Ye

by Guilherme Petreca, Andrea Rosenberg (Translator)

Jaw-dropping artwork breathes stunning life into a mute boy's fantastic odyssey through time and space in this award-winning debut from the booming Brazilian comic scene.

Ye is a curious young man, named after the only sound he knows how to make. His voice must have been stolen by the Colorless King, the source of all the world's sorrows -- terrifying, unrelenting, all-taking and never-giving. Now, Ye has no choice but to embark on a long voyage over land and sea, past grizzled pirates, a drunken clown, and more, to find the famous witch who can help him defeat the Colorless King. What he discovers may be a lesson for us all.

Young cartoonist Guilherme Petreca won Brazil's prestigious HQ Mix Award for Best Artist due to the unforgettable imagery on every page of Ye, his first full-length graphic novel. In the tradition of The Little Prince, The Neverending Story, and A Wrinkle in Time, this graphic fable will leave young and old readers awestruck and eager to relive the journey.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Adventure, Graphic Novels Comics

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2016

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma]

A beautifully illustrated first graphic novel by Guilherme Petreca about a boy who is named for the only sound he can make: Ye. His voice may have be taken away by the Colorless King. He sets out on a voyage essentially to "find his voice," facing what one expects on such voyages: Pirates, a drunken clown, and a witch with whom he can fight the Colorless King.

Again, the artwork is lovely all the way through, but the story is unsurprising. It's a simple allegory about finding your voice against all challenges. The publishers link it to other allegorical classics such as A Wrinkle in Time and The Little Prince, which is true, but the former have greater depth and complexity. Maybe the artwork along makes it deserve 4 stars, but I think I am going to hold with 3 for now. Worth a look, for sure!

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant]

Super inviting art, but the story, which is more of a message than anything else, is a bit too simplistic, what makes this book worthwhile is the surrealistic ride Guilherme takes you through this odd yet strangely familiar world, felt like travelling through a painting.

[Juho Pohjalainen]

I like allegories where it's not completely in your face - where you can forget about the stuff and just enjoy a good fantasy adventure. Ye mostly pulls it off. I like the art, too.

[Maria Rentgen]

Panels are very beautifully illustrated and done in an interesting style. The story is banal but fair and universal. Imagine "The Little Prince" if it was less pretentious, more exotic yet, sadly, oversimplified.

[kam]

Gra kolorów okazała się naprawdę fajnym zagraniem. W dodatku całość była po prostu... ładna. Jeśli natomiast chodzi o fabułę — bardzo prosta historia drogi, gdzie chodzi o pokonywanie lęków. Ale. Wszystko zostało ujęte bardzo zgrabnie. Lubię takie historie, ot co.

[~ bri ~]

piękna historia w cudowny sposób obrazująca strach i nieporadność siebie

[Anna]

Stunning!

[Amelia Majors]

The illustrations on this graphic novel were beautiful! However the meaning behind the story of facing your inner darkness (Anxieties, depression, fears, etc.). By summoning the courage to face opposition despite how long it may take or impossible it may seem. That in itself is the true treasure.

[Alice Cannon]

Beautiful art!!!!! the story is really sweet and simple but wow the art makes this book.

[Drew Canole]

A really fantastic magical realism journey. A young boy named Ye is mute. He gets infected by the Colorless King and must journey to find a witch who can remove the curse and find his voice. It's a thinly veiled analogy of depression and fear. Perhaps because of my age I see it more as depression, but for Ye, a young boy, it's perhaps more coming-of-age and overcoming fear.

Fantastic artwork throughout. The story is pretty thin, it's nearly feels like a silent comic at times. Honestly, I think you could remix this comic to remove all the dialogue and it could work (perhaps even be stronger for it.

It's another comic I'm going to give to my niece, I think she'll love it.

[itselv]

Beautiful artwork and character design. The story, albeit meaningful, is very simple, rendering it unmemorable.

[Antônia Perry]

A arte do Guilherme Petreca é muito delicada e bem trabalhada, fiquei impressionada com a beleza dos traços, e com a quantidade de detalhes de cada ínfimo desenho. Acho que é uma das artes mais bonitas que já vi em algum quadrinho. A história, apesar de ter uma boa mensagem sobre uma busca interior humana, dependeu muito disso, e no final fiquei com uma sensação de que faltava um pouco mais. No geral um bom quadrinho, mas a história podia ter se desenvolvido melhor em vez de só depender da mensagem por trás dela, e da belíssima arte.

[Cherlynn | cherreading]

This was SOOOO meaningful despite seemingly simplistic due to the minimal text. The book is titled 'Ye' after its protagonist, who does not speak other than to say his name. While other characters in the book assume that he is mute and speak of him "catching the king's breath" (a way of saying that someone is sick), there is actually more to Ye than meets the eye!

A wonderful graphic novel about having the courage to face your demons, owning your scars, and finding your voice.

[Tracey]

graphic novel (teen/adult) - fantasy/magic.
I borrowed this from the library because it had a selective mute protagonist, but the story involved him surviving a series of adventures while he searched for a "cure" to his mutism--this is far from the story of acceptance I was hoping for, but the artwork is lovely and the story is skillfully told.

