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
A poignant story about a sad reality. I loved this comic, even if I did not hang on the graphics, I found them a little too creepy. But they go perfectly with the subject treated. I didn't find it as feminist as I was told it would be.

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.

This was an okay read. The best part about this story is the art! I thought it was unique and beautiful but the story lacked a bit for me.

This story didn't intrigue me. When I read the opening, I was very excited but halfway through, I felt like it read more like a children's book than anything. I can understand it being historical fiction but I feel like it is better suited to children than adults.

The illustrations were very creepy. I didn’t really care for the story. It made me uncomfortable. I don’t usually get uncomfortable about books.

"Rather than search for the devil within us…let’s hunt the one who looks foreign.” – Thomas Gilbert

I love everything Salem and witch related, so naturally I had to read this graphic novel. The Daughters of Salem How We Sent Our Children to Their Deaths: Part 1 by Thomas Gilbert was very vivid and intriguing.
(TW: animal cruelty & violence.)

The story follows a few young women and how their community turns on them. There is no actual witchcraft present, but it gives the feeling of ungodliness and injustice. The root of the story shows how these women come together in the darkest of times. If you’ve read about the Salem witch trails, you’ll know that the women prosecuted were the ones who didn’t fit into society. It wasn’t that they did something wrong, but more that they stood out.

The novel touches on some topics and circumstances which is still present today. People who are different are seen as wrong and often rejected by society. Of course this is changing, but there are still the close-minded communities trying to suppress people with different mindsets. In the novel, the women who don’t follow the rules are seen as going against God. It creates ends up creating a thin line between what is right and what is wrong.

I liked the underlying feminist vibes which gave a sense of sisterhood and defiance. I also liked the colorful pictures that managed to get quite a few emotions from me.
If you’ve read the play Vinegar Tom by Caryl Churchill you will most likely like this graphic novel and vice verse.

* Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

The story is interesting, but I did not expect it to include such graphic imagery. Some panels were too much for me personally... The art style and bleak colours contribute to the atmosphere of the story, but so far the story itself is pretty predictable.

Not a fan! At all. I do not care for this art style, it’s very choppy to me and grotesque. I also don’t care to see physical abuse or animal abuse in my graphic novels. I should have known this was going to be dark for me, so that’s my fault. Thank you for the chance to read this though!

I really enjoyed this story I find this time period so interesting and the graphic novel format for a story set in Salem at the time was a brilliant idea . This story is very dark and the illustration that go along with the story are both dark and beautiful. Some of the images are extremely gruesome but I feel it added great atmosphere to the story. The one negative I do have is that I don’t feel we seen enough of the women in the woods having fun breaking the rules and defying the men who have so much control. I don’t think this graphic novel will be for everyone but I think for people that have prior knowledge of the setting and time period they will really love it.

Cool story in this graphic novel. The art style is simple but works well with the uneasiness of the plot. Worth a read.

I initially picked out this publication for my interest in the compelling art and to see how the author told the story about Salem differently than what rests in the American consciousness.

We follow the main character Abigail, as a chain of events in her town are set off by a male childhood friend handing her a statue. After the fated exchange, the reader is witness to heightened mass hysteria due to the town's sexism, xenophobia, and fear invoked by religious ideology. Abigail is witness to and reflects on the absurdity of punishing people based on an imagined spectre of sin that haunts the town's collective imagination. What frustrates and confuses Abigail is how she sees this imaginary spectre being created by the town's pastor and the town's men. This spectre is used to punish mostly women or people who are perceived as "other."

What made this retelling the most interesting was the visual representation of the relationship between the main character and one of the native boys from the nearby Native American tribe. I feel like growing up, this part of the story was not discussed, so to see it in this story was fascinating.

