An intriguing and emotional graphic novel. Tackles a lot of difficult topics but is still a quick and engaging read.

I just wish you could preview NetGalley graphic novels prior to requesting. Some of them I am able to view just fine, and some are like this one: ridiculously tiny, even on my larger tablet, and there's no way to zoom in to read the text. It was very difficult to read.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, the author, and illustrator for the ARC.

This is such a beautiful and moving story of love, friendship, acceptance and hope. It is crafted with style and thoughtfulness. Amazing and inspirational work. As parent of a trans child, this made me really emotional and I feel like we need more books like this to inspire parents and help them be more aware of their children wellfare.

Brooms follows a queer community of illegal witches who turn to broom races to raise money to elevate their lives.

I like that this graphic novel is a BIPOC cast set in an alternate historical setting and each character has their own very unique identities. I could see the care put into making sure different marginalized identities were represented. And it does tackle some difficult topics in an easier to digest way. I did want to know more about the outlawing of magic and dragging girls off to academies. I also wanted to see a little more depth to the younger girls who didn't have as much going on their older counterparts. There could've been more emotion depicted in the art work. But overall it was still an engaging read.

I received this book in exchange for a honest review from NetGalley.

I absolutely loved this graphic novel. The magic system was interesting and the racial and class themes were explored expertly. I loved the main characters and their sweet relationships! Overall this was a great story!

Rep: mostly all BIPOC cast, Black Choctaw (Indigenous) mcs, Mexican Choctaw sapphic mc, Black sapphic mc with chronic joint paint, Deaf mc, Black plus size mc with a leg brace, trans Chinese American woman mc

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. It’s about marginalized communities finding joy and happiness in a time of oppression and fighting back against white supremacy. It's both sweet and thought provoking. It was a nice balance of fun moments and more hard hitting emotional ones.

I could see a lot of parallels to real life, and how some events were even directly based off real events. This was an interesting twist on racism in America, residential schools, and what so many BIPOC had to go through. Weaving magic in with history made a lot of sense and worked really well.

I loved all the diversity and rep. All the main cast are POC. For queer rep there’s a sapphic couple and a trans woman. There’s disability rep, such as a Deaf mc, a mc with a leg brace, and a mc with chronic joint pain. There’s also mental health issues and plus size rep. This book has it all. It makes me so happy to see so much diversity. Especially in a book set in this time period, as some people nowadays claim there were no queer people back then.

The broom racing was really cool and fun to read. It made me wish I could attend one myself. They really brought their community together.

I loved the relationships between all the characters. It was so sweet. They have a mix of blood related family and found family who all support each other.

I would have loved if the book was a bit longer, to learn more about all the characters. I would’ve loved if it took more time showing us Emma and Mattie learning their magic. It didn't go too deep into the character’s magic. It has me wondering what kind of stuff they can all do with it.

The art is very pretty.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book

It was a solid historical fantasy story. The author had good grasp of location and time period. I think it’s going to land solidly in the range of good to great for almost any reader that like fantasy graphic novels. If you read the premise and think OMG that sounds amazing you’ll probably love it. If you read the premise and go cool, fantasy graphic novel I’m in then you’ll probably read it and like it just fine but move on to the next book quickly. I’m rounding my three stars up to four for the readers who are going to love it. I liked it but couldn’t bring myself to adore it.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.
I think this is the perfect mix of historical fiction and magic realism. Ideas of race and gender are handled tastefully and the plot is engaging for young readers.

I LOVED THIS!!!
thank you NetGalley, this is my honest review,
Brooms is a Historical Queer and Magical graphic novel about a small team of strong people as they defy the so-called laws of the 1930's and work together to build a new life where they can fly and ware what they want in a safe space.
Broom racing looks like so much fun, the diversity of all the characters was great to see and made me smile with the small details the author had put in.
I loved this so much, the message was strong and the magical vibes on point.
five stars!

Thank you Levine Querido, for letting me read this before the release date, October 3. I ended up crying like a baby, but I have never felt my heart more open and full. The premise is great and the execution really delivered. But first things first. In the 1930s Mississippi, this queer, witchy Fast and the Furious shines light on themes of discrimination, oppression, and the resilience of not one but many marginalized communities.

The story begins by introducing the magical society and the oppression faced by BIPOC magicians, who are either forced into boarding schools to conform to "white-washed" magic or have their powers stripped away. One of the MCs, Louella (queer Choctaw), serves as a cautionary tale. She lost her powers and was sent to a boarding school, where she was forced to forget her heritage and magic. But there's an underground Broom Racing Circuit, that helps people like Billie Mae (Black queer with chronic joint pain), Loretta (Black disabled woman), Cheng-Kwan (trans-femme Chinese American), and Mattie and Emma (both are of mixed heritage, Black and Choctaw, and Emma is also deaf) to resist and experience what it is like to have a safe space where they can be happy and free. Although there are challenges to overcome, such as evading authorities, Brooms is all about working towards a better future, and I loved how it concludes with a balance of hope and realism.

