Mooncakes // Book Review

Thank you to netgalley and Lion Forge for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

 Book: Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu
Release Date: October 15h 2019
Tags: Young Adult / New Adult / Graphic Novel / Fantasy / Werewolves / Magic / Witches / Family / Friendship / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian Grandmothers / Non-binary / Disability / Hard-of-hearing / Hearing Aids / POC / Chinese-American

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.
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One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.
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Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery

What initially drew me to Mooncakes is how incredibly cute that cover is. It shows the art style very well and hints at what the book is going to be about. I thought the art was solid for the most part however I think the action scenes could have used some more work. They felt a little awkward in the movement front.

Along with that there were some conversations with jokes that were awkward and in turn it made the art feel awkward in those scenes too. There wasn’t a good flow in the conversation/joke so that the hit of the joke didn’t really hit.

Having said that however, those are my only complaints about this cute graphic novel. This is just a great magical story that gives me all the warm feelings. Two friends that find each other again after many years as they are trying to find their way in the world as new adults. A witch and a werewolf. Best combination ever.

I loved that there was different ideas to werewolves and their magic. I loved how our mc used her hearing aids for a spell. I loved how the magic itself was drawn. Just all the magic was great!

This graphic novel also has great diversity and representation. Both main characters and grandma’s are Chinese American. The werewolf is non-binary. In the graphic novel one of the grandmothers misgenders them but it was dealt with normally. The witch is hard-of-hearing and uses hearing aids sometimes. The grandmothers are a lesbian couple. And it is all so normal.

There is so much love and support from the grandmothers to their granddaughter but also her long lost friend. While her parents might be dead her family is a 100% active in her life and I loved that. Her best friend is from a different walk of life, very science based, but despite their different views on things is always open to listen and help regarding magical things.

All in all certainly a graphic novel worth a read!