Will I See?

A beautiful book which you must read, although it will make you weep.

Haunting and beautiful. A great read. I'll definitely recommend it to like minded readers.

Absolutely unforgettable! Will I See? addresses the topic of violence against women with beauty and power.  The black and white images are realistic, but there is also a dreamlike quality to them.  Swaths of red add a dramatic flair, implying violence and death.  Will I See? has a strong emotional affect and is best suited for teens and older readers.

May, a young teenage girl meets up with a cat who helps her to find various keepsakes.  With each item, readers are shown what happened to the previous owner.  In each instance, a violent crime was committed against a young native woman.  May's kookum (grandmother) fashions these into a necklace for her to wear and warns her that her youth doesn't protect her from being taken.  Young native women are disappearing.  When May faces danger she must rely on her own strength and that of those who passed before.

Will I See? is beautiful, powerful and dramatic, skillfully addressing a topic of immense importance.  Violence against women is underreported, and those who do bring charges are often attacked again by the public.  Will I See? would make an excellent addition to a junior high or high school reading list.  It makes a great starting point for discussion.  It is also a graphic novel that would be good for parents to share with their daughters.

5/5

I received a copy of Will I See? from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

Black and white drawings with splashes of read are starkly appropriate to illustrate this story that highlights the violence faced by Native women.
The topic is timely and powerful, and the art is both beautiful and gruesome. The storyline is suffused with magical/spiritual traditional beliefs, and while I appreciated that, I also sometimes found it difficult to understand what was happening. I confess that I was probably hampered by my own lack of familiarity with some of the Native storytelling traditions that informed this piece.
Well worth a read, and sometimes what we don't understand can be as education as what we do.

This was a beautiful story with wonderful artwork. It took me a minute to get into the story but seeing the meanings of the animals at the end was a very useful resource. I ended up rereading the story with the new found understanding of the story. The culture of the story was wonderful and I would definitely suggest this story to my friends.

Coupled with magical realism elements, this beautifully illustrated graphic novel portrays in a heart-wrenching yet encouraging tone the empowerment of women that arises from overcoming gender and race violence and making their voice heard.
Dear women: we can do anything and united we are stronger.
Full review on my blog: http://aleph1984.blogspot.com.ar

Trigger Warning: Violence Against Women. This warning is the first thing the reader sees after opening the cover to Will I See? and after reading it, I am appreciative that the publisher was aware enough to include it. This is a powerful story that weaves fantasy and reality to show the world the terrible reality of Indigenous women.

Will I See? is a tale of May, a young teenage girl, who after meeting a curious black cat, travels around her city finding keepsakes along the way. As she collects these keepsakes, the art becomes more shadowed, with a masterful display of overlapping a world of dreams, the past, and muddle knowledge with the stark and present reality. This contrast was powerful enough to make my skin crawl as I read it, dreading what would inevitably have to come. The line between the world of shadow, of fantasy, becomes further blurred after May’s kookum (grandmother) crafts a necklace out of the keepsakes – a traditional practice that is further explained after the story’s conclusion.

For me, the most powerful part of this story was the pure, honest nature of the interactions between May and her kookum. The day-to-day fears of a parent-figure, expressed strongly and clearly, but with a hint of regret that in order to best protect her granddaughter, she has no choice but to instill a healthy fear. All too often, stories that involve violence against women fail to express this grief-stricken acknowledgement of the tragedy of reality – Will I See? hits that mark better than anything I have read in recent memory.

Without spoiling the ending, don’t fret that this will be a depressing tale. While there is absolutely reason to be hurt, saddened, and frustrated – if you are none of those, I suspect you aren’t actually reading this story – there is hope and strength as well. Reassurance in the traditions and faith of an entire people shine through and provide a reminder to not give up, to not succumb entirely to despair.

Will I See? adds to a short list of comics that address the seemingly endless issue of violence against women – and one of the only ones I am aware of that focuses particularly Indigenous women. The need for these stories, combined with the masterful, hauntingly beautiful artwork make this a must-have title, not only for libraries, but for anyone – meaning, everyone – who works with those most at risk for violence.

