Thanks to NetGalley, IDW Publishing, and Top Shelf Publishing for giving me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Truth is, I was very intrigued by the art, and I enjoy witch stories and history as any folk nerd does, but the formatting of the book made it hard to follow the written story: very small lettering at times and not dyslexic friendly. I had to zoom in a lot and still would mesh the letters. This sadly icked me, and reading became more challenging as I found it hard to keep my interest with the mesh of stories. I wish I liked it more.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ebook as an ARC in exchange for a review!

3.5 stars

I greatly appreciate the attention to detail and dedication to the nuanced reality surrounding the Salem trials and the prolonged complicated relationship the town has with its history. From the sheer quantity of facts and names included, the author clearly put a lot of care into telling this story. Not only that, but the art is stunning and I loved the stylistic variety from the different centuries and the abstract panels in times of horror.

My biggest disconnect was with the pacing/ format, especially with the 19th century chapters. While the detail and focus was (understandably) greater with the 1692 timeline, it made the later portions seem rushed and random. I enjoyed the final section, progressing from immediately after the trial and detailing various local events until present day, but it made the prior few hundred pages appear much less engaging and drawn-out in comparison.

The work done by Wickey in correcting popular cultural assumptions and stereotypes in this beautiful graphic novel is considerable, and I hope that many will take the time to absorb this version of history.

""Every word is an accusation...and every whisper kills." This staggering graphic novel explores the infamous Salem witch trials and the long shadows they cast more than 300 years later.

In Salem, Massachusetts, 1692 is a year of terror. When accusations of witchcraft plunge the community into paranoia and death, curmudgeonly farmer Giles Corey and his great-souled wife Martha are forced to confront their troubled pasts, fighting to hold onto their principles even at the cost of their lives. In the 1860s, famed writers Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow stroll the streets of Salem together, reflecting on their own dark connections to those wicked days. Today, graphic novelist Ben Wickey wrestles with the complex legacy of "the Witch City" and what it shows us about the best and worst of humanity.

Based on true events, set in three centuries, and hand-drawn over a decade, More Weight is a stunning visual symphony - a unique and profound inquiry into the infamous Salem witch trials and the long shadows they still cast on us all."

And in, what was it, 2004, I walked the streets of Salem following in Hawthorne's steps. If you're anything like me, you NEED this book.

As a huge Salem nerd, I was particularly excited for this one. It didn’t quite meet expectations, though. The art was interesting, but so much was shoved onto each page. The text too. This does not lend itself to the graphic novel medium well, which is part of the reason the anticipation was so high for this book. I’m sure it’ll be thrilling for some other readers, but it just didn’t land for me. Over 500 pages, too much shoved into each page, making it a difficult read.
Would like to see this one with the format handled a bit differently.

More Weight is an ambitious and haunting graphic novel that tackles the Salem witch trials across centuries, weaving together the voices of those who lived through them, those who later wrote about them, and our own present-day reflections. It’s clear Ben Wickey poured years of research and passion into this project—the depth of detail is staggering, and the art carries a raw, unsettling energy that fits the subject perfectly.

That said, this is not a quick or easy read. At over 500 pages, it’s dense—both in text and imagery. Many panels are packed with so much information that I often had to stop, zoom in, and take breaks just to process everything. In a print edition, this might feel more manageable, but in digital form it was a challenge. The “handwritten” lettering, while atmospheric, sometimes hurt readability too.

Despite that, I really admire the ambition here. The shifting art styles across different timelines (1692, 1800s, and today) are clever and make the book feel layered. The attention to historical nuance is also impressive—this isn’t a sensationalized retelling, but one that asks us to sit with the real horror and its legacy.

For readers who love deeply researched history, don’t mind a slower pace, and want to see the Salem trials explored in a fresh visual way, this will be worth the effort. It’s heavy, demanding, and sometimes overwhelming, but it’s also unlike anything I’ve read before.

If you want serious Salem witch trial information and research, this is the graphic novel for you.
There is a surprising depth in this illustrated work that spans a very wide circle around the issue, touches on many of the various horrors and looks at the town holistically and through the ages.
The author is obviously very passionate, and is right in criticising the sensationalizing way of monetising past horrors. Suffering shouldn't be turned into entertainment, and yet, who could bear to live under the constant weight of millennia of human-made atrocities? I mean really...

