As a longtime fan of mythology and fables, this was a true treat to absorb. The art style combined with the story was beautiful and one I'll remember for a while yet.

The king is rescued by a magical woman. She asks him to help her kill her sorcerer husband, which he does. She then says she will marry the king and give him a great city from the ocean, Ys. The king agrees. The queen dies and leaves the king with two daughters. The elder daughter prefers nature and dislikes the feasts and parties held at the castle. The younger daughter follows in her mother's footsteps and delves deep into magic. Despite their best efforts, the city will soon fall.

Want to see a folk tale come to life? Fancy being part of a magic enthralling mythic sea-side story? Are you ready to choose between the sisters of Ys? This amazing graphic novel would be the path to take!

Presenting a traditional Breton folk tale in a new light, where siblings take two possible paths facing their magically acquired kingdom and will face both life a death (murder) to achieve the purpose with which they will decide to move forward.

A short story that present the different shades of love (self, filial and amorous) , magic and power of a fantastic kingdom that might have existed and is now long lost (the ending leave us with such question in mind!).

The atmosphere of the story is greatly complemented with stunning images in a lovely green hue.

A great way to introduce the teen audience to historical context of the middle ages as well as traditional understanding of practices and traditions of such period.

With content warning for physical violence, torture, bloody scenes and mention of sex..

A copy of the book was acquired through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved the artwork in this. I'd never heard of this folktale before and it was sad, interesting. I liked Roszenn's character, can relate to her most of the two sister (I wouldn't want to rule a city either), but there wasn't any happy endings here and honestly I'm not sure what the moral of this is beyond don't make deals with the fae.

**NetGalley provided ARC for honest review**

I loved the atmospheric mythical feel of this story and the art was very nice, however, I was not prepared for the dark and tragic events of the tale (not the book's fault; I didn't do my research). In the end, I'm glad I read it, but it wasn't necessarily for me.

The Daughters of Ys is a graphic novel based on an old Breton folktale. I generally really enjoy these types of stories, so I happily requested this novel on Netgalley.

Unfortunately, it ended up not really being my cup of tea. The story was a bit too complicated to be told through this medium in my opinion. I felt like I missed quite a bit of information because all I could do was analyse the pictures and read the few accompanying words. I truly feel that the story could be told so much more beautifully with a bit more language.

However, I have to say that the drawing were absolutely stunning. The magical vibes just radiated from my screen while reading, and I was abolutely enamoured with the use of colour.

This was an absolutely beautiful retelling of an interesting tale that I feel is regularly dismissed by history. As someone who feels really tied to Celtic and Breton folklore, the experience of this was wonderful. It was well written and the story made sense as it developed.

The art was also really lovely, and it reminded me of the art style of the movies The Song of the Sea and The Secret of the Kells.

A king saved from the brink of death by a woman of fairy blood, helps her kill her wizard husband and in exchange she builds him a marvelous kingdom called Ys. After her death, her two daughters go in very different directions. One embraces a simple life on the moors with nature and ignores her duties as the heir, while the other embraces magic that will keep their kingdom on top and her father eating the best foods. Who has made the better choice?

Well, this was a great bit more disturbing than I was expecting. Picture a Shakespearean tragedy mixed with an original Grimm fairy tale and you have a good idea of what to expect. Evidently this is based on an old Breton folktale. It seems like a cautionary tale about how a path started with bloodshed and magic will only end with more bloodshed and tragedy. It’s not a happy tale, but definitely the kind of thing English teachers just love to analyze and parse. Only recommended for those ok with the kind of content included who appreciate dark tragedies.

Notes on content [based on the ARC]: One use of profanity. There are 3 sex scenes implied with bare butts and implied nudity (strategic cuts of the frame or draped fabric make it so nothing extreme is shown, but there’s still a fair amount of flesh). Only kissing and embracing shown on page, but the setting definitely implies much more. There are multiple beheadings on page, many other deaths on page from drowning and such, and some bloody wounds. The mode of violence is extremely disturbing and involves dark magic.

<i>I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Daughters of Ys is a fascinating take on a classic folktale. Two sisters, princesses of the waterbound city Ys, diverge after their mother dies. Eldest daughter Rozenn spends her time in the woods and moors, befriending animals and locals. The younger daughter, Dahut, learns the magic of her mother and uses it to fulfill dark desires, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake. Eventually, they are forced back together when an outside force threatens the city. I wasn’t familiar with this story, but I found it to be quite lovely and heartbreaking. I enjoyed both the writing and the art in this graphic novel and would recommend to most readers.

"The Daughters of Ys" is a heartbreaking tale of two sisters and the paths their lives took after losing their fae mother. One of those paths is much darker than readers may at first anticipate. Both the story and art feel lyrical and swaying like the sea that plays such a large part in this tale. This is a beautiful retelling of an old Breton folktale that will be sure to please readers familiar with the story and new to the tale. Recommended for both personal and public libraries.

