To begin with, the book's illustrations were absolutely stunning. Sandoval's brushwork and use of contrast expertly conveyed the dreamlike quality of Mila's summer journey's end.

This transition, which often corresponds with the onset of greater responsibilities during high school, was depicted in a mesmerizing way. While Mila's tale was certainly more fantastical than reality, it still touched on many challenges that young adults encounter. It explored the bittersweet acceptance of childhood's conclusion and the yearning for one last adventure. The ever-present question of identity, whether it be related to one's sexuality or otherwise, played a significant role in the narrative. Even the character of the ghost revealed unexpected depths.

Ultimately, it successfully transported me to that dreamy space between the safety of the ordinary and the anxiety of the unknown.

I cannot give a fair rating because the download didn't work. I have tried to find it at the library and online and not available. It looks interesting and creepy.

I had already received an ARC of Doomboy previously, and decided to read Watersnakes because I enjoyed the art of Tony Sandoval. The art is beautiful and creepy and moody and the story makes no sense, but the art the art the art. I think it's about warrior girls who come from the sea or something? The tooth fetish is weird...BUT. THE. ART. Did I mention the art?

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

The artwork here is absolutely gorgeous. It appears to all be done with watercolours, pencils, and maybe some ink. The richness (and yet bleakness) comes through on the page. Even without any dialogue or narration at all this book would be beautiful. But add in the (odd) little story of two girls who meet and seem to be caught up in an ancient battle; and you just might have one of the weirdest, yet prettiest graphic novels I've seen in some time.

Not only do we follow the two girls as they discover things about one another; but we also learn of an ancient sort of order (or group?) that has been trying to take down another. I think there is a lot of metaphor here to talk about how we are destroying our own world, and it's beauty. Not just taking up the space and earth itself; but also consuming everything in our path. I see this in the poor octopus that can no longer survive on his own due to the damage around him.

Overall I believe different people will likely pull a different meaning or story from this beautiful book. It's really hard to say what each individual might find as a nugget of truth in it. For me it was about gender and even species having no bearing on attraction; and on how destructive we humans are to all the amazing, beautiful things around us.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

I absolutely love the artwork in "Watersnakes"! The story was compelling and kept my interest the whole way through. I read this in a single sitting.

Hola!

Hoy les voy a platicar sobre esta hermosisima obra de Tony Sandoval.

En tan pocas paginas podemos sumergirnos en la historia de Mila, una adolescente solitaria que pasa sus dias de vacaciones cerca de la playa, alli es donde conoce a Agnes. Comienzan una amistad un poco extraña, por que Agnes es rara en comportamiento y platica. Su relacion esta llena de amistad genuina pero tambien de un poco de misterio.
Despues de un suceso extraño Mila descubre que Agnes es un espiritu sin descanso con la mision de salvar a un rey del mar. Asi Mila se sumerge *literal* en una aventira de fantasia con tintes gore que contrastan con el arte de Tony.
Es la primera vez que leo al autor y quiero saber mas de el, honestamente me averguenza saber que es de mi pais y no haber tenido idea de su trabajo que ahora seguire como una fan mas.

I liked the art, but the story didn't have much sense in some parts and the author didn't give us more context

(Always ignore the star rating - star ratings are arbitrary)

Title: Watersnakes
Author: Tony Sandoval
Genres: Graphic Novel, Fantasy*, Young Adult, Magic Realism, LGBTQ+ (F/F), Horror*, Ghost Story* (*ish)


A few starting notes:

I received a digital review copy of this book via NetGalley, as an opportunity to review said book.

Then my digital copy expired -

(fun fact: review copies are often set to self-destruct, which I always consider a total spy-movie moment)

- and I borrowed a different sort of digital copy from my library’s graphic novel service.


None of this affects the fact that this is a fair and honest review.

I’d previously read and reviewed Rendez-Vous In Phoenix by Tony Sandoval.

That book was a personal graphic memoir about the author’s trip into the US from Mexico which I highly recommend, especially in the current political climate 👍

Tony Sandoval is a Latinx graphic novelist. #SupportDiverseCreators.


The Premise:

Mila and her family just moved to a seaside town, where Mila meets Agnes – a beautiful girl who likes to wear animal masks, and has magical teeth.

Her teeth are sentient teenage girls, and sometimes leave her head.

There’s also the talking octopus-king situation.

And things just get weirder from there…

The Best Bits:

The artwork here is amazing.

Like, wow, wow, wow, WOW! It’s beautiful.

I also love the way the page layout and the panels are arranged.

Everything is done with a level of care and forethought that you’ve gotta admire.


I adore the random surrealness of this graphic novel.

Like, wtaf is this book?! I don’t know, you don’t know, none of us know! ...And I kind of love that.

The twists were definitely unexpected.

And to be honest, I’m still trying to understand and/or come to terms with some of them!

It’s also kind of difficult to talk about this book without getting too spoiler-y, but honestly I love it.



As far as the F/F goes, in my opinion it’s handled well (and is also kinda goddamn awkwardly adorable and adorably awkward!)