It is a long and dense read and I wouldn't recommend the digital version. Even the paper format will probably take you a while as you'll be pausing to digest this massive 500 page work.
Great black and white illustrations with a lot of expression give personality to this book. I highly recommend it for history fans and heavy readers of non-fiction as it really isn't watered down.

Loved the art work, but there was just too much information on each page. The reading experience was not what I expected and hoped for.

I honestly could not get into this book. It is a bunch of short stories that take place during the Salem witch trials era. The drawings were not that good. The writing was not interesting to me either.

I really loved the art styles of this book and the extreme attention to detail. It was so cool to see panels of how the city most-likely looked during the Trials as well as how the city looks today with recognizable landmarks. There is so much information contained in this, more than most other historical graphic novels, so I think it'll be a must-have for anyone looking to learn more or already well-versed on the Witch Trials!

Three storylines weave together the Salem Witch Trials, the life of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the present. In 17th-century Salem, we are largely experiencing the trials by following Giles Corey--he had the unfortunate distinction of being the sole member of the accused to be pressed to death. The distinct art styles for each time are beautifully done, particularly the vividly colored present-day drawings. However, Giles Corey is not a particularly sympathetic figure for much of the narrative, making it difficult to invest in the story.. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eBook copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me an Arc in exchange for my honest thoughts. I wanted to love this so much. Growing up in New England, I've always been fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials. This book contained A LOT of information, the author clearly did their research, and it was presented in a way that was easily read. The artwork is what really drew me in, it was eye catching and i enjoyed the black/white panels in contrast to the colored ones. My drawbacks on this were the digital copy provided was hard to read especially because there is a TON of information on every page. For me it just felt overloaded and bogged down. Personally, I feel it would have been an easier read in a typical novel format with included artwork sprinkled throughout. Some parts were almost illegible due to the "handwritten" style, and I couldn't do anything else except guess what they were saying. The interconnecting timelines made for an interesting read and connecting the themes to today's climates was a nice touch. Ultimately, this book felt like a chore to get through.

I love the artwork, but there are a lot of places where I cannot read the full text, probably because of formatting issues. There are boxes with words that are cropped off at the top.

I am fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials as well but this book is just too difficult to read due to formatting issues.

I was so excited to get to read this book, I've always been fascinated by Salem and the brutality of the Witch Trials. Unfortunately, the art was about the only thing I enjoyed about this book...
This is a chuncky book, sitting at over 500 pages. There are plenty of big books out there that make every page worth it, but this book just felt bloated and was a chore to read in some places. I was reading it on an iPad and there were still times when I had to zoom waaaaaaaay in just to be able to read a single frame of text. The layout really suffered from how much the artist tried to cram onto each page. And there were times when the text wasn't legible at all. I'm not sure if this was an artistic decision, but I did see that at the end of the book there is about 30 pages of text which I surmise to be the typed out illegible handwriting found throughout the book. That would have upset me if I had been reading a print version of this graphic novel let alone if someone were trying to read the digital version.
There are parts of the novel where it is just walls of words, which defeats the idea of a graphic novel to me. A graphic novel should rely on the pictures to do most of the exposition of the story. It seems like this should have just been a novel, not a graphic novel.
Most of the story is set in 1692, during the witch trials. But sometimes we would jump forward to 1800, and I really could have done without this storyline. It did not add anything but more pages to read.
Thank you to NetGalley, IDW Publishing, and Top Shelf Publishing for giving me the chance to read this book. I wish I had postive things to say about it.

As someone who’s recently fallen in love with graphic novels and has a long-standing fascination with the Salem witch trials, More Weight: A Salem Story was high on my list of anticipated reads. I was thrilled to receive an advance copy from NetGalley and the publisher—thank you for the opportunity!

Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite live up to my expectations. At over 500 pages, it’s an ambitious project, and while I appreciated the depth and seriousness with which the subject matter was treated, the reading experience—particularly in digital format—was challenging. Each page is densely packed with both text and artwork, making it feel overwhelming at times and difficult to engage with for long stretches.

