This was a perfect winter read, a cosy heartwarming story about a diverse group of witches as they traverse the challenges of being a witch in 1930s Mississippi. Emma and Mattie are trying to train their magic while avoiding attention from the authorities who would force them into residential schools, or the white-way of doing magic.
This book had the potential to be preachy, but the complex topics were expertly navigated to convey the seriousness of the problems faced by the diverse characters. The drawings are stunning, and the characters switch to their native languages as they would have in real life.
This is a beautiful book that I would encourage everyone to read.

In the state of Mississippi in the 1930s, magic exists and broom racing is all the rage. Except they’re only allowed for white people. Young POC who are discovered to have powers are sent to government boarding schools to be taught the “right way” (meaning : white) of doing magic.

Mattie and Emma, two young girls who are both Black and Choctaw, are trying to train their magic while avoiding being sent to such schools. Their cousin, Luella, came back from one years ago with her powers locked up after she revolted against the government officials mistreating her.

While their family is trying to find a way to pay for an exemption permit (allowing POC to avoid having to learn white people’s way of doing magic), Luella finds the solution : broom racing. While forbidden and quite dangerous, it can be quite lucrative. Also, very fortunately, her girlfriend, Billie Mae, is the captain of the best broom racing team in the state, and is also one of the best at flying.

Then there’s magic and training montages and chosen families as well as supportive bio families and it’s super cute but also infuriating because racism and entitled white dudes. There’s really everything you could wish for (except for the entitled white dudes).


I had such a great time reading Brooms! While dealing with difficult subjects (I mean, POC in Mississippi during the 1930s… do I need to say more), Brooms still manages to be light-hearted and pretty optimistic. The ending and post-credit snippets brought tears to my eyes. Chosen families and queer people growing old are my weaknesses, OK?

There is such great representation in this graphic novel! All main characters are POC, with queer representation, trans representation, as well as people with disabilities and people using sign language. Sign language! Not to take anything away from the rest of the great cast of characters, but seeing a young character using ISL as a primary means of communication, and having the rest of the cast actually make an effort to make her comfortable and call out any behaviour that would keep her from being part of a conversation made me SO happy.

There is so much love and acceptance inside the found family unit of the main characters. The magic and broom racing are great and witchcraft is a theme that I love reading about, but to me the characters are the real high point of Brooms.

I just really want to read it again, and I really encourage you to do the same!

This was such a heartwarming story, blending history with magic and fantasy elements. The story is based in the first half of the 20th century, where young women and men of color are prohibited from using their traditional and natural magics. This is a reference to Jim Crow and other legislations that occurred. There are so many diverse experiences portrayed within the novel.

There is a lesibian couple consisting of a black woman and a native woman. The native woman, Luella, had lost her magic after reacting to abuse in a residential school. The black woman, Billie Mae, suffers from chronic pain and fatigue related to her magic and lost her entire family.

There is a plus size black woman, Loretta, who is an academic, multi talented and married to her very sweet husband.

Cheng Kwan is a Chinese-American Trans woman.

Mattie and Emma are Luella's younger siblings who are black and native. One of the sister is deaf, and everyone works to accommodate her.

There is just so many layers to the representation, especially with the vast amounts of skin color diversity. And to tie it in, all of this is told through a story that is deeply compelling and made me cry from happiness.

This was truly awesome. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is the perfect Fall read. The animation style was incredible and well organized, making it easy to follow the story. Something about October makes me crave graphic novels and this one hits every mark with the cozy artistic style, magic, and broom racing! The representation in the story was impressive but not over done. Certainly a story for fans of found family, magic, and Fall. I can’t say I understand the magic system but I had fun on this journey. I haven’t read a graphic novel, or any novel for that matter, like this one. I cannot overstate enough the significant representation blended beautifully with historical reality. To be clear, this is fantasy but it drew on reality.

I implore folks to pick this one up.

Great graphic novel, with tons of representation, that deserves to be the Next Big Thing!
Brooms is a graphic novel about witches (magic people and they also race on brooms) set in 1930s Mississippi, with the background of discrimination of who gets to have their powers without restrictions. The plot follows our characters trying to navigate that world, with a focus on the illegal broom racing (à la Fast&Furious, of all pop culture references). To note that the story was inspired by underground queer communities of colour around the time period.
I loved the story and the characters, and the subject matter is really well-handled and brought to light! The final pages with tastes of epilogue really won me over. I loved seeing all the different types of representation, especially in terms of disability rep, that you don't see often, as well as the diverse background (the bits of native, non-translated text were such a nice touch in the characters' stories!).