What happens to the spirits that are killed violently? Indigenous women in Canada are being killed, or vanishing at an alarming rate. I feel that the author is trying to address this issue, but in a way that shows that spirits live on.

This is a dark, yet up lifting tale of one such young Cree woman who finds things left by those who have vanished, and tries to make sense of it.

It is a quick read, almost the length of a short story, and is probably hovering between a three and a half and a four star.

It is a sad state of affairs that First Nation women are being "taken" at such an alarming rate. This graphic novel/comic book, of course, is not the solution, but more a calling out of the situation.

The publisher specializes in books about First Nation peoples, and I would recommend this, as well as their other books to those who want to know more, and even to those who don't know that they should know more.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Will I See? is a whimsically drawn, poignant story highlighting the issues surrounding violence against Indigenous women today. It's quite short but the art style is done really well; it could be quite chaotic at times which matched the story. It was also written well. The note at the end clarified the significance of the spirit animals and made the story that much more meaningful. I think that the message the authors and illustrators are trying to convey is a really important one and was done subtly but effectively here.

Note: With these types of books I find it hard to give a suitable rating, especially as the message is so important, so it will remain unrated.

This book is so powerful. I almost wish it were longer, because it's so short--but really, how could anyone handle that? My heart beat so fast reading it, the fight or flight response almost kicking in, because my reaction to this was so visceral.

The premise of this graphic novel is that a teenage girl, May, is being led by a stray cat to find unique and meaningful trinkets along her walk home. At her house, her grandmother helps her to make a necklace of her findings. Unknown to her, the found items are from other Indigenous girls and women who have been kidnapped and probably murdered. Some dark forces are at work, but when May encounters her own trial with the darkness, she finds strength from her necklace and the items' previous owners.

David Alexander Robertson got his point across. He wanted to bring attention to Indigenous girls and women going missing in Canada, and boy, did he! I will be looking up information on this happening and doing anything I can from here. And GMB Chomichuk's illustrations are so incredibly affecting! I was terrified a portion of the time reading this because the combination of words and illustrations was so strong, and I just had to focus on something else for a minute. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes graphic novels that are gritty, nonfiction, or emotional. Or to everyone, because it's that good!

Will I See? is a comic book about a girl that goes around town and finds keepsakes as she goes. Each keepsake has a story that she sees in front of her.
It is a very violent novel. The art is beautiful and I loved the combination of black and white with the red blood.
It is quite short and has almost no text, the story is told mainly by the images. The plot is simple but enjoyable.
It was a very intense comic book but I liked it and I'm glad I picked it up.

'Will I See?' by David Alexander Robertson with art by GMB Chomichuk was a surreal read, and I liked it. I'm still not entirely sure what the title means though.

A young girl named May wanders the streets. She finds odd bits of things and takes them home to her grandmother, along with a stray cat that follows her home. Her grandmother makes the items into a kind of necklace. It seems that the items May has found are soemtimes born out of violence, and when May next travels out into the world, she will have to call on primal forces for protection. There is danger and May is prey. Can she find safety?

The art is mostly black and white and grey with distinct areas of red. The pictures are mostly silhouette and shadow and the panels have interesting writng and runes on them. The story feels a bit fragmented, but it works really well. Included at the end are explanations of the spirit animals that show up to help May. I'm not sure I would have read this if I'd seen it on the shelf, but I gave it a chance since I got a review copy and I'm glad I got to read it.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Portage & Main Press, HighWater Press, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This story is beautiful, haunting and brings light to an incredibly important and terrifying issue. The spirits of the past can offer strength and may ultimately save your life. It's a short read but well worth your time because it carries a powerful message

A short graphic novel with mystical art, that almost makes you feel like you're slowly making your way through a museum.

This story starts off with a young girl who is innocently wandering by when she encounters a cat, after which things get very dark, very quickly. The scenes are depicted with stunning illustrations that grasp you by the hand and demand, "Listen." At the heart of it, this story is about violence against Indigenous women, but it also briefly touches upon some of the inspiring Indigenous spiritual traditions.

I will admit that the ending confused me but the authors' notes helped in comprehending the story better.