Thoroughly researched and lovely illustrations, but I feel like the text was a bit too heavy in some parts, maybe it would benefit from some prose at the end expanding in some of the topics.

Struggled to read due to font size unfortunately but the art style is really cool I'd definitely be interested in reading this one physically instead.

More Weight struggles due to an apparent lack of editing to both the storyline and the overall text condition. I feel strongly that the Hawthorne and Longfellow “chapters” could be removed completely in order to create a more coherent storyline and that their presence did nothing to push the story or to create reader interest. Furthermore, their chapters appeared to just be an oppportunity for the author to wax philosophical about different topics that weren’t entirely relevant to the “Salem Witch Trials” story, such as when they discussed their responses to slavery or the visit to the Seven Gables.

At times, due to the condensed nature of the text, I could not read the text clearly, and it was made worse by random pages that looked handwritten and unfinished due to a lack of inking. There also were some pages where the text suddenly changed to Spanish? I still am uncertain if this was an artistic choice to convey something about those particular pages or an oversight about maintaining a consistent inked font and art. While I was happy that the chapters were clear in terms of locations and time frames, the decision to label scene changes was not always consistent. It would be beneficial for an editor to review the text for these issues and opt for one version or the other and to potentially correct the sudden language change.

These issues are truly problematic since the actual chapters on the trials were interesting and informational. I enjoyed the art style, even though I needed to zoom in to read the font, and I found myself learning new facts about the trials that I previously did not know. I am aware the author wanted to communicate a stance regarding the capitalism and commercialization of Salem, but unfortunately this felt preachy about the state of Salem today and the history of the town felt unnecessary beyond the initial topic of the trials. Until this graphic novel receives serious edits, I cannot reccommend it to patrons or those interested in this topic.

Well I didn't love this. The art style is grotesque, but I guess it fits the story type.

But it's also so dang long. Needlessly long. The jumps around in time were confusing. The text was difficult to read.

It's a fail for me.

Incredible informative and interesting! With great illustrations and even greater facts this book is perfect for spooky season

More Weight is a graphic novel that explores the Salem Witch Trials across three timelines: 1692, 1860s & present day. It highlights the long shadow the trials cast and how it has shaped this city of Salem as it is today.

This was a hard book for me to rate, because there were some things I really loved, but there were also some things that just didn't work for me. So let's start with the great bits...

The art style was gorgeous. Beautifully illustrated, and very fitting for the story. There were moments within the book that felt quite cinematic and I could really feel the characters and the setting come to life. I also enjoyed Wickey's choice to have each era in a different style and colour-pallete. That was such a clever and very successful choice, and it worked really well at keeping each timeline and story straight whilst I was reading.

There was a lot of history packed into this story, and the author's research and passion for the stories and facts shone through so brightly. I enjoyed how all the timelines played into Salem's history, and highlighted how the witch trials especially have shaped the present-day town. I think Wickey got his point across well and there is a section at the end of the novel where he sums up the witch trials and how such a horrendous overstep of power still shows up in present day; in the author's own words: "There are consequences to the fictions that we tell. There is heft in the hype. This is America's clearest example of how a society can tear itself apart when authority is blinded by fanaticism, greed, vengeance and intolerance."

Unfortunately, there were some things that didn't work for me. The formatting made this very difficult to read, as the font was very small. I was reading on an ipad and, even zoomed it, the text was sometimes pretty impossible to decipher. I also feel like, in a graphic novel format, the pictures should be telling the majority of the story, with speech and text for additional context or understanding, but that wasn't really the case in More Weight. Whilst the imagery was fantastic, it took a backseat to the written word, and there were times where I questioned whether this would work better as a novel with interspersed pages of illustrations instead. At some points there were entire pages full of text, and some of it was printed too small to read.

I appreciate what the author was trying to achieve with this story, and I can see clearly the passion and time that has gone into creating it. It's not quite like anything I've read before, and sat in the middle-ground between graphic novel and written novel, which at times I enjoyed and at others I found hard to get into. Unfortunately this didn't quite work for me, but there were definitely some wonderful parts to this book that will stick with me.

Purchased for review ahead of purchasing for the library--Definitely buying this one! Can't wait for it to hit shelves.

This was the first graphic novel I’ve ever read and I really enjoyed experiencing the story in this format. I’ve always been fascinated by the history of the Salem Witch Trials, and I thought this was a creative and engaging way to bring that period to life.

That said, at times I did find it a little confusing. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, which made it harder to follow in certain places. Still, the overall storytelling was interesting and fun and I appreciated how the format made such a heavy piece of history more accessible.

As others have mentioned, this book is incredibly hard to read. The text isn't quite right and at times it's just too many words. It can be hard to find the happy medium in graphic novels between too many words and not enough and this one definitely needs more work.

A fact-based narration of parts of the Salem trials in the form of a comic book? I'm in. While I enjoyed the focus on the story of a married couple accused of witchcraft, thus forwarding the notion of how men were also considered witches (or wizards), and on the role children play in the whole farse, I could have done without the jumps forward to 1800-something, which I found a bit intrusive and unnecessary to the understanding of the story.

It is clear that a lot of research went into this book and it shows, and I really appreciated the notes at the end on the historical facts addressed in the book. Also, I enjoyed the final analysis on how Salem's trials have influenced the history of witchcraft and how they have been used, and reimagined, by the media and the art throughout the years, up until our days.

