I thought the pacing and writing could have used a little work, but nevertheless I enjoyed reading this. I loved the diversity of the characters and how they had intersecting identities; they seemed like real people with complex aspects to them. I also enjoyed that these various elements were simply part of the story but not the focus, and not the source of the conflict. Overall, this is a fun and fluffy comic with fantasy elements that I would be interested in reading more of.

This was a cute, fun comic and I would like to see more! Full of diversity and bright illustrations, it's a perfect Halloween read. I would like more backstory on Nova's parents.

Inclusive and atmospheric! This book will have readers hooked with its witchy female empowerment and beautiful illustrations. A spot on brew for any shelf.

This was such a cute story and perfect for the fall, especially around Halloween. I have been wanting to consume all of the witchy reads and movies during this Halloween season. I adored the artwork and colors. I loved all the diverse rep in this story. I really wanted the story to continue. After I finished reading it, I was content with the ending but I didn't want it to be over. It was such an adorable read and I'd definitely recommend it.

I never knew how much I needed this precious graphic novel about a queer hard-of-hearing witch and a nonbinary werewolf (both Chinese-American) childhood-friends-to-lovers relationship, but WOW, here we are and this is going to be one of my favorite releases of the year, no doubt at all.

Because I'm having a hard time putting into normal review formatting how much I loved this, let the bullets do their thing:

• DIVERSITY FOR DAAAAYYYYYS
• Not only are both MCs Chinese-American and queer, but Nova has two grandmas in a relationship with each other, too?! KILLING ME WITH CUTENESS, Y’ALL
• Such sweet and wholesome witchy rep, please give me more stories about good witches interacting with nature and doing sweet protective craft ♥
• This art is adorable, full stop, and can we just take a moment to appreciate the precious quiet detail of Tam’s ears?!
• Tam uses they/them pronouns (and even corrects other characters) and the other characters are so respectful of them!
• Multiple references to Nova’s hearing aids ♥
• Nova’s bestie is the obligatory skeptic character who’s also a trip and ships Nova/Tam so hard, A++ wing-woman over here
• Everything is just so wholesome and precious and we stan 😭

I seriously can't recommend this highly enough

“Do you remember that night, before you left, when we almost…”

I know many of my readers are new to graphic novels. They want to try them but are unsure where to start. To you I say; read Mooncakes. The story follows a hard-of-hearing queer witch and nonbinary werewolf, both of whom are Chinese-American.

A queer childhood friends-to-lovers tale that we all need to read. Right now.

Sometimes you read a book, you’re blown away by it, and unsure how you existed prior to it.

Mooncakes is definitely one of those for me. And I think it’d become one for you too.

We know from the get go that Nova and her family are witches; they own a magical bookshop and help the community with supernatural occurrences. The most recent one being sightings of a huge white wolf at the edge of the forest, which Nova chooses to investigate alone.

Happily stumbling across her old friend Tam!

It doesn’t take long for the two of them to recognise each other, and rekindle their friendship. Nova and her family welcome Tam into their home whilst they work together to figure out what the actual problem is in the forest.

Whilst researching what the demon is and how Tam might be able to take it down with their own type of magic the two inevitably get closer and more comfortable. They’re so soft and sweet, and always looking out for each other. You can tell that this relationship was always meant to be.

The scene in which Nova first address’ there might be something between them is full of blushing goodness which made me squeal. It was truly so refreshing to read about such a positive and supportive relationship. To see it blossom and have strength to face some very real, and demonic, evils.

Yes, this story does cover more than their romance. And it’s wild to say that even with the tough areas it approaches, I still found myself mostly smiling throughout. That’s how life is when you’re ready to root for such a magical family!

Together they have to deal with Tam’s transphobic family, a hungry demon, and a werewolf-killing cult! I don’t really want to talk about this area of the story too much as it’s the main plot, but I loved it.
“Yeah, I think you two should definitely experiment.”

But I can mention Nova’s skeptic best friend who provides the type of comedy that I approve of. She ships Nova and Tam, HARD, and is just an all round joy tbh. It’s a great portrayal of female friendships, nothing toxic here! I seriously hope we get to see the team again.

They also had cute little forest sprites team up with them!

As I stated at the start, if you’re new to graphic novels this is the one for you. With such great diversity, heart-warming romance, witches who get shit done, and intense action scenes, this isn’t a story to be missed.

