Graphic novels aren't really my thing and WOOHOO, THIS BROKE THE STREAK OF ONE-STAR READS IN A ROW I'D BEEN GOING THROUGH!! I'm so happy. (dances) So. I looked at the cover and all its credits. I don't know anything about the work that goes into putting a graphic novel together, but I'm guessing it might be rare for so many specific people to be noted. That made me happy.

The first animations are of trees in the dark with accompanying creepy lettering and text. I was so excited to turn the page. This was a fairly standard romance with a few fantastical features (woo unintentional alliteration!) and from what I gathered, a wonderful retelling of the 1600s German folk tale. One element that was clearly fantasy was the Deaf protagonist Maggie, read lips so clearly and--from what I understand, not very much language can be read clearly on the lips alone, so that kept throwing me off. It was great to have other details in, though. Agnes was wonderful! I was surprised at how invested I was in the story and even though the ending had me sad, it still fit well with what the authors were doing. I'm so glad I read this. ( )

I'm probably being too critical, because on the whole this is a perfectly fine pseudo-medieval piece of storytelling, but several of the details got right up my nose.

1: Your main character is Deaf, and explicitly only lip reading, and yet there are multiple scenes in which characters are speaking from behind her and she replies, or speak from the side while not facing her. That's sloppy.

2: Don't try to pass off fiction as history -- and if it really is based off history, do a better job of being really clear what is and isn't. The book opens with a letter about finding details about the real history of Hameln, but because it's also a foil to set the mood for the story, the veracity is super unclear.

3: This is supposed to be a medieval story. The images are fantasy medieval at best, and generic at worst. I don't hate the images, they just seem lazy in the details, and not particularly accurate to time and place. Likewise, the leadership of Hameln in the Middle Ages could give a sh*t about whether the townsfolk believe in them. Would they want to clear out a rat plague? Yes, for productivity reasons. Would they care if the villagers were unhappy? Not likely. And the wedding scene -- totally inaccurate, from the white dress to the ceremony. Argh. Wrong, wrong, wrong. ( )

I love adaptations and retellings of the Pied Piper tale, and this one slipped my notice because the synopsis makes no mention that it's a retelling, rather making it sound like a love story between two outcasts.

Maggie is beautifully drawn, a shock of color in the more uniform color palette of Hamelin and everyone in it. The Piper is also beautiful and unlike anyone else in Hamelin, drawing the connection between the two of the immediately.

I was a little confused about how Maggie was able to talk so well, but once it was explained that she wasn't born deaf it made more sense. It could have been a little more clear that she was looking at people as they talked so she could read their lips, but that's a minor quibble. ( )

It was a nice read. Illustration and Dialogue were good. Ending seemed rushed. ( )