There is a surreal complication or two to the rep. of the relationship, but I personally don’t think it fundamentally changed the F/F aspect.

It was Agnes that Mila was physically attracted to and who she, imho, was falling in love with.

Yes, in the course of the book she does have attraction to a male character, sort of -

(in a conglomeration of weird af plot points that is impossible to explain both quickly and clearly,)

- but I don’t think it alters what she feels for Agnes.



Mila’s still trying to figure out her own identity and doesn’t use labels at any point in the book

– and after all, you can be a Queer girl without being exclusively attracted to women all the time!

In fact, I manage to be a Queer girl while sometimes being exclusively attracted to dudes – life, sexuality, and also gender, are all complicated my dearest nerdlets.



I love the general atmosphere of this book

– it’s like a scoop of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince meets Princess, Princess by Katie O’Neill, with a dash of the Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy by Tim Burton tossed in for luck!

(And that description will either make you REALLY want to read this, or make you want to run for the hills. Both are acceptable outcomes.)


Not So Great Bits:

As you’ve probably gathered by now, this book is weird.

And that’s really not for everyone – and that’s ok.

It’s also extremely difficult to follow in places – if you like things to have logic and/or everything to be wrapped up with no outstanding questions, this isn’t necessarily gonna be for you.

I’m a fan of vagueness when it comes to fantasy, tbh. In life, we don’t always get the whys or the hows, and we literally only know as much as Mila about what’s going on – which isn’t much.

Still, I can def. see that bugging some readers.


Added to that, there’s some truly disturbing horror/monster artwork, and some mild body-horror that’ll squick people out

– particularly if you have issues with teeth falling out, stuff living inside people, etc.



One thing that I found hugely uncomfortable was the graphic depiction of naked teenage girls.

Like, it wasn’t done in a sexualised way, more of an artsy kind of way, but given these girls are only about 16, I found it weird.

And not good-weird – uncomfortable-weird.


Content Warnings:

A few things to be aware of with this book (and most of it’s graphic on account of it being a graphic novel):

- nudity
- death
- grief
- horror imagery (inc. body horror)
- violence
- blood and injury
- working out sexuality/identity issues


The Verdict:

If you don’t mind the weirdness (or if you love weird,) and can move beyond the uncomfortable nudity, then I highly recommend this book.

It’s a topsy-turvy gothic fever-dream with Sapphic girls.

In short: I f**king loved it!

I entered this book knowing nothing about it and, to be honest, so should you.

The books art lets us know exactly how this book is going to be – unique, beautiful and eerie at the same time.

We follow Mila as she gets to know a girl who seems to be extraordinary. They eventually fall in love and, in the process, cause a battle to begin.

Mila is an interesting character, as is Agnes.

Honestly, this book baffled me. Read it and you’ll understand.

Rating: 4 stars

It's weird, but "Watersnakes" kinda blends horror with lovely elements, and sometimes there are a lot of details on the illustration, that I like.

"Watersnakes" is beautifully illustrated but is lacking when it comes to plot. I found the story to be a bit shallow and uninteresting but the artwork is lovely.

Absolutely gorgeous illustration. Seriously stunning! And I'm all about the dark vibe. Initially I was pretty confused, but things turned around halfway! I'm putting this on my buy-physical-copy list.

A very interesting, but a bit confusing comic, Watersnakes is beautifully illustrated. Tony Sandoval is truly a great artist, and a good storyteller, but it seems he tried to push a too big of a story into too few pages. I didn't understand some things, so I hope there will be more comics to explain the backstory, especially of Agnes. I would definitely recommend for the gorgeous art and the quirky story.

Watersnakes was a beautiful book, both in terms of the story and the artwork. The friendship between Mila and the ghost Agnes is antagonistic but strong. I will be recommending this for my library to purchase.

So pretty and creepy and bizarre! What's not to love? I was immediately absorbed and read it in one sitting but I would love to look at it many times more.

Could not get far with this one, story and artwork not quite for me. I just couldn't get into it. I am just going to pass on it, I am sure it will find a good fanbase.

WATERSNAKES: So surreal it quickly pulls you in to its story. The art and writing make the story even more compelling; making you want to continue reading until the astonishing ending! Good story, good art!

Thank you to Tony Sandoval, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley for allowing me the extreme pleasure of access to an advanced reader copy of “Watersnakes” for an honest review.

I wasn't quite sure what I expect when I started reading this graphic novel, only that it was set like many fairy-and-fantasy stories began, with someone living their regular life and then being touched once by the supernatural, which sent them down The White Rabbit's hole like Alice. Mila is the Alice of this new read and realm, and there is darkness afoot, with deep supernatural happenings, of ghosts and ghoolish warriors.

I felt the story didn't have enough depth to it, but I was mesmerized by the art, which all looks like paintings.

I would like to thank the publisher for giving me a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this!

I really liked the way everything was painting style. Characters were interesting enough as well. The story was rather short and I was a bit perplexed what was going on in the end. To understand this graphical novel one probably has to do more research into it.