live up to the artworks background.

I enjoyed the story but couldn’t help but wonder if the engagement of this would pick up. There were parts where the textbook narrative was overwhelmed by the art and whilst the story benefitted from it’s triggering images, I felt myself disengaged in the characters with the absurdity of it all. This was a great horror comic that evidently excelled in its creation but felt short in an unsettling yet impactful narrative.

Not read a graphic novel in quite some time. This one did not disappoint in the slightest. With artwork from Anna Bowles (debut).

A tale of blood, lust, love and hunting. Obsession.

Released on 30/11/2021.

A must for a tale of feral animals and humans.

4 out of 5 for this one.

Though this had some very solid ideas and creepy moments I ultimately had a hard time caring much about the characters and didn't really care for the art style.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Graveneye by Sloane Leong is a horror graphic novel with plenty of content warnings: blood and guts, especially of animals, nudity, and violence. The story, in an innovative spin, is told from the perspective of a haunted house. The house tells the tale of Isla whose traumatic origin story has led her to become a hunter and taxidermist. When Isla hires Marie as a maid, Marie discovers Isla's nighttime activities. But they're not the only horror story in the house... Is everything in this house as it seems? Or is there a paranormal element to this story?

Overall, Graveneye is a graphic novel that will appeal to people looking for the perfect Halloween read. One highlight of this book is the artwork. The black and white palette with hints of red for blood really set the creepy atmosphere of the book. I took off 1 star, because I don't enjoy graphic novels with so much gore. I took off another star, because I felt unsatisfied after reading this book. I'm not entirely sure I understand the ending. I can see horror fans devouring this book though. If you're intrigued by the description or if you're a fan of horror, you can check out this book when it comes out in November!

Trigger Warning Graphic body gore representation, blood and corporal illustrations

Graveneye by Sloane Leong tells the story of Isla, women living alone in her mansion surrounded by woods until the day she accepts to hire a housekeeper, to help her.
But Isla is a huntress, a fascinate and fascinating person and she has a gory secret that only her house has witnessed.

As strange as this reading was I liked it! The art style is nice and I felt like I was in the house at the same time as the story takes place.
I think It's an excellent read for Halloween or the fall period but I don't recommend it if you don't enjoy the graphic representation of horror.

Graveneye is a beautiful graphic novel read in the voice of the old house Isla lives in. Marie, a small, meek woman has been hired to care for the house.

Marie has a rough life. A husband who is worthless and abusive, cleaning Isla’s house becomes everything and then even more than everything. She finds herself drawn to the strange woman she serves, and that becomes an attraction followed but what can only be called worship.
But as much as she thinks she knows about Isla, she knows nothing.

The house itself is our guide and Isla’s confessor. It shows us who she really is and the unnatural hunger that beats in her breast. The house absorbs the terror and the blood that Isla sheds and protects her.

At first, I was confused by the point of view the author chose, not realizing it was the house that spoke to the reader, not the characters that lived within it.

The writing is as close to poetry as I have read in a graphic novel. Ms. Leong has a way with words that make even the horrific strangely beautiful.

The artwork done by Anna Bowles is perfect for this type of story. It shows the beauty and the ugliness of what Leong’s characters are doing or having done to them.

I’ll admit it wasn’t what I was expecting based on the publisher’s blurbs, I was expecting a haunted house story, but it actually became so much more than I had wanted when I sat down to read.
Beautiful, haunting, violent, bloody, and sad. I hope to read more from this author.

Also a shout out to the publishing company TKO. I was not familiar with them but this is the second graphic novel I have read from their catalog and have been equally impressed by their offerings.

Thanks to @Netgalley, TKO Studios, and Sloane Leong for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

A shoutout to NetGalley for providing me an e-ARC of Graveneye in exchange for an honest review

Graveneye is a stunning graphic novel told from the point of view of an old gothic house in the middle of a deep dark forest. Unlike many creaking houses that manifest traps, this house house is completely passive ( maybe or resigned) to the horrors conducted inside its walls.
Vividly depicted in black, white and occasionally red, Graveneye explores themes of violence and desire, of dominant and submissive women, of death and rebirth and the games of predator and prey.
Every step of this journey is creepy. The dark forest showcasing the chaos of the unconscious where base animal instincts search for order and realization. The interior of the home provides structure to the chaos and is a refugee for the Master.
The whole setting seems a pocket universe where women, not men, can create to their likeness and will.
I think the story is purposefully vague as the house might not know what is important to impart. Further the lifespan of a home is much longer than the owner(s) so we are given a series of vignettes that leaves much to the imagination.

“graveneye” is a graphic novel that caught my eye – the cover is gorgeous. however, i wasn’t impressed. the story feels like it lacks something, but i can’t put my finger on what that is.

the art style was beautiful and i love the black & white color scheme with the occasional splash of red – it worked amazingly well to the dark atmosphere of the book. the idea of narrating the story from the point of view of the house as it watches isla – its owner and marie – the new maid interact was brilliant. i really enjoyed how melancholic the story felt, how we could tell the house is fond of its master and how lyrical the house’s lines were.

i wish the book went deeper into the characters and their motives for acting the way they do – this is quite a short graphic novel so everything felt a bit under-developed. it would’ve grown a lot more on me had we learned more about isla and her thoughts.

this book is full of gore and blood, so take the content warnings seriously, if you mind those. i appreciated the details in the novel – especially those regarding isla’s hunting and what she does to the animals. you could clearly tell isla is going through some stuff, even if the house would excuse her actions and pass them as normal – to a certain point.

there is a scene with isla and marie that left me very confused as i didn’t really grasp what was happening and why both of them acted that way. i wish some of the scenes here were more clear, maybe, as the story fell flat towards the end.

- thank you to netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

Rating: 3 🌟
First and foremost, I'd like to express my gratitude to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this copy.
Disclaimer: This review is solely based on my own opinion.
In anticipation of the spooky season, I picked up this graphic novel. And, unfortunately for me, it didn't connect. However, I must remark that the arts were gruesome and dark. As Though This Is Really Cold.

I wasn't expecting the house to be the narrator so I was intrigued from the beginning. The graphics were done really well and story plot was both terrifying and romantic. There is some backstory and it alluded to her killing family members.

Isla's hunger to capture perfection seemed to be insatiate even after Marie's surrender to her. The ending was haunting and soulful. I really really enjoyed it.

Thank you NetGalley and TKO Studios for giving me the opportunity to read this.


#Graveneye #NetGalley.