[Emily]

I loved the artwork in this so much. Ye’s was a common struggle, wrapped elaborately in a fantastical adventure. Sitting out in the sunshine, paging through this on the first day of 2021 I was able to do so was lovely indeed.

[Aer]

5 — very pretty and my bf read it to me so that helped too

[Marc Bosch]

Los dibujos de Petreca y una historia que rebosa de alegorías extraídas del universo Jungiano, acercan a Ye a las cuatro estrellas: desde el Yo (Ye) que representa el único vocablo que el Ego es capaz de formular hasta al Sí mismo, pasando por el inevitable encuentro cara a cara con la sombra. Si de algo adolece el libro, es de quedarse demasiado rato en las imágenes simbólicas recreadas en exceso. Ni las batallas del mundo real, ni la sombra, ni las caídas, ni las heridas parecen doler demasiado. Y por poca conciencia que de ellas tengamos, sabemos que cuando las padecemos dan un poco más de vértigo.

[Adriana]

I guess this was about depression? It was one big metaphor where the main character can only say his name. He's lost himself, his voice to the colorless king. He journeys to find a witch to help him and encounters pirates, a clown, and danger. Beautiful artwork but I wasn't as touched by the story as I think I was supposed to have been. I thought it was about war and maybe Ye used to be a soldier. Everything kind of got lost in the metaphor.

[Elion Duarte]

“Moja blizna to także moje lekarstwo”. Jeju, jakie to było wspaniałe.

[Maeve]

Ye (named after the only sound he makes) has been cursed by the Colorless King. To get rid of the curse, he must travel to the witch Incredible Miranda. On his journey, he meets pirates and clowns and travels across land and see. When he finally meets Miranda, she tells him he must look inside to cure his mutism.

An interesting allegory for fighting one's inner demons. It seems that Ye suffers from nightmares, and once he learns to stand up for himself, he is able to find his voice (selective mutism?).

[Bloom]

No m'ha agradat. És més, se m'ha fet pesat, massa recarregat i fosc. Puc valorar que és bo, però m'ha interessat poc. Nono, m'ha interessat poc i a més m'ha disgustat.

[Benjamin Niespodziany]

I felt like this graphic novel was made for me. Bring me any and every story that features a snowstorm, a pirate battle, a circus, a hot air balloon, and a drunk clown. Such fun, and such jaw-dropping illustrations.

[Kurage]

Delightful

[Mateus Lima]

A arte é simplesmente maravilhosa e incrível, já a história é bem fofa, apesar de não tão original.

[Alyse]

Short and whimsical, like a bizarre dream (in the best way)

[Agnieszka]

Ziew.

[Uva Costriuba]

uma bela história juvenil sobre amadurecimento e simplicidade.

essa é mais uma narrativa em que uma personagem coadjuvante é muito mais interessante que o personagem principal... a bruxa claramente tem uma história ótima que não é contada. até o palhaço é mais interessante que o ye. os piratas também receberam um investimento especial nas suas silhuetas e cenas de ação; estes, enquanto personagens, tem a mesma profundidade que os habitantes do vilarejo rural de ye... ou seja, são figurantes que passam rápido (embora desfilem roupas e detalhes bem construídos).

com um traço bonito, texturas variadas e uma descrição volumétrica dramática, esse quadrinho vale a pena por sua beleza.

a quadrinização se permite respiros importantes e o ritmo da história é ótimo. há páginas quase completamente pintadas de preto e outras quase deixadas em branco. entre as numerosas páginas cravejadas de detalhes cobertos por hachuras, há uma certa variação do uso do requadro e uma uniformidade de estilo bastante cuidadosa.

o fato do personagem principal abrir os olhos e ser desenhado diferente no final me deixou preocupada: me parece racista usar uma caracterização física de olhos puxados para depois "superar" isso junto com "o medo" e a "mudez" provavelmente provocados pela guerra (que não aparece no quadrinho). com um climão de leste europeu na hq toda, é bastante complicado trabalhar esses traços físicos constrastantes com as feições claramente brancas das outras personagens. é algo a se pensar.

no geral, um belo quadrinho.
leitura rápida de uma sentada, mas volume imponente de muitas páginas de história. recomendo para adolescentes.

[Anna]

A dreamlike and rather vague fable of a boy unable to speak who must find a famous witch to help him remove the mark of the dreaded Colourless King from him. It seems to be an allegory for learning to stand up to yourself or at least to your own negative thoughts/feelings (depression? anxiety?), but the message gets a little muddled in the surreal wandering tone of the story. The resolution didn't make too much sense to me, since Ye's inability to speak predates the touch of the king, so what was that whole touch part about? Made the whole problem unclear in my mind. But the art style is appealing, if a bit rough here and there, and readers who enjoy basking in the atmosphere of a story will find a distinct medium-dark dreamy atmosphere here.
Warnings: alcohol, some pirate violence

[Przemysław Skoczyński]

Spory zawód. Zapowiadał się komiks roku, a wyszła banalna metafora, której przekleństwem jest to, że jest przeźroczysta dla każdego. Ładnie wygląda i tyle. Póki co Petreca to Coelho wśród komiksiarzy. Szkoda.

[Marília Hamada]

Uma bonita e simples história superação e amadurecimento através dos lindos traços desta hq.