The Daughters of Salem is an intense reimagining of the events that took place in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. Thomas Gilbert’s intent with his work is to consider the issue of femicide in Western societies, which he does with thoughtful composition and terrifying depictions of insidious oppression, victim blaming, and mass hysteria.

My how things have changed?

Abigail Hobbs is a confident young woman confined to the narrow ideals of late 1600’s Massachusetts. Her first brush with gender expectation comes early, when a young boy gives Abigail a little wooden donkey as a gift. It’s obvious to the rest of the township that the boy is giving her a token of his affection, but to innocent Abigail it’s a simple kindness. Her mother and the other women of the township react to the incident with violent fervor–they begin to initiate Abigail into “womanhood”. They teach her the first thing that most mothers unknowingly teach their daughters: men only want one thing, and if they get it it’s your fault for tempting them.

As the years pass and the weather turns, the homesteaders begin to revolt against their Pastor. How could God forsake their crops, their livelihoods and their families? The good people of Salem turn to superstition and paranoia. They blame the demons that live in the woods, the “foreign” Native tribe who dress their bodies in black. Abigail knows the men in black aren’t dangerous. She’s befriended a member of the tribe on weekly excursions into the woods. Her curiosity leads to love rather than fear.

As the gloom progresses, the townsfolk lay guilt firmly atop the heads of women just minding their own damn business. Red-headed Bridget Bishop just wants to run her family’s tavern in peace, but in marches a mob ready to light it up. The time has come for these men to blame someone else for their own sins and throughout history women and the marginalized have been easy targets.

The Daughters of Salem doesn’t necessarily teach us anything we didn’t already know about the witch trials, but it deftly illustrates the incidents of femicide that are left out of our lessons in primary. It’s not just superstition that brought about the accusation of two-hundred people and the murder of twenty between 1692-1693, but the fear of a woman’s power.

I have a passionate love for this type of gritty, personal art style. It reminds me of Upgrade Soul by Ezra Claytan Daniels, my favorite graphic novel by far of 2018. The strokes show the exaggerated fatigue of the human face. It serves the subject matter so well.

Because I can’t have everything I want right away, this is only the first volume of what I imagine will be a several volume series. It’s a fast read but a heavy one, so digest it slowly. Loved it, can’t wait for the next one.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting tale of what happens when hardships set in, and people turn against each other looking for a scapegoat. Even more disturbing, it is based on historical events. Obviously ot would not have been easy to be a woman in the village of Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600s. Men can basically do whatever they want to you and claim it on you tempting them or the town turning its back on religion.

The artwork matched the mood of each scene- happier ones are more carefree, cheerful and colorful, worse scenes are washed out and angry lines. Dust turning look at history.

I’ve never read something like that. The drawings were strange and unique and the colors were astonishing.

This is the first installment in the series and it’s already powerful. Abigail is the main protagonist, she’s fourteen when the story begins. She lives in Salem with her family and her best friend, the daughter of the reverend of the town. Sometimes there are hunts in the forest, looking for the Indians, who are described as the demons of this place. One day Abigail meets one of the Indians and she understands that he’s as human as herself. She’s trying to hide their encounters, but her friend knows her better than anyone else, so she talks to her friend about this guy. The three meet and the story begins: they love singing and dancing while the Indian plays the flute. There’s a very vivid sequence in the book and it’s a beautiful moment of the story. But something is changing in town. When winter comes the food is not so much and the people who are different are attacked and killed, because they have like or with the Devil, according to the reverend.

The book starts with bright colors and than is more and more dark, as the story. The drawings are purely linear and strong, and not always beautiful, but they are powerful. I must say that there are vivid images here and I want to warn about these cruelty’s scenes, because they are important to the story but they are vivid as punch in the face.
This book has a lot of different themes: the rule of the woman in the society, the idea of the woman according to the masculine world, the religious worries and the prejudices about other cultures. Even if it’s set in the past this book shows us the bad face of humanity: now or then, people who don’t understand that every human has the same rights, are stupid and selfish and blind.

I appreciate this book so much and it’s so powerful, not perfect, just illuminating. I totally recommend it.

