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theybedax's review against another edition
4.0
This was dark, twisted, bizarre, and pure magic! Prepare for a weird ride and maybe not the book for you if you have any teeth phobias. This was a unique story that had me finishing it in one sitting.
elturko64's review against another edition
4.0
Easily the strangest and most unsettling comic book I've ever read. The story told through the art. It's beautiful with a gothic style and the author 'Tony Sandoval' does some interesting things in all of his panels. The real flaw with this book is the plot itself. It gets pretty confusing and creepy very early on, mainly due to a lesbian subplot that came off more disturbing at tale rather than a more heartwarming one. Although that may have been the point. This book is a dark graphic novel with a strong mixture of fantasy, and horror. I think I need to reread this a few more times to process the story. Other than that I really enjoyed it.
csamura's review against another edition
2.0
I mean...it took me on a journey. I'm not sure I liked or cared about that journey. The art work was detailed and captivating, it's what drew me to the story in the first place. The plot was definitely unique and compelling at times. Mainly, my issues with it stemmed from some eye roll moments of dialogue and the treatment of the "queer" relationship. Don't get me started on Mila realizing that when she was kissing Agnes she was actually kissing the octopus 'king'... Male fantasy of how lesbianism works, anyone? It's such a typical male-writing-queer-women trope that I'm sick of. Color me unimpressed.
carroq's review against another edition
5.0
Disclaimer: I received a free ecopy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I got a real fairy tale vibe from this book. It is a story about two young girls that meet at the beach. The parents are around but not really present for the story. Things start out innocently enough, but it moves into some pretty strange territory that sets the girls on a quest to save their lives. The story between the two girls brings in elements of a first crush, along with all the awkwardness that might entail. What happens after that is something else entirely.
The art is what attracted me to this book. The image on the cover was so great. And the interior art is just as good. It does a great job of capturing that sense of the weird that pervades the book. I'm not sure how old the girls are supposed to be (probably early adolescence) and the art can blur the line on that at times. Anyway, be prepared for some brutal scenes later in the book. It almost feels like a different story by that point. The progression works though.
Something that stuck out to me about Watersnakes is that at the end I wasn't really sure if the whole thing actually happened or if it is just some sort of childish imagining. That's part of what I liked about it. This uncertainty gives the book a depth that I wasn't expecting based on the first few pages. I'd recommend picking it up for the art alone, but the girls pull their weight in making this book fun and interesting.
I got a real fairy tale vibe from this book. It is a story about two young girls that meet at the beach. The parents are around but not really present for the story. Things start out innocently enough, but it moves into some pretty strange territory that sets the girls on a quest to save their lives. The story between the two girls brings in elements of a first crush, along with all the awkwardness that might entail. What happens after that is something else entirely.
The art is what attracted me to this book. The image on the cover was so great. And the interior art is just as good. It does a great job of capturing that sense of the weird that pervades the book. I'm not sure how old the girls are supposed to be (probably early adolescence) and the art can blur the line on that at times. Anyway, be prepared for some brutal scenes later in the book. It almost feels like a different story by that point. The progression works though.
Something that stuck out to me about Watersnakes is that at the end I wasn't really sure if the whole thing actually happened or if it is just some sort of childish imagining. That's part of what I liked about it. This uncertainty gives the book a depth that I wasn't expecting based on the first few pages. I'd recommend picking it up for the art alone, but the girls pull their weight in making this book fun and interesting.
annasirius's review against another edition
3.0
Why did the love interest turn into a guy? Why did Agnes returning to her family equate separating from the MC? What's the whole tooth business about? Why are stick figures with huge heads portrayed as attractive in our culture?
This book has a certain atmosphere to it that I liked, but otherwise it left me untouched.
This book has a certain atmosphere to it that I liked, but otherwise it left me untouched.
wanderwithjon's review against another edition
4.0
Disclaimer: I received an E-ARC of this book from Netgalley.
Enamoured by this book's cover, I picked it up knowing absolutely nothing about it.
The art is absolutely enthralling, it really helped in getting your jive and in progressing throughout the story. The colours are wonderful and vivid as well, although, in a later part, I transferred in a black ink e-reader so I couldn't say much in its totality.
The story is a little bit weird, slow-paced, but it definitely picks up. Focus is a requisite when reading this story because it can definitely get confusing.
The fantasy element of the book is absolutely wonderful. It really inspires the reader into traversing the world and finding mysteries. Basking into an epic adventure and learn secrets of the universe. Moreover, the protagonist — Mila — is extremely relatable. Her curiosity. Her sense of adventure.
Overall, this book is an amazing dark fantasy with a very mood setting atmosphere and stunning illustrations.
Enamoured by this book's cover, I picked it up knowing absolutely nothing about it.
The art is absolutely enthralling, it really helped in getting your jive and in progressing throughout the story. The colours are wonderful and vivid as well, although, in a later part, I transferred in a black ink e-reader so I couldn't say much in its totality.
