Weird thing #1: Despite the artist hand lettering a page number on each page of his art, the publisher has chosen to also include a typeset page number at the bottom of each page.

Weird thing #2: At the start of the book, there is a difference of 4 between the artist's page number and the typeset page number.

Weird thing #3: At the end of the book, there is a difference of 2 between the artists's page number and the typeset page number.

Bad thing #1: The pages that should have been hand-lettered with 61 and 62 are either missing from the book or do not exist?

My review:

I'm surprised to find myself not giving this book a two-star rating, as at heart it is a nonsensical fairy tale with characters that aren't particularly likable or endowed with personalities making and breaking promises to characters who aren't particularly unlikable or endowed with personalities but are still intent on punishing the betrayal like villains. And the story itself is like playing with a Russian nesting doll as a framing sequence kicks off a story which gives way to a story within the story which gives way to a story within THAT story, and then each story wraps up in turn as we return to the framing sequence.

The stories all read like some sort of parable or fable, but for the life of me, I don't even know what point was being made by any of the stories.

I think there must be some quality in the odd and quirky art that bound the nonsense together and made it work for me. ( )

Hâsib is a young woodcutter who is double-crossed and left for dead by his fellow loggers. Luckily, he's not alone in his cave prison: a "lowly" (yet talkative! and star-bound!) scorpion leads him to the Queen of the Serpents, who in turn commands a snake to show him the way out. But not before they exchange stories: he, the tale of how he came to be trapped below ground; she, fantastical stories of angels and demons, princes and peeping toms (spoiler alert: not mutually exclusive), demons and goblins.

I wanted to love this graphic novel, but the story-within-a-story-within-a-story narrative is kind of hard to follow; perhaps those with a stronger background in One Thousand and One Nights will better appreciate it? Also, the artwork isn't entirely to my liking, though this could be due at least in part to the rough, pixelated quality of the ARC.

** Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley. ** ( )