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.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

Abigail is 14 and lives in Salem, Massachusets, in the 1690s. After a happy childhood, Abigail has to realise that her transformation into a woman makes her prone to sexual harassment and that she isn't safe any longer. When she meets a young man from the Abenaki tribe in the forest, things change...

This re-telling of the Salem Witch Trials take on issues like gender politics, xenophobia and religion.

I enjoyed this re-telling and also thought that the love story between Abigail and Mkweh is very sweet. Looking forward to #2 as the story isn't finished yet...

4 Stars.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Salem holds a strong place in the American psyche. In part, this is due to making students read Arthur Miller’s the Crucible. Perhaps it is the stories that surround the town of Salem itself. The story itself has been examined a variety of ways. Thomas Gilbert’s feminist take is not the first such.
Though it might be the best fictional take.
Gilbert’s story focuses on the young girls in the town of Salem, in particular Abagail, and how the women are controlled by the male dominated society. He also works in the culture clash between the Native Americans and the European colonizers.
It is a harsh story, but the way Gilbert tells it, it becomes a more powerful story. It tackles the issues of how a society views those who are different. The focus on the fear of the other as well as a woman’s ability to reproduce make this story and graphic novel timely.
It should be noted that some of the artwork and content material is graphic. The artwork is a perfect match to the story.

It's okay. The author's intent is good, but it's a bit too obvious: "let's hunt the devil outside instead of within..."
It's a bit too wordy, too. I was hoping for more.

The Daughters of Salem was a uniquely interesting graphic novel to read. I have never picked up a historical fiction GN before--never really realized that it was a genre, to be honest--but it was neat! The novel combines fiction and fact about main character Abigail Hobbes. Her once safe and amorous hometown becomes a place of prejudice and fear towards nearly everything--sexuality, filth, religion, outsiders (especially Native Americans). These scenes are violent at times and difficult to read and wrap your mind around because of their nature, but history just is that way sometimes.

The story itself, I felt, is a little sporadic because in the beginning it really is about Abigail and her setting up the story and in the town. She is a girl and a local boy gives her a small, hand-carved gift. To the women of Salem, this means entering womanhood. After this sequence, her eyes are opened to the hysteria of the adults. The world is broadened and this is where I feel the story line is broadened and Abigail is no longer the consistent story teller. I still liked the uniqueness of the novel and the time period, but it did feel too broad to me. It felt like it left off too suddenly, but I will keep an eye out for the next installment. I am eager to see where the series goes.

I was looking forward to reading this new graphic novel. However, it didn't quite deliver for me. I thought the storyline was great and kept my attention throughout. Unfortunately I didn't care enough about characters to spend longer enjoying the story and I found the art style almost distracting. Despite this, I will be keeping an eye out for the next instalment!

WOW...I was reading some reviews for this book and see a lot of negative feedback. Let me tell you this book deserves all the positive feedback it can get. It is so great.

The Salem Witch Trials everyone has heard of, or has read the history.
The Daughters of Salem gets pretty graphic in the loose history of the Witch Trials of Salem. From rape, murder, persecution all wrapped up in a sketchy illustrated style. I really loved this book. It set in the victims point of view mostly, so you get to see some really bad stuff. I really enjoyed the book.

Totally buy it.

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Okay so let me start by putting a list of Trigger Warnings since the author and everyone who worked on this book clearly don't know how to do that.
- A lot of grapphic images of violence, deaths, blood and cruelty
- Sexual assaults
- Racism (Even though given the time period the book is set in you can kind of expect it ? But it doesn't make it less violent)
-Violent acts of misogyny

Now, with all of that, it really didn't help me enjoy this book. At all. I had to pause my reading several time because I felt too trigger. But guess what, all of that could have been avoided if someone had just put trigger warnings !

Also the art style wasn't doing it for me and the overall plot didn't peak my interest very much.

First I want to thank the publisher for letting me advance read this little gem.
I’m a huge comic fan, wether it’s new ideas,retellings, historical, you name it I love reading them. The art work for me in this one was a bit strange, was kinda scratch art/borderline realistic/old school. So I didn’t love the art, colors were good and made sense. Storyline however was where it excelled. You’re sent to a tale of old Salem back where the “witches” were started though it’s not massively discussed yet it’s left open for the next installment to dwell more into it. I wish it went just a smidge more into the characters it was set up and everything to discuss and get that storyline developed but som thing paused it and it took a left turn on the reader. I believe it did quite a bit of character swapping and I hope we see a bit more of Abigail and the man to figure out how that will end or if it’s to end tragically. Either way it was intriguing. End was abruptly on and the religious aspects were definitely leading into the next being that bad omens are happening.