What I enjoyed most was the visuals, despite how graphic they were in depicting violence against women and indigenous people. This violence continues today - the horrific part was not only in seeing those images, but realizing that the story is not so far from how women and indigenous people are still treated by society. I's just that now, violence takes a different form.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book. I have read many books based during the Salem witch trials and I was very excited to read a fictional take on that time in history in graphic novel form.
The beginning was promising, we are introduced to Abigail, a young teen, and the story is told from her perspective. Her innocence is endearing and so is her friendship with Betty. But, inevitably, the adults in her world project their dark thoughts onto the innocent and things start to change for the worse.
Halfway through, the perspective changes and Abigail no longer seems to be our main character, I felt that at this point the narrative lost it's way a little.
One thing I wasn't expecting was the extent of violence, it's very graphic and I found it difficult to cope with. A trigger warning would have been helpful.
All that said, I will definitely be looking out for part two, as I still want to know how Abigail fairs. What will the darkness that has taken over the town of Salem mean for her, and how will the fear and hatred festering in the townspeople's hearts lead to women being accused of witchcraft.

A very intriging story with peculiar characters , I travelled to Salem while reading it . The graphics are amazing and they really fit with the story . But the thing is ; Sometimes I was lost between the characters and the events and the fact that this novel was short did not do well . I still recommend it to every person who is looking for a spooky/ atmospheric read .... Because it was surely one !

3.5 stars!
This graphic novel was interesting!! The characters were also interesting. I was a little disappointed but if you love the history of Salem you will love this book.
Thanks to Netgalley for this e-arc in exchanges of my honest review.

I found this graphic novel part 1 on NetGalley and had to give it a try if only to just see what it had to say about the witch trials or what it chooses to portray.  I was really interested when I saw that in the brief description, it said that this graphic novel gives a slightly different view of what happened and what started the crisis.  Alternative histories, especially ones that deal with topics like gender and sexuality, are always something interesting to read or view, especially in the current political and social climate of the United States. 

I have never read a graphic novel that was steeped in historical events and ideas.  I think its really neat to combine historical facts with possibly fictional retellings or recreations of those historical figures.  While it may be fictional, it helps to highlight the mass hysteria that occurred and enlighten readers to the absurdities that occurred at the time and how easy the "hive mentality and hysteria" can take over and ruin a town or community, as well as families and lives.   

I enjoyed the illustration style for this graphic novel.  The panels weren't the prettiest or perfect, but I do think that it was done on purpose and works perfectly for this graphic novel.  It helps build the atmosphere of the subject and just lends a gritty, rough, and dark feeling to the piece overall.  It is the perfect atmosphere creator for this graphic novel.  With the overall feeling of the art panels, what is portrayed is also quite dark and violent.  There are multiple pieces death-scenes or murders that are grisly and graphic as well as some panels that are just violent in general.  The art perfectly matches the grim and bleak setting where fear and hysteria dwelled. 

For me, the best part was the complete lack of supernatural elements as scapegoats or ways of explanation.  It ultimately strips the story down to being a problem of humanity and elements that go into that such as sexuality and religion.  It also helps to show how quickly things can escalate when an air of fear permeates everything.  It's an interesting way of looking at the world and cultures, and perhaps understanding shortcomings of culture throughout history.      

I also LOVED the image of the female in this one and how the storyline shows that the problem was mainly based in fear, especially when related to women in the community and what they were doing in their spare time.  This graphic novel gives a new view of key figures of the Salem Witch Trial period -- Abigail Hobbs and her family, Elisabeth Parris and her father Reverend Parris, Tituba, Sarah Good, and Bridget Bishop and her mother.  In most of the examples of characters, they are pictured as destitute, sad, and not capable of much.  This is juxtaposed with the meeting of all the women, early on in the graphic novel, and the conclusion that the women in this text are not as stricken down or weak as they appear.  The ending of this graphic novel is curious, as some important plot changes happen and we end with Bridget's mother and her pleas to a god.      

On Goodreads, I gave this one four stars because of its storytelling and the way the art directly enhances the plot.  I love when graphic novels don't rely on one or the two elements (art and writing) more than the other; for me, they should exist in a symbiotic relationship.  This graphic novel did this perfectly in my opinion.  I am so curious to see what happens in part two of this series, especially with where this one ended.