Jo Rioux

A graphic retelling of the old Breton folktale of the ocean city of Ys that sank beneath the sea. It doesn't actually deviate that far from the story though, so don't expect a happier ending.

I've never read anything by MT Anderson before and I'm not exactly sure that I would pick up anything else by him. The writing itself was quite shallow, with little development between the sisters. What should have been the emotional driving force - two sisters bound by duty and dealing with it in their own tragic ways - fell more like a damp squib towards the end.

However, the artwork is beautiful. Jo Rioux's style is childlike, almost too simple, you might think at first, until you notice the gruesome details and occasionally gory narrative turn. But the scratchy pencil lines and lush colour-drenched panels show a depth you don't expect as you read further. Any weaknesses in prose was made up for in the complexity of Rioux's art.… (más)

I decided to dip my toes back into the graphic novel world and I’m not quite sure if this was the best start.

Things I liked:
The characters
The general story
Some stellar poignant sentences
Quick read
A lot of things happen

What I didn’t like:
Story felt quite clipped - very little writing lots of skipping ahead in timeline
Relationship between sisters seems nonexistent
The whole thing with the fisherman???
And the bad guy “merchant”??
I was left a little confused tbh - things are quite vague and choppy and almost nothing is explained
And even with dahut at the end…

Overall it was a super fast read and somewhat entertaining but I’m left scratching my head as to what actually went on… (más)