Part one of The Daughters of Salem was a great set up story for what is to come, however you have to wait to get to more plot. In this installment, we meet the main character and learn how things are changing in the town of Salem.

There is a lot to take in with this graphic novel - there is violence and gender issues, and a lot of religion and it is all more disturbing than anything. I am very interested in Salem and the Witch Trials and thought this would be an interesting fictional take, and it kind of was, but I found myself cringing more than enjoying reading it. And I know that that is how a lot of the history is too, but as a fictional piece I was thinking it would take it another route.

There was a lot of violence in this set up, people are brutally killed and the whole thing just made me anxious for what is to come. Overall, it is probably more accurate than I was hoping for, and if you are interesting in those true-feeling aspects, then this could be more for you.

Although I could see the potential in this text, I was not able to sustain my attention and finish the narrative.

read part 1.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I'm interested in the Salem Witch Trials, but I'm not an expert or anything. I enjoy the drawing style, even though it is a bit to bloody at times for my taste..

not horrible, not fantastic. 3 stars.

Wow okay. That wasn't great, but wasn't completely terrible, but it definitely wasn't what I expected. At all.

I will say from the beginning, this is a re-imagining of the Salem witch trials, which I do not know a great deal about so I did do some quick research to see if there was anything that I didn't know before starting this.

I found this graphic novel not to be feminist, but I found it to be more oppressive towards women in the setting, without adding anything worthy within the topics it addresses. I understand that one of the topics it wanted to address was the xenophobia of the time, but I did personally feel it was borderline racist to the native Indian community within the novel.

This graphic novel confused me a lot. I'm still not sure what audience this book is aimed at. The writing was geared towards a young adult audience, with simplistic writing, which makes sense learning about the main character Abigail. The novel is written from the point of view of Abigail, a 14 year old. However, the writing did not match the illustrations for me or add anything to the written story either. The images were quite graphic, and I did find them somewhat gruesome and horrific at certain points. In saying this, I did enjoy the illustrations early on for the first 2 chapters.

Thank you very much to Europe Comics for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly was not expecting so exciting or enthralling a tale nor as graphic an intense scenes but this is not for the faint of heart. A very reality grounded, intense drama thriller with more than enough gore brought forth by the fearful and the ignorant. I eagerly await the next volume. All the characters resonate and propel the story forward with gusto and the whole of the community is encompassed in intrigue and scandal brought on by a simple gift and a girls affention for someone she is forbidden to associate with. The preacher is both intense, realistic, and ghastly in his fever pitched quest to use religion for power and person gain.

This was so gritty and dark and gruesome, there were some panels I struggled to read, but some of the art was also beautiful, and the story was gripping!

I don't know what, really, it was that I expected to find from <i>The Daughters of Salem</i> by Thomas Gilbert but it definitely didn't match what came. And I think this largely comes from the degree to which this graphic novel is, for lack of a better phrase, incredibly graphic. The disturbing images that manage to sneak in at various points were rather difficult to stomach and ultimately I found myself feeling increasingly nauseous at times; a particular moment with an innocent dog comes to mind immediately, though I wish I could burn that image from my brain. What this ultimately comes down to is the fact that I wasn't looking for a horror story when I picked this book up, but rather an honest account of the terrible persecution that women faced in this time period. It feels like a horror story is what I got. Which, honestly, is fine if that's what a reader wants to get out of this book.

I don't know if I feel as though the book really calls out how truly awful some of the oppression females faced back then actually was and is. The fact that the main character, upon turning thirteen, is shamed for accepting a gift from a boy who'd been her friend for many years was a deeply disturbing and uncomfortable moment, especially when paired with the illustrations that depict the moment. The religious folk were incredibly awful as people, but definitely seemed accurate as far as my knowledge of this time period goes.

I wasn't overly fond of the way in which the novel was narrated, read as a sort of summary overlaying the events that happened in the story rather than really delving into the characters themselves, which I feel left us somewhat unable to get to know many of the characters better.

And finally, I just don't care for how the book ended. The majority of the novel was focused more on setting the scene for the time, the world, and the general thoughts of the people. There was never any mention of witches or even the witch trials, but rather it set up an understanding for how women were thought of at the time. And then it ended on a cliffhanger, with a known uneducated woman screaming up to god in the rain.

Overall, I felt that this was more of a horror story than a way of accounting the terrible events that happened during this time in Salem. I wouldn't say there was a whole lot wrong with the book, but rather that it wasn't my cup of tea.

<i>I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. </i>

Interesting concept, strengthened by good artwork, but weakened by poor writing. I don’t know that this was ultimately successful and I would have a hard time handselling this title. I’m not sure what the market for this title is.