A deeply moving graphic memoir of a miscarriage drawing on the power of deep love, community, writing and remembering to struggle through the darkness back into the light. A book that truly honors the anguish, experience and the memory of a life lost that will linger for a lifetime.

I am really glad that i read this beautiful graphic novel. It was heartbreaking and powerfull. I cried a lot. Ingrid Chabbert was very brave to tell her story. It was beautifully written. Illustrations were amazing too. This graphic novel stays with me forever.

Ingrid chabbert is a Children’s book author and she has created this beautiful masterpiece following her and her spouse through a heartbreaking journey. I finished it in less than an hour and I loved every second of this. I also loved carol maurel’s illustrations in the book. They gave it a Dream-like effect that brought the whole story together. I do have to say that at the beginning, I didn’t know why it was called waves. But i realize its a metaphor. At the end of the book, there is an author’s note. There, Ingrid writes;
“And when that was the case—when I found the strength—it would sink”
I found that absolutely beautiful. This story can only be described as heartbreakingly amazing.

A heartbreaking and moving story about two women who decide to have a baby but have to accept that they are unable to do so. There is a lot of hurt, grief and hopelessness as they come to terms with the reality of their situation. As the story progresses, they once again find hope and rebuild their lives.

The art was great and portrays the emotions really well. It's well worth read!

Thank you so much to netgalley for granting me an ARC of this book.

The story was quite vague on the first pages and it seems like there are missing pieces. It got me into thinking and thinking. In this novel, the author shared her personal life and that is very brave for her to do. Once I got into the middle part, it appeared to me that the author's way of storytelling was great. There are flashbacks and imagined worlds combined with the present happenings. She channeled her pain through writing and I can deeply relate as a writer. I also love the drawings and the transition when it will be colorful or just plain black and white. That was why in the end, I still want to know more and hoping she'll continue to write her stories down.

Lastly, it had taught me to always be contented of what is already there and the empathy for others shall always prevail.

Based on the author's own experiences, <i>Waves</i> is a graphic novel that follows a young lesbian couple who receive the best news of their lives: they are expecting a child together. Until. One day, the unnamed pregnant wife is rushed to the hospital, where she loses her son and endures a difficult recovery. The rest of the book has few words but is a visual mediation on healing and moving forward, even through immense loss.

Ingrid Chabbert brings tenderness to the main characters' relationship and real urgency and pain to the loss of the couple's son; artist Carole Maurel brings this heartbreaking story to life with beautiful, wistful illustration and a sparse but striking color palette. Before they lose the baby, the book is in full color: mostly darker blues and burgundies interspersed with the protagonist's red hair. Immediately after, Maurel robs her page of all color to simulate the detachment, numbness, and colorlessness of grief. But the color doesn't come back all at once in some epiphanic moment; that would be unrealistic. It comes back in drips and pieces--an orange sweater here, a seascape there.

The main narrative is interspersed with wordless images of the main character in a dreamlike state, sailing in a tiny boat on the sea. This section is an evocative depiction of the descent into loss and coping, which can often feel like drowning, and the hopeful, eventual recovery. This graphic novel is stunning and emotional, anchored with beautiful art that amplifies the narrative.

This was touching and emotional. It’s beautiful and painful, both the story and the artwork.

It’s the story of a young woman, and her wife, who want to have a child but are struggling to successfully do so. This graphic novel is so well done that it takes very few words, paired with the gorgeous and easy to understand illustrations, to help tell a strong, emotional story.

The artwork uses color and shading as a tool to help indicate shifts in mood and tone, which is very interesting and effective.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review an early copy of this graphic novel, which will release on May 7, 2019.

With the diversity, emotional artwork, and excellent storytelling, this should be an automatic purchase for all adult graphic novel collections. It brings something new to the table, and I could see this drawing in new and different readers who have never experienced a graphic novel before.

The only fitting response to this is five stars. It's am utterly sincere and honest look at a young woman whose reproductive systems aren't the best. With her wife she has at last got pregnant – we assume through IVF – but things still aren't great, and the infant in fact dies when the doctors are trying to undertake an emergency C-section. The rest of the book is a look at the depths of fragility and despair the woman faces en route to a glimpse of hope. That sounds like a hard read, and I'm sure some of the things she says and some of the beats the couple live through together will seriously affect people who have been in the same boat, but this is not just bleakness and severity. I can see the volume as being an extremely important one for fellow sufferers, but it doesn't stick with being depressing and maudlin – for one thing it's too much of a page-turner for that, with lots of silent panels, dream sequences and other means for us to escape the potential blackness of things. Anything else to say is more of a comment than a criticism – I loved the dearth of colour, but the fantasies interrupted its return too vividly; and I thought what she ended up doing didn't sound much cop at all. But I loved this book, and that's not because it could be filed on the self-help shelf, or because it's 'worthy' – it's just really, really good.

After requesting this graphic novel, I went into preterm labour and now have a preemie baby in NICU. As a result, I am no longer in a mental space to read and review a book about child loss. I read the first part of the story and liked the artwork and story, but I simply cannot finish because it's hitting way too close to home. I apologize to the publisher, author, & marketors, but I will not be finishing this book in the near future.

As per my personal review policy, I do not publicly review books I do not finish. Thank you for the opportunity to access this title.

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.