This was. Interesting. Confusing. Gay goth horror. Intricate. And very beautifully drawn. But still confusing. I don't even have the words to review this right now, I will re read it again but this was confusing? Felt very disjointed at least to my taste and I cannot fully grasp the story. But anyways, thus was beautiful still. Don't really know how to word this.

gorgeous art as usual but I found the story and especially the ending a too bit vague… while I normally like open endings even when they're vague, in this case I just felt i needed a bit more information for the story to stand up on its own despite the vagueness

This one felt a bit disjointed in the storyline but the art was so beautiful! Loved the black, white, and red color scheme, and the countess was gorgeous.

I would buy full sized poster prints of pages from this book. Emily Carroll’s art is both minimalist and drop-dead gorgeous in eye-popping black, white and red. This slim volume is a dark fairy tale about a dangerous countess and the village woman who comes to her castle to stop her reign of terror. The story is mysterious, sensual, and ultimately elliptical, but I loved the overall effect. I need to finally get around to reading Through the Woods, which I’ve owned for a few years now.

Loved by the illustrations, but the overall story left me wanting more…

3.75 stars | Creepy af.

the art style and the writing mwah 💋

Well that was uh...weird. Beautiful visuals but very strange story. I feel like there was definitely something I was missing. Just very odd.

It is a bit confusing as others have said, though it's still very enjoyable if only for the art and beautiful writing. I did read one person's interpretation of the plot and it makes sense and I think it adds an extra dimension to the story, but I also think it's great if you only take things on a more metaphorical level. I've never read a graphic novel with such beautiful writing. There's so few words but they give such a visceral sense of the scene and what the main character is feeling. Not to mention all the outstanding layouts. As much as I love this as a graphic novel, I'd be curious to see this as an animated short and take the body horror that extra step further (and maybe make the plot a little clearer).

2.5. The art is gorgeous but the story is completely confusing.

This was....... strange.