Thanks to NetGalley and Levine Querido for the eARC. All thoughts are my own and freely given.

Brooms is a story of underground races, magical traditions, government persecutions and family and community building. When 2 young girls are going to be taken away to school for having magical powers, they are invited to learn to race brooms in hopes of winning enough money to buy their freedom. They meet a wonderful group of diverse witches who are fighting to keep their way of life alive.

This was a wonderful graphic novel that addressed a lot of social justice issues in a sensitive way. The art was gorgeous and the characters were outstanding. Read this book!

"Brooms" is going to be a wonderful addition to anyone's fall TBR or spooky season reads. Although it could be enjoyed to be read all year round as well, even in a school setting.

Set in an alternative 1930's Mississippi where magic is alive, but marginalized communities are outlawed to use it. We follow our witchy main group as they need to help their community and families survive by illegal broom racing. Even having to use spells to hide family members so they don't get sent to a boarding school that if they misuse their magic could very well mean they'd strip their powers.

The representation in this story is top notch to include queer, BIPOC diversity, disability, etc. and even using Indian Sign language and no subtitles for Cantonese for our Trans Girl, Cheng Kwan, character with her parents was such a good choice for this book.

This graphic novel was a thrill of a ride, literally! To see how the teams raced, the different powers conveyed from all different characters, and how laws made by unjust people are that, unjust.

This was a super cute read! I loved the art and the story. It is the perfect blend of witches, friendship, hard work and magic.

1930’s Mississippi, Mattie and Emma have their magic present. But, to keep it, they would need to pay the government a substantial amount of money to keep their ancestral magic and not have it be replaced by what the government deemed more appropriate magic. Determined to keep their magic, they enter dangerous broom races to win enough money so they can keep their magic.

I really adored this! The art, the story, it was just chefs kiss.

The pacing of this was wonderful. Everything was so well thought out to the point that the large cast didn’t feel that large. It was paced in a way that really gave each character a chance to shine and to expand on their backstory.

The broom racing was exciting and so much fun to see. While I do think that they were a little short at times, those panels were so exciting that I’ll forgive it.

I grew attached to each character. It was easy to do. They had a beautiful relationship with each other as well that helped me fall in love with them more.

If you like magic, a diverse set of characters with a lot of representation and a fast read perfect for fall, be sure to check this one out.

"Brooms" takes place in an alternate 1930s Mississippi, where magic is allowed only in certain parts of society. If you are rich and white, you are fine, but for black women like Billie Mae, no where is safe. Jobs are scarce and police are constantly raiding homes and businesses looking for unpermitted magic users. Billie Mae and her friends make money racing brooms, an exciting and dangerous way of life. The women genuinely love racing, but they need the money to keep themselves safe from the police. They all strive for a better life - where they can love who they want and be who they want.

In 1930s Mississippi, unlawful broom racing is a banned sport. Yet this doesn’t stop illegal racers from competing for life-changing sums of money. Billie Mae is the fierce captain of the Night Storms. She is determined to win so she and her best friend Loretta can move to a place where they will be safe and accepted. Other team members include Cheng-Kwan, Mattie, and Emma. All of them have dreams and lives that could be changed for the better if they were to win. Meanwhile, Billie Mae and Luella, Mattie and Emma’s cousin, are in love but struggle to see a future. When the government starts to crack down on racing, the team must risk it all to escape danger and fight for their dreams.

I loved this graphic novel!! The characters were so vivid and real. I loved how they united to form a team and yet also had such individual stories and struggles. Real history is expertly portrayed, while being interwoven with the magic of broom racing. Brooms does not shy away from racism, LGBTQ+ discrimination, and sexism; showing the very real issues and conflicts that arose. The focus on found family and protection being found in working together was so heartwarming. I loved Billie Mae and Luella’s relationship and how well they complemented each other. I felt truly connected to all the characters and was thrilled with the ending. I hope to see more from this author/illustrator duo and perhaps more stories from the world of Brooms! I would highly recommend this graphic novel to anyone.

