This graphic novel.. this story was heartbreaking, even through I only read an exerpt of it.
I'm Jewish and I feel for all the stories about Holocaust, because it really was something that should have never happened.
A child, like the main character telling her story, should never have to be ready for death, or watch her mother die. It's devasting to know that people, children has gone through thi, and still live to this day, carrying it around and having various effects of it.
The trauma she talks about and is showing, is I believe the hardest part of being a survivor.
I would love to read the rest of the book.

The art in this book is gorgeous, paired with the depictions of these survivors experiences during the Holocaust.

The combination allows for an incredibly moving work that sucks you in and leaves you thinking about the stories for days to come.

But I Live promises to be one of the most powerful Graphic Memoirs of the year, and I was really impressed by the sample pages that I received to review. This is a first hand account of four holocaust survivors beautifully and strikingly illustrated by a team of talented artists. The section I read was the story of Emmie Arbel who was interned in two different concentration camps as a child and the watercolour style illustrations were delicate and almost haunting. Based on this sample I would recommend this book.
I read and reviewed a sample extract courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher , all opinions are my own.

This is a beautifully illustrated and masterfully written graphic novel. I loved these advanced pages. I cannot wait to read the rest and I will be buying it for my libraries.

But I Live, edited by Charlotte Schallie, is a poignant first hand account of holocaust survivors coupled with striking illustrations by four graphic novelists. I was able to read the story of Emmie Arbel, who experienced the horrors of two concentration camps as a child. The art in this story was done in a few tones and very fluid like watercolors. It created a muted but dignified atmosphere of respect for the difficult story Emmie recounted. This book is highly emotional and made me pause to think about the full impact of the holocaust and it's generational trauma. Beautiful and haunting, I give this graphic novel five stars and recommend anyone who is able to read it and learn about how such a terrible historical event is still affecting the world today.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for honest review.

*Thank you NetGalley and University of Toronto Press for this eARC in exchange for an honest review*

But I Live is a collection of short graphic novellas detailing the lives of children who witnessed the Holocaust. Due to limitations of file sizes, I received only one of the stories which was also titled ‘But I Live’

The artistry in this novella is stunning and emotional. Following along to the vulnerability of Emmie Arbel took my breath away. This collection would be a beautiful personal detailing for younger and older audiences alike. Much to how Emmie says she’s never liked the title of survivor, her story shows she is a fighter and rebellion. I’m looking forward to the rest of the collection as I’m sure they’ll be equally stunning in visual art and words.

3.5 stars
It is difficult to assess this one as I had an ARC with only one of the three stories, and I am unsure as to how finished the images were. As it was, the story and the composition of the cells were powerfully done. Based on them, I would recommend it.

The ARC I received contained only the novella "But I Live", which is what I will base this advanced review on.

This is a deeply moving look into the personal story of one woman who lived through the Holocaust as a child. I appreciated in particular that she shared not just the horrors of that experience but the ways that trauma impacted her in the immediate aftermath and continues to impact her now. She's also very clear about the things that she does and doesn't remember about her experience, which feels natural given her age and the trauma involved, but isn't really an aspect of historical fiction on the topic. The watercolor art is beautiful and adds to the distinction between the present day interview and the flashbacks to the concentration camp. I think this would be an excellent primary document addition to a school unit on the holocaust.

In short, I look forward to read the complete book upon publication.

This was a short but touching read.
If you don't know a lot about the history of the holocaust, it won't really "teach" you much but it gives the experience of a woman who was brought into a concentration camp as a child.

It is great to see the alternation between the past and present life of the protagonist.

The art style is beautiful and unique, hand painted watercolour and expresses the story incredibly well.

The eARC I received only had the story called "But I Live", and I wish I was able to read the whole book with the different stories and the informations we could get after (according to the content table).

It was touching to see how Ima is still traumatized, haunted by what happened to her and her family, even in daily moments like having to be in a specific spot when inside a coffee shop or not being able to eat something she got forced to when younger. Her story is touching in a way that she sees herself as strong (and she is!) and not weak, how she doesn't like the word 'survivor'.

I liked the illustration and how everything were made, we could see the different timeline with no issue. It fitted really well with how the story was told, really grim and cold.

This was a true work of art.