The story is a little bit weird, slow-paced, but it definitely picks up. Focus is a requisite when reading this story because it can definitely get confusing.
The fantasy element of the book is absolutely wonderful. It really inspires the reader into traversing the world and finding mysteries. Basking into an epic adventure and learn secrets of the universe. Moreover, the protagonist — Mila — is extremely relatable. Her curiosity. Her sense of adventure.
Overall, this book is an amazing dark fantasy with a very mood setting atmosphere and stunning illustrations.
jessythecactus's review against another edition
3.0
When I saw the cover of Watersnakes, I was already half in love with it. The synopsis got me completely hooked. A ghost girl and guardian warriors (who are, taking the cover into account, all female)? ‘Yeah, I’m gonna love this’, is what I thought. And yet, 3 stars don’t really signify undying love, right?
Artwork
Ok, I already mentioned that the cover is what caught my attention, but I gotta talk about the artwork separately. Simply because it’s so good.
We get these weird people with long limbs and huge heads, reminiscent of Tim Burton’s style. Fitting to that, the atmosphere is over all pretty dark (but not that dark to expect severed limbs and heads, really, that was a surprise).
This totally falls into my range. If had had to rate this graphic novel solely based on artwork, it would get 5 stars.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. So here comes the plot (and the aspect dooming this to 3 stars).
Plot
Gaaaah, why oh why do you have to disappoint me this much?
Which seems like a love story between two girls suddenly becomes… something else. When I started reading Watersnakes, I had already forgotten about the synopsis, so a lot of things came as a surprise. But I feel like not knowing certain details (for example that Agnes is a ghost) is a change for the better. I was pleasantly surprised when the story turned around and I suspect I would have been bored during the first part, would I have come in with different expectations. Mila doesn’t know about Agnes true ‘identity’ for about 50 pages. Readers awaiting an adventure featuring a ghost could have already abandoned the book in that time.
Which brings us to another point. The pacing was just off. The first 1/3 we have Agnes and Mila acquainting themselves with each other. The next 2/3 bring us to the ‘actual plot’ with the ancient fallen kingdom. Everything seems rushed, without much space for explanations and sudden changes of setting, that leave the reader completely confused. You just barely understand what is happening or why it is happening by the time the graphic novel is already coming to an end. You’re left kinda unsatisfied.
I wish the plot would have been more worked out, maybe even distributed to several issues.
Nonetheless, it was still a quick enjoyable read, if a slightly confusing one.
Favourite Quote
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this e-ARC of Watersnakes.
Artwork
Ok, I already mentioned that the cover is what caught my attention, but I gotta talk about the artwork separately. Simply because it’s so good.
We get these weird people with long limbs and huge heads, reminiscent of Tim Burton’s style. Fitting to that, the atmosphere is over all pretty dark (but not that dark to expect severed limbs and heads, really, that was a surprise).
This totally falls into my range. If had had to rate this graphic novel solely based on artwork, it would get 5 stars.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. So here comes the plot (and the aspect dooming this to 3 stars).
Plot
Gaaaah, why oh why do you have to disappoint me this much?
Which seems like a love story between two girls suddenly becomes… something else. When I started reading Watersnakes, I had already forgotten about the synopsis, so a lot of things came as a surprise. But I feel like not knowing certain details (for example that Agnes is a ghost) is a change for the better. I was pleasantly surprised when the story turned around and I suspect I would have been bored during the first part, would I have come in with different expectations. Mila doesn’t know about Agnes true ‘identity’ for about 50 pages. Readers awaiting an adventure featuring a ghost could have already abandoned the book in that time.
Which brings us to another point. The pacing was just off. The first 1/3 we have Agnes and Mila acquainting themselves with each other. The next 2/3 bring us to the ‘actual plot’ with the ancient fallen kingdom. Everything seems rushed, without much space for explanations and sudden changes of setting, that leave the reader completely confused. You just barely understand what is happening or why it is happening by the time the graphic novel is already coming to an end. You’re left kinda unsatisfied.
I wish the plot would have been more worked out, maybe even distributed to several issues.
Nonetheless, it was still a quick enjoyable read, if a slightly confusing one.
Favourite Quote
“Is it some kind of pagan or satanic ritual?”
“Both.”
“Wow.”
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this e-ARC of Watersnakes.
manbrarian's review against another edition
4.0
What...what did I just read?
I am going to have nightmares about teeth for the rest of my life. Thanks Tony Sandoval.
Creepy, haunting, and surreal with a beautiful and striking art style.
I am going to have nightmares about teeth for the rest of my life. Thanks Tony Sandoval.
Creepy, haunting, and surreal with a beautiful and striking art style.
leslie_d's review against another edition
3.0
In Agnes, Mila discovers a strange new friend, and an even stranger fascination with another person’s teeth. Free-spirited and mischievous, Agnes draws Mila into animal masks, picnic hunts and creepy stories. Sandoval’s rendering of his young female voices and interactions is really well done and its simplest description, Watersnakes is a friendship story.
