Wytches Volume 1 by Scott Snyder, art by Jock

"Pledged is pledged."

After rumors spread that Sailor killed one of her classmates, her family moves to a new town, hoping to make a fresh start. Unfortunately, the town is home to a group of wytches, genie-like creatures who will grant you whatever you desire, as long as you keep them fed. Sailor is pledged to the wytches and it's up to her father, Charlie, to save her.

So here's the thing. Charlie isn't a very likable character, which kind of sucks since half the story centers around him. I felt the same way I did while listening to Pet Sematary. He's not the greatest father or husband and it's difficult to care about him. Anyone who drunkenly forces their child to climb up a ferris wheel in an attempt to get them to deal with their fears and anxiety is pretty terrible. I didn't really feel an attachment to the rest of the characters either and I think that may be because of the format. Wytches is a graphic novel and a lot of the story is told through illustrations. It didn't have the same affect on me that a novel would have, where you spend a lot of time getting to (hopefully) know each character. There are also numerous time jumps and I had to go back and reread certain panels, several times, because it wasn't always clear where one began and ended.

I would rate Wytches a 3/5 and honestly, that may be more about me than the book itself. I've read graphic novels before, but I feel like I almost get lost reading them and I'm left somewhat confused and not really understanding what I just read because there are so few words and I have to fill in the blanks by looking at each panel (and I'm not the most observant, detail oriented person). Sometimes it's almost like I'm trying to fit the pieces of a puzzle together. There's nothing wrong with Wytches. I like the watercolor art style. I'm just not the biggest fan of this format and it wasn't the most interesting horror story I've ever read. But you know, that could also be because this is only volume 1 and maybe the plot would have more depth to it and be more enjoyable if I continued on with it. Just basing my opinions on this one book though, I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.