This graphic novel made me think. There were parts that made me cringe. There were parts that disgusted me. There were parts were a little bizarre that made me want to put the novel down and not pick it back up. In the end, this one hit me in all the feels. My emotions were on a roller coaster from the start to the end.
The art both intrigued me and repulsed me. I liked the dark colors and the scratchy inking. I enjoyed trying to find the shadows in each and every page. BUT! There were some characters that were horrendous in nature and horrendous in how they were drawn. The shocking aspects of these characters did connect to the narrative, but I just couldn't help but being repulsed (which was the point). The art had me shook and made me think. 
It took me to about half way through to really see the symbolism in this graphic novel and see the connections in the narrative to real life events. I wasn't a fan of the masks, but the symbolism is too powerful for them not to exist. The faceless immigrant/refugee - the point is that it could be anyone. 
The four shadows are haunting. The last character to become a shadow so close to "freedom" was devastating. This is a powerful visual narrative of a refugee/immigrant and their heartbreaking journey to the other world to escape certain death in their homeland.

The Shadows is a nightmare. It follows an unnamed pair of siblings as they seek safety from murderous Horsemen that attack their village. 

As they try to navigate their way to safety in the Other World, they encounter monsters, slavers, people smugglers, and the unfeeling bureaucracy. 

The Shadows has scratchy art that belies the heaviness of its story and themes. It looks like a mixture of Quentin Blake and John Burningham. If the characters aren’t weird looking, they are grotesque. There is a Gilliamesque surreal quality to it. Indeed some of the art did remind me of the animation from Monty Python. It is utterly engrossing. The initially curious choice of having the brother and sister wear masks is justified because most of us see migrants as faceless. There are some genuinely impactful panels that hit me right in the gut. 

As our protagonists make their way to safety, they encounter the ghosts of those they left behind. These ghosts haunt them. They don’t want to be forgotten. In turns, they provide both guidance and admonishment. 

As a refugee story works astonishing well. The Shadows is a sensitive exploration of the terror, anger, hopelessness, and determination felt by those fleeing violence. In a story where we never see some of the main cast faces and is set in the fantasy world, this is some accomplishment. At its core is how there is a lack of compassion for those that need it most. How this lack of empathy leaves them more vulnerable than they should be.

As an allegory for real-world events, The Shadows is as dramatic as it is affecting.

This graphic novel was so powerful, and so incredibly moving. I haven't been moved to tears by a book very many times, and this was one of them! A heartbreaking tale exploring the fear, suffering and loss faced by so many people searching for a better life in a world that is continually cruel. The allegory and symbolism within this story was just incredible, and I'm sure I missed out on a lot of context that I need to educate myself on. The art style is beautiful, I love the character design, the textures of paint, and the stunning colours. This story is one that won't quickly leave me, I know I will reread this over and over, and would love to own a physical copy!

These days I often read books with an important message, and The Shadows definitely has one. The protagonist is recounting all the events that led to him asking for a place to stay in an unknown place, including leaving his home because of a war and losing his fellow refugees during the hard journey. However, instead of being received with open arms, the protagonist is greeted with hostility and seen as a number. 

The graphic novel touches the reader. It's deep and emotional. However, the problem with this graphic novel is that it isn't just a story. It's reality for so, so many people in this world, including my own mother. I truly believe that this graphic novel would be an amazing eyeopener to many people. 

I struggled with this graphic novel at first, because it was hard to follow for me. However, the long time it took me to get into the book didn't decrease the emotional impact on me. I was left speechless and I'm sure others will be too.

The artwork was beautiful and the story gave me chills. I love the open end, I was saddened by the fate of most of the characters and moved by the strenght and love that emanates from the main character.

Big brother sits in an interview room, waiting to tell his story. Shadows dance around him, telling him he must speak the truth, he is the only one left and must tell their stories. Big brother begins to tell the story of how men attacked his village, he escaped with his little sister, and went on a harrowing journey. Filled with muted colors and abstract pictures, you watch as one bad thing after another happens to their group. A depressing ending that is supposed to invoke something, but I'm not sure what.

I was attracted by the cover of this graphic novel: all the gloomy aura, the colors and the image gave me a shiver on the back - in a good way.

In "The Shadows" we follow the journey of a big brother and his sister. They have to find a safe place where to live, after leaving their home. All the story is told by the big brother, with an intense feeling of sorrow.
We can clarly see that the two of them are refugee in a foreign nation (a dark one) and how they could do to survive.
There are shadows along the way, they are lost people that want to know the truth about the protagonist's history.
Humankind of this world wear masks. We can't see their faces or the emotion depicted on them. It was intriguing for me.

The art style was a mix of dark and light. I liked it so much.

An interesting story with nice illustrations. Although it was a little confusing at times, I still enjoyed reading it. Good read for a rainy afternoon.

The Shadows, scripted by Zabus, illustrated by Hippolyte, is a fantasy graphic novel verging on kafka-ian's tragic absurdism. This is a very dark comic but with lots of depth and feelings. I was intrigued by the mysterious cover and am very happy I took the plunge into this unusual, meaningful and very personal work.

We follow the journey of a big brother and his sister through strange lands in the hope of a better future. We are not sure were we are, or even what the people we are looking at are. The two main protagonists have a mask in place of a face, something reminiscent of ancient civilisations, but also tribal life. The masks never shows an expression, and yet the characters’ body language, their speech, their interaction, even their silences says so much. There is a lot of melancholy in those pages, bite as well and cynicism. 

