This was a weird read. I appreciated the art and the structure of the story. However it was hard for me to connect to these characters. If anything, I found the art distracting from the story because I was in such awe of the detail and amazingness of it that I would forget what was happening in the story.

It was beautiful and honest and heart-wrenching but for me, characters are a large factor and I struggled with these two main characters. I thought the history was interesting and again, the art was the best part. That's why I liked it -- not stellar but I liked it.

This is a visually impressive book with heavy leather cover and gold lettering. It gave me the sense of something precious within, and I was happy to find that it was true! Craig Thompson brings the same poignant vulnerability to these exotic fictional characters that we saw in his earlier book, Blankets. The contrast between the harsh realities of child abuse and human bondage with sublime art and scriptural quotation leaves the reader fully stupefied with the incredible discrepancies of our world. It's a good story too.

I could not put this one down. It was both beautiful in writing and in its art work. Got this one at the library but I'm going to have to buy a copy of this one. It's just to wonderful not to have on the shelf. I will probably end up reading this one again before too long. So much in the art and symbolism I'm sure I didn't catch the first time around

Very impressive work. Would like to read the story behind the story.

This book is deep. I need to check it out again just to fully absorb the integration of storyline with philosophical & spiritual references. A love story not just between two human beings, but between human and the Divine. Speaks also to the experience of class & gender oppressions. Gorgeous illustrations and text (lettering).

Very disturbing! I've never read a story with so much rape/non-consensual sex or prostitution in it (plus slavery and mutilation and polluted slums and...) There's is a sense of futility, fatalism, and powerlessness throughout--leaves a bitter aftertaste.
The only reason I kept reading was the bold, intricate art.

One of my all time favorite books, this sweeping graphic novel seamlessly blends fantasy and reality, history and contemporary, romance and tragedy. Set over 19 years, two children experience slavery and freedom in Arabia. The artwork is phenomenal and even overwhelming at times. All-time favorite!

Every man in this is a rapist and/or pedophile, every woman exists to be raped or otherwise sexualized in loving detail. The heroine (like the rest of the women in the story) has no agency of her own and makes decisions only to appease the brutal men who dominate her life.

Beautiful art, horribly depressing, unfulfilling Orientalist mess of a story. I have lost all respect for the author.

And you can try to tell me the author draws the heroine naked every other page for some deep artistic reason, but I won't believe you.

A very well organized story, but the characters are somewhat cartoonish (flat, stereotypical.)

Everything about this book is phenomenal.