The Salem Witch Trials are a favorite subject of mine. I love most any exploration and speculation, but especially into motivations. So, this book was right up my alley. I liked that the focus was a little different than we usually see. Still on the girls, of course, and TItuba is present. But this first volume is very much background. Events that could lead them to take horrific vengeance. Bloody, close-minded acts by the villages. And I do mean bloody. Gilbert doesn't shy away from showing the gruesome nature of these attacks.

This was a very disturbing read. Absolutely amazing, but terrifying at the same time - exactly how a retelling of the Salem witch trials should be. Would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to see how a community can rapidly descend from normalcy into horror, accompanied by absolutely beautiful drawings.

This was an original take on the Salem story. As the title says, it is focused on the "daughter of Salem" ie. the women of the town and especially the outcasts who will be persecuted. The main character Abigail is a regular teen who feels the pressure of the patriarchy in the town. The art is intentionally grotesque to match the ugliness of the history. The artistic medium lends itself well to this type of story. The darkness at the core of the people and the town is reflected in how they and their surroundings are drawn. Like many stories of Salem, this graphic novel reflects on the modern day. Issues of patriarchal intimidation, immigration, race, and female empowerment come into play. Hopefully, part two will address how race comes into play with the character of Tituba especially, as she too is a daughter of Salem.

Overall, this may be a hard book to love by some but I found it to be an interesting, original take on stories set in Salem at the time of the witch trials. It may play on similar themes but it does so in often unique ways.

Little but harder for me to get into because it is a graphic novel but gave it a shot because I like reading about the Salem witch trials.

A fresh take on a classic. Exciting, disturbing in all the right ways... engaging and unique. It's thoughtful and powerful. The Daughters of Salem will keep you reading until the end. Can't wait for part two!

A unique and interesting take on the Salem witch trials. I appreciated the focus on the victims as outsiders within their community, and some of the artwork is quite charming. However a couple characters are too similar in appearance making it difficult to tell them apart and follow what is happening. The Native American characters have a Magical Native vibe that feels casually racist, and the reality of Tituba's slavery is largely ignored which is a fairly major think to overlook given the themes of the story.

Drawn in initially by the inspiration taken from The Salem Witchtrials' which for a modern day Witch (by faith) is a sad time period for our ancestors and the witches who came before us and I am always intrigued to read inspired tales by these events.

This however was so far removed from even a nod to The Cruicible I was left dissapointed and disturbed to say the least. As a fan of dark reads including gore and horror I generally enjoy a very haunting, grotesque work of fiction yet I felt this one went above even my limits which is tough to do.
This is essentially a talking piece on the very real time in history where Puritan women and certainly in this depicted village were not only oppressed and abused but we're oogled like pieces of meat timid prey if you will.

The scene that still sits uneasy with me now many hours after reading is with Abbigail Hobbs our main protagonist where at only 13 years old she is scrutinised pulled away from home at night to be seen by the women's council. The grotesque depictions through the artwork create this dark eerie feeling that leaves you feeling uneasy.
Abbigail is pawed at stripped and grabbed humiliated and terrified betrayed by her mother all to learn she is now 'a woman' very harshly told she will bleed and have a cycle and proceeds to have her hair viciously torn and cut " this is your punishment for being a temptation in the eyes of men" retorted by her own mother as she jeers and taunts with fellow elder women.

The takeaway sadly is a tale steeped in violence. There was so many avenues I felt this story could have taken it just left me with unease and was very difficult and uncomfortable to finish to the end.
Sadly this is not one I'll continue.

Thanks to Diamond Book Distribution and Netgalley for an advanced copy.

Was excited to read this book as I love stories of witches and Salem. The foreword warned me that this would not be a true retelling, however I still wanted to give it a shot. The art was interesting (purposefully grotesque), but the story was sometimes disjointed, and left me wondering if I missed something important. I was confused by the inclusion of Tituba and other characters with similar names to other Salem stories: were they meant to be comparisons or the same people? Maybe part two would help complete the story.

The Daughters of Salem was a graphic novel about Salem Massachutes and the horrible things that happened there. This was truly a bizarre read for me and I'm not sure what to make of it. I also don't know where we would shelve it in our collection as some pretty horrible things happen it in.

Daughters of Salem is the beginning of a gritty story of how quickly neighbors turn on each other and how scary those considered "other" are, seen through the lens of the early Salem days. The book closes before the actual witch trials, which was disappointing, but does a fair job of setting up characters and the views of the mob-like townsfolk in a superstitious time period.

