My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Title: Mooncakes
Authors: Suzanne Walker
Artist: Wendy Xu
Format: eBook (NetGalley)
Pages: 256
Publication Date: October 15, 2019
Categories: Romance, LGBTQIA+, Fantasy, Witchcraft, Graphic Novel, Young Adult
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.
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.
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.
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.
Thank you to Lion Forge and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this eArc.
I read my first graphic novel…as an adult, that is, because I was obsessed with Elf Quest and Archie back in my middle school days! Haha…and my son just got a graphic novel set from his aunt for his birthday so I’ll be helping him read that one.
Mooncakes is about Nova, a young witch that wears a hearing aid, being raised by her grandmothers who are also witches and have a bookshop. That’s my dream right there, to be a witch who owns a book store! 😍 Nova reunites with a friend from long ago, Tam Lang who is a shape-shifter and becomes a love interest. There is a mysterious dark force in town and Nova and Tam have to figure out how to defeat it.
Graphic novels just read fast because the art just moves it along. I love the color palette used by artist Wendy Xu, it gives it a retro feel.
There is a nice representation of so much diversity. There were different cultural celebrations, Sukkot (Jewish holiday) and eating mooncakes at during the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival. I thought it was nice to see a blend of the cultures because my own children have a blended culture as well and we celebrate a lot of things!
The romance between Nova and Tam was so cute! Tam uses “they” pronouns and they have a past together but it was so sweet to watch their relationship grow. And the witchcraft in the book was wonderful since we are in the month of September and I am in the mood for all things witchy!
Overall Mooncakes is a wonderful read full of diversity, action, love, villains and heroes! If you are into graphic novels or starting to get into them again, like I am, Mooncakes is the perfect graphic novel to start with!
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I’m glad you chose this as a first foray into graphic novels again, it really is such a relaxed read and a great choice. 😀
Thanks I really enjoyed it! Do you read graphic novels? Any recommendations?
I am pretty new to graphic novels outside of manga. Love manga though! If you haven’t read any before a recent series that I recommend is called Dawn of the Arcana. I may review it in the future. Smart heroine, easy to read panels, charming enemies-to-lovers romance, etc.
Great review Yolanda! I don’t tend to read graphic novels but this looks so cute
That graphic novel looks so cute! I really want to pick it up, soon! I read my first graphic novel just a few years ago, and it was Second, and it was SO AMAZING. I really need to read more graphs!
I’m starting to like them too and will be looking out for more graphic novel titles to read and review. ☺️