The illustrations talk directly to your emotions. I loved the art, this is a loose style I greatly enjoy in general, with multiple thin lines of black, almost like a doodle vibrating to life. There is a spidery quality to it that creates that dark heavy mood of the story. In fact it adds a lot to the poetry of the tale which might not have been there for the specific drawing style and tones. The whole album is in beautiful watercolours which also soften the blows from all the horrors our poor bunch of refugees run from. There is a dream quality to it, fuzzy and surreal. It was perfect.

As for the story it worked so well for me. For some reason I have been reading a lot about immigration lately and oddly, this one, the completely fantastical one in an invented universe, with strange creatures, is the one that talked to me the most. It is the one that felt the most emotionally accurate. I highly recommend it to people interested in human displacement, exile, transmigration. But also more than that. This is a comic for people who like when there is something beyond the first layer, who like to question humanity, and who are not afraid to dwell into the dark side of the human psyche. It is also for people who are fans of modern art and the imagination.

It wasn't horrible, however it didn't have anything that screamed 'AMAZING', the story was a little confusing (I do not know if that's me or the way the author and artist decided to show it) and also, the art style wasn't to my tastes, however, the artist still did an amazing job.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy of The Shadows. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This graphic novel was a deep and emotional story about the experience of refugees who have to flee their country in search of a safe place with their loved ones. The protagonist is displayed as nothing but a number while they recount their tale of tragedy trying to reach his new world. The shadows represent people who were lost along the way and they push the protagonist to speak the truth about their story.  The story represented was compelling and provides an inside glimpse into the life of a refugee in a foreign nation.  If you are looking for a graphic novel that will move you, this one is great!

This was honestly amazing. The art was fantastic, a little spooky but just what the story needed. The art was my favorite part, but the plot was fantastically told as well. A story about exile and looking for a better world. But as in life, the things start going downhill. Wonderful work of art!

This one was an exception because usually, I read descriptions and this time I chose this comic book just because of the cover. I expected horror+fairytale story. I got a story about the boy with his little sister on his exile. It was nice, pretty and harsh, about all those things refugees can/must go through on their ways from their countries, to find a better life. The artwork can be not very pleasant to everybody's eyes, but it fits the story perfectly, I really loved it. And some pages had really nice coloring. Recommend to everybody who likes this kind of serious things.

I have mixed feelings about this book, the art style was intriguing  but I had a very difficult time following the story. But it left me with feeling I had just been sucked into a fairy tale similar Hansel and Gretel.

A graphic allegorical journey about the experience of refugees, Zabus and Hippolyte create an alien and authentic experience that reduces one frightened, grief-stricken human into a number recounting their life before a hardened, oversized man who dwarfs him in a room full of ghosts. Impossible to put  aside or ignore its implications, The Shadows introduces readers to the protagonist who is nothing but a number, 214, in a world where humans wear masks and mythical monsters reveal their true faces. Caught up in a war not of their own choosing, refugee 214 flees with his sister and joins others in hopes to survive the bloodshed that has claimed his family and community. Each place they step offers danger and death, and as one comrade falls their shadow follows them. 

Alternating between refugee 214, who is telling his journey to a hardened man of herculean proptions in a vast office, and his reflections on the journey that led him to this "new world," readers witness the shadows of those who have fallen surround refugee 214. Although the "welcome committee" writing down refugee 214's words is anything but welcoming, or compassionate, they are all he has left and encourage him to tell the truth for the "truth is worthless if you don't stand by it in the end" (70).

The tremendous symbolism and depth involved in this story is remarkable. Zabus and Hippolyte created a story so compelling about the perspectives involved when it comes to refugees and what it means to be human. The art draws from both darkness and light, with vivid splashes of color and forboding tones that plays off the text well. Exquisitely rendered and highly recommended.

Speechless. 

I ended this book speechless and heartbroken. 

The beginning was a bit slow and I figured I was going to DNF the book, but I kept going since it was not very long anyways. The last few chapters of the book really bring to light the plight that many people seeking better opportunities for themselves are having to face.

Incredibly haunting and dreamlike, this graphic novel gripped me from the beginning. It tells the story of a young man who flees his country together with his younger sister. He leaves his country, home and parents behind when their land is ravaged by oppressive forces in their country. Their land is exploited and seized by others and so they flee.

The graphic novel starts with the young man telling his story to an official who will make a decision about whether he can stay in the country of refuge. He is haunted by the journey to this place of freedom and tries his best to tell the story of his escape even though the ghosts of his family members haunt him.

The story is amazing in the way it shows the horrors of seeking a safe place to live. The reader journies with the young man through violent places, deserts, exploitation, abuse, mental stress and breakdown and death. All of this is told witout naming these experiences, instead the reader sees these events in the dream like drawings.

I thought this was incredibly powerful in the way it conveys the story through imagery and with very few words. I could feel both loss and loneliness as I read this. I could also feel the hostility of the so-called place of refuge.

These kinds of stories act as a prophetic witness in our world today. The way in which refugees are hated, spurned and treated is a a disgrace. The deaths of people seeking safety and better lives is heartbreaking and yet countries continue to see refugees as a burden.

When will we ever learn?

This story leaves the reader asking such questions and wishing for something better.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

The Shadows is a rare jewel—a bizarre, surreal journey that will keep readers guessing and wanting more.

A powerful, truthful and intimate take on exile and the forms of physical and psychological violence that result from it. The rawness of the drawing only but emphasizes the cruel despair of the protagonists. A very important read. Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics.

A beautifully illustrated, captivating, poignant graphic novel. A moving story about refugees and the experience of fleeing your own country.

Thank you very much to the publishers for giving me access to this book.

I read it in one sitting, not wanting to stop.