I thought the art was beautiful and I did find the story intriguing but I think the sisters, Rozenn and Dahut, lacked any real characterization beyond Goodness/purity/love and evil/sorceress/sexually impure. I'm sure this black and white characterization of the sisters comes from the mythology the story is based on, but I just found that it didn't really work for a story in this era

I was drawn to this graphic novel because of the beautiful cover, and ended up loving the story overall. I didn't realize, but it's based on ancient Breton folklore (there is more information on the inside back cover for different versions of the story).

It follows two sisters, Rozenn and Dahut, who are princesses of the city of Ys. After their mother dies, they part ways and deal with their grief in very different ways. Rozenn, who is one with nature, leaves the palace to live in the moors. Dahut follows her mother's footsteps more closely, and practices magic; she also does her father's bidding to ensure the city remains powerful and prosperous. However, she gets carried away with her sorcery, and makes a fatal error one night that results in destruction and loss.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It was much darker than I thought it would be, but the illustrations were stunning. The Daughters of Ys was a powerful and emotional story, and leaves you with much to think about after finishing it.

If you're interested in folklore, I highly suggest picking up a copy of this graphic novel. It's full of love and loss, and I can't recommend it enough.

Thank you to the publisher, First Second Books, for providing me a digital copy via NetGalley.

The Daughters of Ys is absolutely gorgeous! That said...I don't think the teens in my library will check it out. They tend to go for weirder things as opposed to more historically based books. I personally enjoyed The Daughters of Ys, but I'm not sure I'll purchase it for my library.

Thank you @NetGalley and @01FirstSecond for the ARC of the Daughters of Ys. This is my honest review.

The Daughters of Ys was a lovely graphic novel, from character design, to scenery, to color it was indeed a treat turning these pages. This story of two Celtic sisters who live in this Atlantian world was a richly foretold folk tale with truths that are self-evident even today. If you enjoy an original story depicted in a unique art format, then you should give this a shot.

Hier hat mich vorallem die Geschichte überzeugt. Der zeichenstiel war nicht so ganz mein Stiel. Wir werden es wohl eher nicht in unser Sortiment aufnehmen.

I sat down to check out a few pages of this graphic novel, and ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting. The Daughters of Ys is based on an old Breton legend and the adaptation feels effortless. Two sisters, the princesses of magical city of Ys, go down very different paths as they grow up and their stories are intertwined in the narrative. This braid impressed me so much — I hardly noticed the transitions as I got pulled deeper and deeper into the story. In particular, I was struck by how neither sister is cast as either the hero or the villain; their motivations are always understandable, and you can sympathize with both while also seeing their flaws and how they prevent the two from understanding each other. The color palette in this comic is subdued, perfectly complimenting the rounded, organic lines of the art style and the tone of the overall piece. Every line of dialogue feels like it has weight and the expressions of the characters clearly portray their emotions and points of view. These characters feel alive, which can be hard to accomplish with folklore adaptations. This is an incredible achievement in graphic storytelling, and I can't wait to share it with more people!

Disclaimer: NetGalley and the publisher, First Second Books, provided me with an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. Thank you so much to them!
The Daughters of Ys is a beautiful graphic novel based on an old Breton legend. Queen Malgven uses her magic to build walls that keep the city of Ys safe from the sea, but once she inexplicably dies, her daughters grow apart. The heir, Rozenn, spends her days in the moors, while her sister, Dahut, spends her time at court. The rift between the two grows larger when something happens, revealing the secrets and monsters that lie beneath the magical city.
I absolutely loved the art style. It was so beautiful and whimsical! The colors and the softness of the illustrations worked so well with the story, in my opinion, though there are some (slightly) graphic scenes that some may find unsettling. This brings me to my next point! The Daughters of Ys was a lot darker than I expected, and I loved that! The stories' overall aesthetic was whimsical with hints of vengeful.
The only issue I had with this graphic novel was the writing aspect. I thought it was hard to follow at times and a little confusing.
In the end, this book was a solid 4 star read for me, and I highly recommend it if you're looking for a slightly dark, definitely beautiful tale.
I will be posting my review on Instagram and my blog closer to publication date, as well as on Goodreads and a few of the places you can order this book from.

In a beautifully illustrated version of a classic folktale, M.T. Anderson's "The Daughters of Ys" was enchanting and truly captured my own imagination. This gorgeous graphic novel tells the tale of two sisters: one that seeks to (seemingly and magically) protect the kingdom that her mother had also protected before her untimely death, and the other a adventurous young woman, yearning to be one with nature and the more common-folk of her land. Though whimsical in artistic style, Anderson balances beauty with dark themes, crafting an engaging (yet certainly adult) story. While I wish that the story had been longer (It was just so good that I was sad to see it end), I had so much fun reading it - The Daughters of Ys truly left an impression on me!

This is some of the most stunning art I've seen in a graphic novel, very reminiscent of The Secret of Kells movie. The end did feel a little rushed and confusing, which made me want to read the original folktale in addition to this. I would still recommend it, though! Definitely older YA, for those of us selling to parents and schools.

With beautiful artwork, this spellbinding tale is gripping from start to finish.. I had not heard this Breton folktale before, and it has an air of sadness and doom from the beginning. Still, the characters have sweetness and complicated relationships that make you care about what happens next.