When Sail and her family move to a small town in New Hampshire, they think they’re escaping the horrors in their little world: the accident that has forced Sail’s mother into a wheelchair, the nightmare in the woods that leaves Sail waking up in a cold sweat. They have no idea that they aren’t escaping at all… in fact, they might be walking right into the fire.
CHIT CHIT CHIT CHIT.
I went into this graphic novel with high hopes, and I wasn’t disappointed! The artwork, first and foremost, was deliciously creepy, though a little dark at times (as in “I’m sure that detail would be creepy if I could tell exactly what it is”). I really loved the illustrations of the wytches, though; they’re exactly the sorts of nasties that I would hate to meet in the woods at night (or anywhere, at any time).
The story felt a tiny bit hard to follow for me, which is why I knocked off a star for the rating. Perhaps it was just me, but I normally am pretty good at piecing together a back story. This one just felt a little erratic at points and I found myself flipping back to previous pages to see if I had missed a detail or two. That said, I really enjoyed the twists, none of which I felt like were overly predictable.
I really loved the relationship between Sail and her dad, more than anything. Despite this being primarily a horror graphic novel, it beautifully demonstrated the power of a parent’s love for their child; being a mother, I really appreciated how authentic their exchanges felt, from the goofy inside jokes to the panicked fear Sail’s dad experiences throughout their traumatic experiences.
Besides the jumpy nature of the plot development at points, I had no complaints about this graphic novel. As it was a library rental, I will definitely be adding it to my wishlist and would recommend anyone who enjoys a good, dreadful horror novel to check it out.