That said, the art itself is cool. The visual storytelling is evocative, adding emotional weight and atmosphere to the narrative. I truly admired the artistic choices, but ultimately, they weren’t enough to carry the entire story for me.

This may be a more rewarding experience in print, where the formatting and pacing might feel less taxing. I still think it’s a valuable contribution to Salem literature and graphic storytelling—just not the best fit for me personally.

Thank you to Top Shelf Publishing and NetGalley for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really wanted to love this graphic novel about the events in Salem, Massachusetts in the 17th century and beyond. The artwork is unique and detailed, and you can tell that the story was heavily researched. Clocking in around 500 pages, this is one hefty graphic novel that will have a niche audience.

Despite being well-researched, I felt like there was too much information and further editing needed to make this more palatable to the audience the publisher is trying to reach. I felt that there was too much information provided. Some pages had so much text that I couldn't appreciate the illustrations. The text has a handwritten, cramped style that made it hard to read on my 10-inch tablet. I was constantly zooming in to try and read, which makes me wonder how big the actual book will be.

Overall, not a great experience for a graphic novel, but I do appreciate the effort.

More Weight is historical brilliance. The amount of time, research and passion pours out the pages as you're reading. This project took 10 years and you learn to appreciate the work as you read through. Wickey displays a powerful debut as he delves deep into the history of Salem, Massachusetts. Wickey begins the book in modern day Salem, focusing on the commercialization found within the streets. Tourists are popular as many visit to either learn about Salem's history or partake in the gimmicky Halloween attractions. He then shares two more timelines, one during the time of The Witch Trials, and one during the time of Hawthorne's writings during his time in Salem.

Wickey thoughtfully intertwines each era and shows how history changes and shapes what we see today. Wickey's art is stunning, as he displays three different art styles for 3 eras. Not only does he alternate art styles but his use of coloring as well, which shapes the entire graphic novel. Coloring is an important aspect of comics storytelling. The main era, of Giles Corey, is drawn in black and white, but Wickey puts emphasis on certain panels by including a splash of color in the monochromatic pages. This use of color is well thought out and encourages the reader to take note certain scenes or events and how they influence the reading experience.

Research is one of Wickey's strong suits as he expertly shares meticulous details in historical retellings. This book is a culmination of 10 years of work and you can see that in his writing and illustrating styles. His passion seeps through the pages as he shares the impact and true history that Salem has on us all.

I was able to attend a signing of his at San Diego Comic Con, and being able to share my love for his book was one of the highlights of my trip.

This has nothing to do with the publisher directly but NetGalley makes it hard to read graphic novels. That aside, this book is interesting enough but taking a story that has been told over and over again just doesn't make it groundbreaking enough. I found myself flipping through some pages trying to get to the end. Maybe it was just not for me!

Excellent book really deep into salems witch trials it’s dark deep and horrific.

They didn’t burn witches they burned women is always a quote I hear when I see witchcraft in books and how even now this could be a reality because people are still this ignorant and sexist.

The artwork is very odd but fitting for the story and it shows a lot of creative license.

I’d recommend this to teens or adults younger kids might not get it .but it’s quite a story .

When I read the description/ premise of this book it seemed perfect for me. Unfortunately, the book didn’t live up to my expectations.

The book was way too long. I appreciate that there is a lot of information to contain but the text was often quite dense amongst the cartoon and even the more digestible authors notes were a slog to read.

I did love the images because I have travelled to Salem myself from Wales and it captures the enchantment of the city perfectly. I just wonder if this would have been better as a novel accompanied by illustrations rather than a graphic novel.

I am also not really sure what audience it is targeting maybe late teens because the information is very full on I’m not sure early teens attentions would be captured.

I have to admit I’ve never gotten that deep into the Salem Witch Trials, so the in-depth political context provided here was fascinating. Extensive author’s notes at the back provide additional context that didn’t fit within the pages.

The introduction was difficult for me to get through because of the density of text, but the issue resolved throughout the rest of the book.

I love the lettering. I think the art style is great, and the exaggerated features really highlight the increasing paranoia.