But i Live features three novellas of retellings of Holocaust survivor's stories. Each person who requested the ARC was given one of the three stories to review and I was given "But I Live" which features artwork by Barbara Yelin and is a re-telling by Emmie Arbel. First things first, this story was haunting, It was certainly a novella, very short, but the pacing felt right. I liked that they included the interview as part of the story, it really made everything connect perfectly. Emmie Arbel isn't weak, she's so very strong. You can see how certain parts of her life will never be the same following the events that happened. Now for Yelin's artwork? I am absolutely stunned. The cover image alone for the story is jaw-dropping - I spent a good five minutes looking it over. The use of digital art to create intense oil-like paintings is such an incredible effect.

I would highly recommend this graphic novel! I would love to see what the other stories hold as well!

This was difficult to read but so good. Not only was the art style beautiful but the emotion it conveyed and how it conveyed was breathtaking. The topics it covers are incredibly heavy but I think the stream of consciousness style helps make it easier to digest without pulling the punches. I would definitely recommend this to someone looking for a tragic but very real graphic novel.

But I Live is a such a truthful and heartbreaking story, with its utmost watercolor illustrations. The stories were based from the holocaust survivors and their experiences to the sad and painful reality. I only read one of the three stories but I can feel that all of entries are possibly poignant and remarkable.

A very good segment of testimony from a survivor of Bergen-Belsen and other camps in the War. Our narrator starts her biography by remembering very little, but when formative memories are of her mother fainting from cold and starvation at roll call and the urge to comfort her was stifled for fear of a bullet, the details come back in fine fashion. So it's a great shame that the rest of the book was not offered to us reviewers, and even requesting the full thing – as was suggested on netgalley – lead to silence from publishers who might not be giving this title the respect it deserves.

The ARC had only one of the three stories from the book (the titular 'But I Live') and it was a wonderfully illustrated and moving story. I liked the oil painting-esque illustration style a lot. Since the story is a recollection of events from a child's perspective, it is understandably not very elaborate. I think I could have done with translations of some non-English words used though.

Unfortunately the digital copy that netgalley lent me was incomplete. I was able to read the stories and see the artwork, but I didn't get to see much of the rest.

Beautifully illustrated. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories, their family's stories. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this collection so that history will not be forgotten.

A very personal take on the experience of living during World War II. I was able to read one of the three novellas of this series and am curious to read the rest.

The story is beautifully illustrated and told through the eyes of a child who is not quite aware of the gravity of her situation. Her innocence is shown through remembrance and how she put together the piece once she became older. It seems she has survivors guilt but feels lucky to have endured and survived through it all.

Thank you #NetGalley, University of Toronto Press and New Jewish Press for giving me the opportunity to read this.

STUNNING. This work is absolutely breathtaking. I was in love from the first page. This book's combination of art and prose evokes a deep, hollow feeling in your chest. This was so achingly beautiful; I cannot wait to read the rest. I loved how this highlighted the lived human experience rather than straight factual information - in many ways making it more personal and impactful. The integration of past and present was also beautifully done and really highlighted how issues surrounding the Holocaust remain to this day.

What an excellent memoir. I'm so pleased to read this first story and look forward to reading the others when I purchase the full title at publication. Stunning and evocative, it feels like being inside a memory.

I wanted to be drawn into this book, to find it compelling and unforgettable. The last time I looked at the Maus books was over twenty years ago and pages of them are still burned into my mind, and I didn't go into this planning to compare But I Live to Maus. I wanted yet another work that I could take away a lasting memory from, but unfortunately, But I Live failed to do that to me. What happened to the lady was terrible and needs to be remembered lest history repeats itself, but I feel that this book failed to convey it sufficiently well. The survivor's tale carries the book, as it should, but in this case, it feels as though it's carrying too much of the load. The storytelling approach of the book isn't great, mostly due to the artwork, which unfortunately I found very lacking. When retelling a tale as stark as that of a Holocaust survivor's, certain artistic choices do need to be made so that the horrific truth isn't glossed over, but at the same time it can't be too explicit or detailed for the sake of being palatable. I'm honestly not sure what the artistic choices made here were supposed to be. Less of an art style, the illustrations are just, well, bad. It looks like unskilled drawings hiding behind a guise of "style". Furthermore, it just looked lazy, as the shorthands done are inconsistent and there is lack of attention to detail.

In summary, the story is important, but sadly the graphic element of this book falls short.