There are what feels like thousands of retellings of the Salem trials, and this one, like many others, did not include any supernatural elements. Puritan life in New England is just creepy enough as it is, and its many horrific aspects can each be considered a trigger for that specific case of mass hysteria - this author chose a rather feminist point of view that thankfully did not exclude women as abusers and contributors to other womens' ordeals. Although I don't know how I feel about the (hopefully?) exaggerated presentation of girlhood/womanhood in this adaptation. The inclusion of Native American elements is not a new plot device for New England horror, but it worked okay here. The artwork - of course I was initially drawn in by the nice cover - has this messy visual appearance that ultimately worked well for the story, even though some panels' meaning isn't apparent right away. It did look great during the gory parts of it, that's for sure! When all is said and done, The Daughters of Salem is not a terribly unique retelling, but people with a special interest in Salem shouldn't miss it.

Nice to see some original thought and interpretation of Salem. The strong background of the community and it's characters define a new slant on a old story An interesting fictional account of political and religious upheaval very different from Miller's Crucible. .

I look forward to the next installment.

This comic does a tremendous job recapturing the mood of bigotry, mistrust and misoginy that dominated the Puritan settlers' harlem of Salem and ultimately led to the Salem witch hunt frenzy.

It is definitely not a comic for the faint of heart and is most definitely off limits for children and youngsters aged les than 15, but it will give you a vivid glimpse into a distant world whose dynamics, albeit reversed, we have seen in the recent #metoo hysteria. A very interesting read.

I received an advanced digital copy of this graphic novel from Netgalley.com and the publisher Europe comics. Thanks to both for the opportunity to read and review.

I'm not quite certain where to begin. Mr. Gilbert alludes to "the problem of femicide happening in Western societies claiming to uphold modern values and to denounce a society that has veered too far to the side of the patriarchy". He humbly likens his work to that of Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible'. A humble claim indeed.

And that's just in the letter to his readers. From there, it's poorly written and poorly illustrated nonsense pandering to the current poli-social climate. There's a very specific audience that Mr. Gilbert has written this for, and within that demographic it will probably become as referenced as Ms. Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale'.

I'm not certain which Western societies Mr. Gilbert is referring to, but I would suggest he learn the meaning of the word "femicide". Historically speaking, he should done more than glean a few historical names from Wikipedia. I am by no means an expert on the Salem Witch Trials, but even as a well read, armchair history buff on the subject, his artistic liberties with the stories and tragedies of real people were just too far fetched.

This was, in a word, terrible.

The Daughters of Salem is a first part in a retelling of the events that let up to the witch trials in Salem and focuses on the misogynistic atmosphere that was around in the puritan times. While this initially sounded like an interesting take on a well known story, it fell a bit flat for me.

The struggles of the women come across, but all of them seem overly done and I didn't care for any of the characters really. There was a part one easily might consider racist. The art was very modest, which fit the puritan themes but was not really my cup of tea either. I don't think I will be continuing this series, especially since I already know where it is heading.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Really enjoyed this despite the dark and depressing themes. The art style was wonderful! It really fitted the tone of the story and I was pleasantly surprised by how graphic it was at times. It made me feel uncomfortable but in the best way. It really reminded me of the comics by Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoet. Looking forward to part 02!

This is a peculiar book. It has taken the Salem witch trials, and put in more hatred and death and destruction, and weird things when the main story was weird enough as it was.

It is all very confusing, and there are Native Americans thrown in for good measure, that are attacking the town, and becoming friends with one of the girls of the town.

The art is weird and grotesque, but so is the story.

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It could all be a translation thing. I didn't get what was going on half the time, and when I did, it was very disturbing. Perhaps this is not the best book for me. Your milage may vary.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Quick read, but I am excited to see where this goes. Great start! It’s translated from French, and is very timely, given the political climate.

Embarrassingly and gratuitously grotesque and sensationalized. Subverts the feminist ideologies that it's desperately trying to convey. Reinforces the stereotypes it's attempting to pinion. And the art is...nothing special.

Disappointing.

A retelling of the Salem witch trials, the story begins from the point of view of a young girl, Abigail, who proclaims that it all began with a simple gift that she had taken. The fact that this particular statement doesn't come around full circle to complete the arc makes the story feel like it is incomplete. Still, the story evokes themes of misogyny, rigid puritanism, xenophobia and hints at how , what was a peaceful seeming town to Abigail became a hell to live in.