Mooncakes is a very diverse graphic novel that features many magical elements, including witches and werewolfs. Both of the main characters are Chinese-American. Nova is also hard of hearing, while Tam is non-binary. There are also many diverse side characters, like Nova’s grandmothers. The characters in Mooncakes were all wonderful and I loved learning more about them. Seeing them interact with each other and care for the people surrounding them was amazing! They all just warmed my heart.

The story of Mooncakes was interesting, though I found it to be somewhat predictable as well. I knew what was going on nearly from the get go. I also found that we didn’t get nearly enough magical explanation in this graphic novel. By that I mean that I don’t know how exactly the magic works, what magical creatures are out there and so on. I wish we had more information on that. There are super cute magical beings in the forest and I really wanted to know more about them.

With all of that being said, Mooncakes was a wonderful and heartwarming graphic novel and I would highly recommend it! It’s also an amazing autumn read, because of the cozy atmosphere of the story.

This was a sweet graphic novel. The sweet relationship between Nova (a witch) and Tam (a werewolf) was extremely sweet. I enjoyed the plot of Nova and Tam battling a dark force together, along with Nova's witch grandmothers They uncover a town plot and have to all use their skills to bring down the evil. I loved all the characters and the artwork was gorgeous. And bonus for queer characters! This is the perfect fall read.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this graphic novel 💜 I genuinely loved this, I thought that it was very original and fun, and it also had a lot of representation!
Our protagonists are Nova, who is a witch that needs hearing aids, and Tam who is a non-binary werewolf. When Tam comes back to his hometown they will need Nova's help to capture a demon, while they're at it old feelings will make a comeback and a cute romance will blossom. They will also have a little (or a lot) of help from Nova's grandmothers (I looove them). This graphic novel has everything I could have asked for: witchy vibes, queer relationships, magic and a very fluid and funny dialogue. I also love the art style, it fitted the story perfectly. 4/5🌟

This book was a pleasant surprise that I really enjoyed. I loved the art style and I will definitely be picking up my own hard copy because it was just so beautiful. It didn't take me very long to read so I really hope there will be a sequel so I can learn even more about the characters.

This was a lot of fun! The art is gorgeous and I loved how inclusive the cast was. I felt like it was missing some plot, but otherwise I really enjoyed it.

What I like about this book: the number of things that are included without becoming issues. One of the protagonists is hearing impaired. It's an element, sure. It affects her awareness of the world around her and her relationship with her peers. But it's just a single aspect of her character rather than THE thing that defines her. The other protagonist is non-binary. Again, addressed but not all they are. It must be addressed as it informs the character and their decision making. So these things are deftly handled and certainly present, but ultimately this is a book more about the use and misuse of magic rather than "issues".

Witches and werewolves. Queer rep. Love and family. Adorable story and beautiful artwork. A graphic novel perfect to pick up this time of year, even though I would read it any time.

I'm pretty new to graphic novels. I have never really been interested in them, but I still like to try them out every now and then. This one just didn't do it for me. I found it to be a bit boring and it wasn't my favorite art style.

I'm still a relative newbie when it comes to graphic novels but I really enjoyed this one.

Nova is a young witch fulfilling an apprenticeship with her two grandmothers in a magical bookshop. Her childhood friend and crush Tam is a werewolf who has recently returned to the town. Together they team up to save the town from a neighbour who wants to claim the magic of wolves and use it for her own gains, while discovering that feelings they once had haven't ever gone away.

This was a charming fantasy tale with friendship, love and magic with just the right amount of adversity to face!

I received an eARC of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Representation: Representation: Chinese-American MCs (both queer), MC who is hard-of-hearing, MC who is non-binary, plus size SC, Jewish SC

CW/TW: Scary imagery, misgendering of MC (corrected ASAP)

The story of Nova and Tam, two childhood friends, facing feelings from the past, a demon in the woods, and a mysterious cult, Mooncakes is a fascinating tale of family, magic, danger, and more.

What I Enjoyed

The first glance at the Employees Only room at Black Cat Bookseller & Cafe. It's crammed with books (both stationary and flying), witchy imagery, and the linework is very good. It's homey and attractive and I remain sore that I can't visit it myself.


Seriously, the detail Wendy included in the various scenes. When Nova is talking to her friend Tatyana in the Cafe, not only can you see the tea bag in the teapot, but the covers of the books in the foreground are tributes to other Young Adult books such as The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan.