I'm not usually a read of comics, so I don't have a technical or so opinion on the art, but I really liked the drawings and I found the style perfect for this book and its topic. On note on the words: in some cases, I found them overwhelming, because of both the font and their density (at times the written parts were so long that the whole page was heavy on the eyes and it made it difficult to read them without pausing — I guess it'd be different on paper though).

My thanks to the author and the publisher for allowing me to read the ARC on NetGalley!

4.5/5!

I will admit that the first half of this book felt like reading a variation on a theme of The Crucible. The familiar names and the setting of the witch trials in Salem told the story of the persecution of the townsfolk by a group of young girls. It was an interesting true account of the events, but the best part of this graphic novel is the exegesis in the second half looking at how Salem has evolved (or not) since 1692 and what the trials have ultimately meant for the town. I found this information incredibly interesting and allowed me to view the town in a new way.

Well worth the read.

I cannot say enough positive things about the style and formatting of this graphic novel. I loved the illustrations and the coloring.

It is clear that the book is deeply researched. Wickey brings light to often overlooked figures and the real human cost of the hysteria.

I think this book could have benefited a bit form some culling down for my personal taste, but for readers who are willing to stick with it, this book is a really phenomenal and fresh look at a familiar tourist spot.

There is a worthwhile history of the Salem witch trials buried in these 534 pages, but the effort required to dig it out is simply too great. This is obviously a passion project, but it is one in need of a draconian editor.

I got bogged down 150 pages into the story, lost in the giant cast of poorly introduced characters. And not only are we dealing with the events of 1690, but there are alternating fantasy chapters set in the 1860s that imagine a long, miserable, and convoluted conversation between Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as they take a walking tour of Salem. Were I editor, these tedious intrusions would never have seen the light of day.

After setting the work aside for several weeks, I dived back in one lazy weekend afternoon and forced myself over the course of way too many hours to trudge through another 300 pages. I almost found myself intrigued at times as the story of Giles Corey finally took on a form I could decipher, but the author kept fighting me with a barrage of words and fantasy sequences.

And once I made it to the end of the narrative, there were still two challenges. The “Outro” — the author’s diatribe against the exploitative consumerism of modern-day Salem, a veritable “Witch City” amusement park — while interesting at times, is overburdened with purple prose and an ever-growing deluge of words that increasingly cause the captions to bulge further and further into the space meant for the illustrations. It was disheartening to turn the page and realize that my eyestrain was only going to get worse and Wickey’s tone more strident. And then there are the more than fifty pages of Author’s Notes, which of course are footnoted because how else can it be made more ridiculous?!?!?! I tried wading into this sea of text, but gave up after a page or three of sources, quotes, rationalizations, and asides.

The influence of Alan Moore’s <i>From Hell</I> seems to be all over this work — starting with his blurb on the front cover to the in-depth annotation. Moore’s study of Jack the Ripper has never broken into my mental top ten of his best works, often for similar reasons outlined above for this book, but he has a gift for putting together words and scenes that Wickey is still a long way from achieving but is at least moving toward — perhaps more quickly with some editorial assistance.


Disclosure: I received access to a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautifully illustrative and well-researched account of the Salem witch trials. Unfortunately the formatting of the app makes it difficult to follow the narrative at times as I struggle with the small writings. However, this is still an overall very positive and enjoyable read.

A clear labor of love, given the time dedication, this is true of most graphic novels but I feel it is even more apt describing this book, as Wickey grew up in the area and has very passionate viewpoints on what the city is and what the witch trials should mean. We follow three different time periods, the most compelling by far being the months of the actual Salem witch trials. We then jump forward about 150 years and follow Hawthorne and Longfellow visiting historic sites associated with the trials before ultimately reaching the third part and explore a brief history of Salem. The sections following the witch trials are evocative and near perfect, I think you could strongly argue that this is all the book needs. The 19th century section isn't quite up to par but does have the added benefits of showing how time has passed and what this has all meant. I believe if we interspersed these sections with a little history included in the third part of how we got to Nathaniel Hawthorne then you would have a more powerful document that encourages deep thinking about the trials. Instead, we get the third part, where Wickey's passionate viewpoints take over and we get a much more preachy version of the book. Wickey's disdain for the tourism that Salem must now rely on shines through. What began as a narrative graphic novel turns into an essay on the downfall of a city he truly loves. As I trudged through this final section, I couldn't stop thinking how more Giles Corey, and less of all this would have made quite the difference.

A haunting look at the Salem Witch Trials. Wickey's evocative art truly captures the tension and paranoia of the time.

More Weight: A Salem Story it´s a very interesting proposal that delves into Salem and witches. However, the pace, style, and events recounted fall short of expectations.
Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for this advanced reader's copy.

This graphic novel about the history and legacy of Salem in regards to the Witch Trials was thoughtful, informative, and intense.
The complicated drawings, strategic use of color, changes in art style alongside time shifts, and the subtle supernatural tinges all made for a moody, thorough, interesting, and respectful approach to the history.
There were times when the text was a little difficult to read, but I'm sure it will benefit from being in physical form.
This is by no means a short book, but it is a powerful read that is worth every page.
I finally feel as though I have a better understanding of the complex web of politics, greed, personal vendettas, and fear that resulted in the deaths of twenty innocent people.
I would highly recommend this book for any adult graphic novel collection.

I’m a huge fan of witches and Salem but unfortunately this missed the mark. The art style is stunning but there is too much crammed into each page that it’s visually overwhelming. Honestly, it was hard to read and it’s not a small book to try and get through.

Incredibly informative while keeping the narrative going. Very well done for such a dark topic! I felt immersed in this time period and felt I learned so much.