I wholeheartedly endorse this deeply thought-provoking and emotionally resonant exploration of social injustice and the strength of the human spirit. While the story's depth and impact would undoubtedly benefit from the extended format of a series, it remains an important and masterfully executed narrative in its current form. Its themes of oppression, resilience, and found family is not only capable of captivating readers but also serve as a powerful lens through which to examine real-world issues. I hope we can all reflect a little more on the significance of heritage, community, and the pursuit of justice and equality.

This is very much an issue with me, not the book, but I just didn't get pulled in by the art work as much as I wanted. I also thought there were a little too many protagonists, which I found confusing and hard to follow along with in a graphic novel. That's just a matter of personal preference though, and it's why I couldn't fully enjoy this graphic novel. That being said, I did find the premisse of this to be very intriguing: the historical setting, the magical twist on residential schools, the broom racing. This is such a solid concept, so I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy it more.

The world-building in this book drew me in and the illustration style kept me around till the end. I loved the underground broom racing and how fleshed out the magic was. The characters were ones I wanted to see happy.

Brooms is a wonderful use of the comics medium — as a long-time fan of the medium, as well as an educator, I see so much possibility in the readership for this book.

This was such a beautiful read that touched on heavy topics in Mississippi in the 1930s. It explores race, trans identities, culture, and disabilities. I found myself truly rooting for these characters. I wish we have gotten more of Chen’s backstory. I was hoping that these characters got to use their magic and cringed whenever they experienced injustice.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the storyline and how the characters grew throughout the book. This was the first book I read from this author, but I will be keeping up with the future publications from this author.

Love, love, love! I didn't know I needed a magical Fast and Furious graphic novel in my life but, very obviously I did.

Inspired by underground queer communities of colour, Brooms is set in 1930s Missippi where magic is heavily monitored. It follows a family who have been hurt by this heavy monitoring as they try to protect Emma and Mattie from having to attend a residential school like their older cousin.

Bolstered by lovely art, Brooms is a queer, witchy story about love, family and togetherness. I read it in one sitting and it'll definitley be a story that I'll be returning to!

I loved this. I absolutely LOVED this book. It’s been a while since I’ve read a graphic novel and this was the perfect one. It was tender, exciting, sweet, and is all wrapped up in a world just a shade magical than our own. I teared up by the end with the montage of photos. It was beautiful and I just want more and more and more of the adventures of these characters.

In an alternative world of 1930’s Mississippi where magic is real, but only legal to use if you're white, a group of women fight to retain and practice magic through participation in dangerous underground team broom racing. Beautifully written and illustrated, this graphic novel covers a time period of American history often avoided. Through a magical/sports lens it showcases marginalized communities fighting back against white supremacy and oppression.

My only minor complaint is I wish it was longer. The author created such a rich world and there was so much more I wanted to know.

Sisters Mattie and Emma have just come of age and started showing signs of magic, being Choctaw gives them a legal pass to practice magic but the government wants to take them away to learn approved white magic. Only through a petition (pay-off) can they retain their ancestral magic, and it costs more money than their family has.

Their cousin Luella, who had her magic sealed away years ago and wants better for her family, introduces them to Billie-Mae (a Black woman, and team captain of the Night Storms,) Loretta (a Black woman, defensive flyer), and Cheng-Kwan (an Asian Transwoman, offensive flyer) who are all determined to make enough money to live as their true selves through dangerous illegal broom racing.

As they train the girls to join their team in secret, the oppressive outside world is slowly creeping closer, closing down the racing rings and arresting the magic users. Can they make enough money in time to protect themselves?

This was really fun! My biggest gripe with graphic novels is often that they feel too short for me to get attached to the characters or story. That definitely wasn't the case with this one—it was a good length and every page contributed information and moved the plot forward.
I did find that it took me quite a while to get acclimated to all of the different characters and the fantasy world that we are brought into. I wish I could've spent just a little less time confused and more time captivated.

This story about broom racing contains a diverse cast and serves as a metaphor for different forms of social injustice and discrimination in the past and present. I enjoyed the setting but I had my issues with the style of the illustrations and the amount of main characters. I found it hard to follow each ones arc as they were intertwine and shifted quite often. As the world portrayed feels so rich I would have wanted the illustrations to have a bit more depth and details to underline that notion. Still I cannot say this is a bad book by far, the representation of various minorites and the portrayal of magical sport definately is worth looking into it.

I really enjoyed this! The magic system, art, and story were very engaging, i will be looking for more by these authors!