Early Reader Review: The Daughters of Salem by Thomas Gilbert

Source: From Netgalley and Europe comics in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

The Daughters of Salem by Thomas Gilbert
Series: The Daughters of Salem Part 1
Publisher: Europe Comics
Publication Date:  January 23, 2019

 

Format: Ebook

Rating:






Goodreads Synopsis: 

Colonial Massachusets, early 1690's. When a young girl in a Puritan town rejects a farmer boy's gift and instead slips out into the forest to dance with a young man from the Abenaki tribe, it sets off a chain of events resulting in one of the worst cases of mass hysteria in U.S. history, as neighbor turns against neighbor and friends accuse friends of the most terrible things. A fictional re-imagining of the Salem Witch Trials, in which gender politics, religion, xenophobia, innocent games of fortunetelling, and one man's sinful indiscretion are all factors that lead to the deadly witch hunt.

Review: 
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.