It isn’t until we meet Agnes’ younger brother Julien that it is confirmed that something weird and magical is also occurring.
It isn’t just that Julien tells us Agnes is a ghost. There is this black octopus. Dreams, protective circles, cloaks, and crypts. And Agnes’ teeth may have enchanted Mila for a reason other than a tooth-fetish. (I love how Mila asks her dad if he liked teeth and that’s why he was a Dentist.)
Have a look at what hovers above the warriors on the book cover. Yeah, so when Agnes becomes deathly ill and loses all her baby teeth in one night—these are the teeth that moved in. It makes a beautiful sense when you learn more about the octopus and where it’s been living.
I googled for any folklore regarding water snakes. I found a Russian story about a girl who is swimming with other girls, all in their underwear, when a water snake lays on her clothing and makes her promise to marry it before allowing her to retrieve her clothes. Agnes calls Mila a “water snake” when they meet, Mila swimming solo in her underwear in a pond. I don’t know if this is a tale that may have inspired Sandoval’s own fairy-like tale, but it foregrounds ideas of transformation, other realms, and the unsuspecting heroine.
Sandoval’s artwork is stunning. The appeal isn’t only aesthetic, delicate and dark, solid and ethereal, but the composition with a panel and of the panels themselves on a page. The visual story is entrancing—and violent. I may have actually flinched with the loss of that limb; and I was definitely taken by the way it is returned.
I was least taken with that opening voice over. That cinematic opening makes sense by the end of the novel when the text is revisited. It could be a translation-thing, or I’m put out that I had to think so hard about it. My mind kept catching on “conscience” and wondered if “conscious” was what was meant there. And “defragmenting” is so stark in its modern and scientific feel in my mouth. I dunno, but when you read it, I’d love to revisit that set-up. That said, likening their projection to that of a dead of star has appeal.
If you love a beautifully crafted graphic novel, Watersnakes is a must. It suits those of us who love the fairytale that is a bit gruesome, strange, and haunted by a bit of coming-of-age eroticism. And if you like bad-ass female warriors who can draw a substantial amount of blood from a skeletal dog army? Tony Sandoval’s Watersnakes is one to pursue.
Noted: Shaun Tan came to mind as I read Watersnakes, as did Dave McKean, Neil Gaiman, and Guillermo del Toro.
It isn’t until we meet Agnes’ younger brother Julien that it is confirmed that something weird and magical is also occurring.
It isn’t just that Julien tells us Agnes is a ghost. There is this black octopus. Dreams, protective circles, cloaks, and crypts. And Agnes’ teeth may have enchanted Mila for a reason other than a tooth-fetish. (I love how Mila asks her dad if he liked teeth and that’s why he was a Dentist.)
Have a look at what hovers above the warriors on the book cover. Yeah, so when Agnes becomes deathly ill and loses all her baby teeth in one night—these are the teeth that moved in. It makes a beautiful sense when you learn more about the octopus and where it’s been living.
I googled for any folklore regarding water snakes. I found a Russian story about a girl who is swimming with other girls, all in their underwear, when a water snake lays on her clothing and makes her promise to marry it before allowing her to retrieve her clothes. Agnes calls Mila a “water snake” when they meet, Mila swimming solo in her underwear in a pond. I don’t know if this is a tale that may have inspired Sandoval’s own fairy-like tale, but it foregrounds ideas of transformation, other realms, and the unsuspecting heroine.
Sandoval’s artwork is stunning. The appeal isn’t only aesthetic, delicate and dark, solid and ethereal, but the composition with a panel and of the panels themselves on a page. The visual story is entrancing—and violent. I may have actually flinched with the loss of that limb; and I was definitely taken by the way it is returned.
I was least taken with that opening voice over. That cinematic opening makes sense by the end of the novel when the text is revisited. It could be a translation-thing, or I’m put out that I had to think so hard about it. My mind kept catching on “conscience” and wondered if “conscious” was what was meant there. And “defragmenting” is so stark in its modern and scientific feel in my mouth. I dunno, but when you read it, I’d love to revisit that set-up. That said, likening their projection to that of a dead of star has appeal.
If you love a beautifully crafted graphic novel, Watersnakes is a must. It suits those of us who love the fairytale that is a bit gruesome, strange, and haunted by a bit of coming-of-age eroticism. And if you like bad-ass female warriors who can draw a substantial amount of blood from a skeletal dog army? Tony Sandoval’s Watersnakes is one to pursue.
Noted: Shaun Tan came to mind as I read Watersnakes, as did Dave McKean, Neil Gaiman, and Guillermo del Toro.
kieranl's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
4.0
That was hilariously strange and odd and gory, but weirdly charming and enjoyable. I'm confused LOL.