The simple choice of having a young teen girl as its protagonist means you get to see her eyes open to the harsh realities of living in a world where she is seen as a thing, where her freedoms are curtailed, where her actions are viewed as an invitation to scorn or lust, depending on the onlooker, and her finding that the lies told by her village's fiery pastor are much more than just impassioned speeches. The atmosphere of hate, fear and distrust that permeates after her being recognized as of age by the other woman of the town, as well as the betrayal she feels by them, are juxtaposed against the freedom and joy she feels when she meets a Native American boy, who meets her on the nearby forest trails along with her friend.

The story also doesn't shy away from displaying the cruelty of these so called 'civilized men of god', though it could have done with some reserve - there are multiple scenes of brutal killings, one animal and two human - as it does feel superfluous. Additionally, the story as a whole only feels like it has begun, without providing resolution for even one thing in this first volume. Obviously, there is more to come, but this one spends too much time setting up the characters, and driving home some points to feel like a complete book. The artwork is okay, having some well-drawn scenes and a loose style that fits the simplicity of the lifestyle.

Overall, though, it doesn't feel like a complete story arc.

This book was just ok. I understand that it was not supposed to be a telling of the Salem Witch Trials, but I'm not sold on the reimagining presented in this book. The writing was simplistic and the art was graphic which lends to some confusion about what the target age range for this group is. It was a fine thing to read, but I'm not compelled to pick up volume 2.

Re-imagining the Salem Witch Era.

It's the 1690's, and in a small, puritan village, a young girl sets of a chain of hysterical reactions when she befriends a native of the Abenaki tribe. What is about to ensue is a graphic portrayal of the Salem Witch Trials, re-imagined by Thomas Gilbert.

This is exactly what I, as a reader, would have imagined the era and mentality to look like. A small society on the verge of massive hysteria, unable to understand or accept anything outside its norms. AN excellent job from Thomas Gilbert, accompanied by suiting, beautiful illustrations.

I picked up Thomas Gilbert’s The Daughters of Salem: How We Sent Our Children to their Deaths on a whim. I was casually interested in the subject matter and I’ve grown to love the innovation and creativity of graphic novels so I felt the odds were in my favor.

Abigail Hobbs is a historic figure, as is Elisabeth Parris, but the friendship they share is wholly fictional and Gilbert uses their association to explore intolerance, the patriarchal structure of colonial America, and femicide in Western culture.

The artwork of this particular piece is simple but interesting. Gilbert incorporates some graphic imagery, but the material felt appropriate to his themes and I didn’t feel gratuitous by any means. That said, the characters were a little thin for my tastes and I wish there’d been more complexity in the narration.

An interesting comic. Really enjoyed reading about the character and see how the story would turn out. I am actually interested to see how the rest of the series would turn out.
Pretty graphic scenes at times. However, altogether I did enjoy the story.

This graphic novel seemed really appealing at first. I love stories about witches and this Salem Witch trials retelling seemed to have a lot of potential, unfortunately it fell short for me.

The artwork was nice, especially the landscapes and the way nature was drawn, but it was also very graphic at times. I am used to graphic novels being quite graphic but something bothered me in these drawings. Some scenes were really triggering.

I believe the plot could have a lot of potential but the way it was told felt like a mere succession of awful incidents and I didn't really manage to care for the characters. I was expecting a more hopeful message from this book and more bonding sisterhood moments.

This book just wasn't what I had expected.

Interesting story. I enjoyed this new take on the Salem story. But the art is not very compelling. I did enjoy reading it though.

It was okay. I am always drawn to stories of Salem. This one just fell short for me. Too bad, because I wanted to like it.

I liked the premise of the story and how people reacted to anything bad that happened back then. Mainly they blamed it on anything they weren't sure about. I thought the art was good but the violent scenes were a bit too graphic and weren't in line with the rest of the graphic novel artwork.

Thank you for this ARC. I was excited to read this graphic novel. However, it was difficult to follow this book. It seemed to go from one terrible incident to the next without focusing on the issues surrounding the incidents. The people of color in the story were stereotypical. The Native American in blackface that befriends the girls in the woods was offensive. Most of the characters lacked depth. I did not like the portrayal of the female characters in what is supposed to be a feminist book. I would have liked to see stronger female characters.

The artwork was good but there were a lot of graphic scenes.

3+ stars
An interesting premise for a graphic novel. I thought the summary was interesting so decided to read. At first, I thought the graphics were lovely and the story developed well.
What I didn’t like was the graphic visualization of the killings and the destruction inflicted at the ending of the book. Likely it was done for effect, but my opinion is it was overdone. And the story of the young girls and what they were experiencing somehow got lost in the violence.
I would be interested to read the next chapter to see where the author takes the reader next. But if it entails more violence, I would put it down.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher, Europe Comics, for the opportunity to read this ARC.