Nova's Nanas. Not only do they run a bookstore/cafe that caters to witchcraft, but they're super supportive in general and of Nova and Tam specifically. They're also funny when they needle Nova and Tam about their budding relationship and badass when they take on a possessed horse.


Tatyana, a friend of Nova who knows about magic but is a scientist so is sometimes O_O about the things that pop up in relation to magic. My favorite reaction was when she found out that Tam was the white wolf she'd seen in the woods and she tried to reconcile that werewolves were a thing in her brain.


The variety of creatures at Witchwood State Park. They're so darling, it made even homebody me want to go out for a hike in hopes of meeting them. :)


The conveyance of information between the Nanas and the creatures of the forest with imagery, not words. It was easy enough to understand not only what each party meant, but how they felt about the situation.


Tam's fangs appearing in a panel here or there. It was so cute. <3


Cousin Terry. Coo... lol


The mid-autumn festival/Sukkot celebration. From the feast to the family reunion (living & deceased)...there was so much feeling of family, both the good and the sometimes not-so-good.


The frank discussion and inclusion of Nova's hearing aids.



What I Didn't Enjoy

While I enjoyed the scenes in Witchwood State Park, I thought that there were parts that were overcrowded with magical creatures that didn't mesh well. They felt like they were placed there rather than they were meant to be there, conveying movement or what-have-you.


I was confused by an abrupt scene end concerning Tam & Nova doing a soul connection sort of thing. Going by the script, it felt like there was a path it story was following, but then it ended and was insinuated to be left off for a later time. It didn't make sense to me in the context of the moment.


I don't think there was any clarity regarding the origin of werewolves (bite, hereditary, etc.) and that didn't sit quite right with me. Tam's family history is complicated say the least and gives no answers. Their mother was not a werewolf & doesn't understand the "wolf thing." Their stepfather is also not a wolf and there was no mention of other parents. So, what gives? Nova's family answers the witch facet.



To Sum It Up

Mooncakes is a richly illustrated, well told story about trying to find oneself, about the different kinds of magic in life, about love and family in different forms. A definite recommendation. 👍

This was an enjoyable, cozy read. I loved the diverse characters, the art was vibrant and adorable. I recommend this supernatural read!

Super cute comic about witches, werewolves, magic and demons. It's truly heartwarming and I loved the romance bit.

Panels are well drawn and create the peculiar atmosphere of the comics. I loved the characters, the bookshops, and how rituals were presented.

I hope there will be more :-)

Five Stars!

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review:
•
4*
Pros: Cutest art style and amazing colors. Full of magic and mystery. LGBT and PoC leads. Non-binary representation. Powerful witches. Fluffly badass grandmas. Wholesome and sweet.
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Cons: Very predictable.

I had seen this talked about a lot and so when I got an ARC from Netgalley, I sat down with a cup of tea and read it (I do love how quick graphic novels are sometimes). And this is just as cute as I was promised.

Nova is a teen witch who helps her grandmothers out in their magical bookshop when she goes to investigate talk of a white wolf out in the forest. While out there, she meets up with Tam, an old childhood friend, and helps them with investigating the reason why they’re on their own in the forest.

This is just adorable. Nova and Tam both have their own character arcs to go through in this book but the two of them together just felt really sweet and when they ended up getting together, it just felt like it was a natural part of their existing friendship – which was impressive considering it happened in the first hundred pages or so. I liked how Nova had a good existing support system and her grandmothers and best friend just accept Tam as they are.

The world-building of this is exactly what I want from all those urban fantasy/cosy mystery books I read. The magic is a secret part of the world but also fairly open, there’s no huge angst about it being a secret or Nova or Tam not having to tell anyone and the magic itself, along with the forest spirits, is really lovely and comforting. It makes me think of Kiki’s Delivery Service all over again. Not to mention it fit in nicely with the plot as the magic itself didn’t get too dark, it was what certain people did with it that caused the darkness.

The colours and style of the illustrations fit the cosy, light fantasy theme really well and I adore how Nova and Tam are both drawn, together and apart.

One little nitpick is that when the big bad is taken care of, I would have liked a little more wrap up, a little more talk about what Nova and Tam are going to do now. We know what they’re going to do but I would have liked to see a longer conversation about where and are you sure and all that. But that is mostly personal preference.

I was going to give this a 4.5 stars but I think I’m going to bump this up to a 5 because when the finished version comes out, in full colour all the way through, I’m probably going to end up buying a copy.

5 stars!