Stories about Salem are often romanticised, they are full of witches, spells and devil worshippers. This graphic novel shows the truth, the people behind the legend, a young woman caught in the madness of her time, crushed by superstition. It shows how fear and ignorance are a dangerous mix and how it leads to hurting the most vulnerable or non conformists. The Letter to the reader, from the author, was a lovely touch.

I received this via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was volume 1 of the story so as such doesn't feel particularly self contained at this point. Some of the chapters tell more of a stand-alone story than others and this doesn't cover any of the witch trials, those presumably follow in later volumes.

Since I only know The Crucible in detail and not the historical events on which it was based, I can't comment on how much it deviates from history but certainly it is quite different from the plot of the Arthur Miller play.

The art style does seem to suit the subject matter well and conveys the harshness of life in such a town. The content is quite gruesome in places (as the name suggests) and is certainly not for kids. I'd be interested to see where the story goes in the next volume.

This graphic novel was more harsh than I expected! Having said that, I enjoyed it and gave it 4 stars!

Touches many sensitive matters such as xenophobia, the place of women in society, the reactions of people when they are under pressure...

Will definitely look for the next parts!

Expectations/Recommendations: I did not know what to expect when starting to read this graphic novel, as I have never read one before. When I read the description of the book, I thought this would be right up my alley...but I just did not like it at all. 

The Artwork: Having not read any other graphic novel, I don't know how the artwork compares to others, but I thought that the artwork was only so so. Sometimes I had a hard time distinguishing between the characters, as everyone looked so similar. Additionally, it was very violent...entrails, brains, a Native American shot in the face, a dog whose brains were bashed in. Not for the weak at heart and all the detailed violence just seemed gratuitous.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Gilbert's stylized artwork and muted colours create a strong setting and sense of place. There are a lot of references to true events, but the story diverges from history in many key places. As can be expected with the subject matter, the Daughters of Salem is gory and brutal at times, with graphic depictions of violence that could make it a difficult for some readers (this one included). The lettering and dialogue is a little jarring, but the beautiful illustrations evoke a powerful sense of dread and convey the story well.

The Daughters of Salem is surely grave and suffocating, but in a good way. You surely feel the chill in your bones. The story is set in Salem that is quite famous of the witch burnings, though this story is fictional. The main character is Abigail Hobbs, who's fourteen and sets the wheels in motion by not responding to a courting, but still accepting a gift from the boy. Bad winters, infertile soil and everything makes people angry not to forget the Indians around Salem. Abigail befriends one of them, a man from Abenaki tribe, and even the walls have ears. The atmosphere is heavy and the looming darkness everywhere is awful. Gilbert moves the story well and builds up tension deliciously and you can taste the distaste and hunger in the story. I'm very much intrigued about what happens and how it happens as we all know how it went down with the trials.

The art is crude and thin veiled in darkness. It's beautiful in its own way and works so well with the story creating a perfect combination. I wanted more pages though. I'd want Gilbert to take his time with the story, since this deserves it. Everything in the comic looks so dead and lost that wow. You can taste desperation. I cannot wait for the continuation.

I didn't like this. I thought a fictionalized account of the Salem Witch Trials in a graphic novel format would be just my thing. But I found it to be a rather weak book all around.

For starters, some of the writing just doesn't ring true. At times, some characters use turns of phrase that sound like they're from the 21st century.

Second, I really disliked the artwork. Everyone is drawn to be haggard and ugly, and as a result, the whole village looks like it's populated by senior citizens. The main character is only supposed to be fourteen, but she looks more like she's forty. Because of this style that permeated everything, I also had a hard time telling the characters apart. The men and women sometimes look so similar that if you can't see their full bodies, you might not know who you're looking at.

Third, this is a graphic graphic novel. I mean, the scenes of violence are stomach-churningly awful. You see brains. You see entrails. You see a man with his face blown off. There are graphic animal killings as well, including a dog who gets his head bashed in. This book is not for anyone who can't stand seeing explicit violence. Reader discretion is definitely advised.

Like many graphic novels, we just start to get into the plot when the book ends. We haven't really seen much in the way of the familiar parts of the Salem Witch Trials story yet. But I'm afraid I don't have any interest in continuing with this series. It's too slow, too modern, and far too graphic for my taste.