Thank you so much to Jasmine Walls, Teo DuVall, Levine Querido, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

3.75⭐️
Thanks to netgalley for this arc

This was very pretty and great graphic novel. I really enjoyed the art style of this graphic novel, it was so pretty and just very well done, it made the whole story feel alive. I liked the storyline and the representation of different sexualities, ethnicities and gender identities. Definitely would recommend.

Brooms is a queer diverse ownvoice historical fantasy set in the 1930s America where magic was real. BIPOC struggled to practice magic openly due to anti-indigenous and anti-black racism.

Billie Mae is a strong and determined leader who guides the Night Storms crew, an underground queer movement set to liberate BIPOC magic practitioners. They have an important mission to raise money quickly for a journey to California. In this place, black people like Billie can openly use their magic. But even though there's hope for freedom, there’s an oppressive force that threatens Billy’s community.

I like that there are multiple ethnicities and wide spectrum of LGBTQ+ represented. Although I would like to see something different than just having some stereotypical ‘rich cishet white boys’ as the antagonists.

This story showcases the struggles of marginalized people of color in the 1930s - a struggle that is sadly prevalent till today - while also honoring and celebrating their strength.

In order to get a permit to stay out of the govt run magic schools, two sisters get into illegal broom racing to raise the funds and make some really great friends along the way.

Definitely recommend if you need something fun in the middle of all the chaos. It’s a cute break from all the nonsense going on in the world right now. This historical fiction graphic novel has representation of people who existed (but we never hear about). And also with magic! And witches!

I wanted to read this graphic novel the second I saw the synopsis. I was curious how this story would develop throughout the pages.

I’ll say first and foremost that the art is exceptional. I loved the colors and how vibrant it could be. The style perfectly suited the storyline and gave the story an even bigger impact.

It was obvious how well thought out the pacing and development of the story were. I never felt like things were rushed and I wasn’t ever confused about the direction things were going. I will say I would’ve liked more of the broom racing aspect those scenes did feel a little short, the beginning races mostly. But overall, I was entranced from the beginning to the end. This is one of the top graphic novels I’ve read this year.

BROOMS is a queer romp in a reimagined 1930s America where magic is a thing - but a highly controlled one. Similar to the 1930s we know, rampant anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism impacts every aspect of life, including who is allowed to use magic. So on the one hand, it's heavy. But on the other hand, it is SO much FUN! Because Walls and DuVall do a fantastic job of showing joy and creative nonconformity on the page. I loved the way the cast supported each other in their quest to win broom races. I didn't love-love the ending, but it did wrap things up nicely. There are a ton of marginalised identities represented in the book, so obviously only some are #ownvoices. It was nice to see Deaf representation (although FYI I don't think that's the creators' identities, although it seems they did their research on dialects of sign language). If you like creative world-building, action-packed stories, and fantasy with something to SAY to us today, I think this would be a fantastic pick. Definitely adding to my classroom library.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance digital copy. Publishes Oct 3/23!

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an arc.

dnf @ 30%. Unfortunately, it did not grab my attention enough. this book appears to be the perfect fall read as it involves witches and magic, friendship, romances and fun adventures while spotlighting marginalised groups. The art style is beautiful and the first chapter really made me interested.

Ultimately, I think there were too many characters and storylines in a short amount of pages which confused me on who and what to follow and made me want to stop reading altogether.

This had a bit of a Paper Girls Graphic Novel, meets a Historical Fiction Witch Novel, meets the Fast and Furious vibe to it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So much representation of different cultures and LGBQTIA+ persons across the protagonists adding to a beautifully told story of oppression, friendship and magic.

Set in the 1930s of Mississippi where magic is present but only certain persons can use it, for certain reasons, in certain places and you need a license to wield it. All the main, female protagonists have bigger issues they're navigating but they come together to form quite the Broom racing team. The Art is bright and moody and adds to the telling of this beautiful story.

“The law’s only as just as the person writing it. That don’t make it right.”

Brooms is a graphic novel about witches set in 1930s Mississippi. The story centers on illegal backwood broom racing, and the story was inspired by underground queer communities of colour around the time period.

In this graphic novel we meet a diverse cast of characters. There is Billie Mae, a Black MC with chronic pain. Loretta, who has a disability caused by a stroke. Emma and Mattie, mixed heritage Black and Choctaw MCs (one of them also uses sign language). Luella of Mexican and Choctaw descent who has gone through life in a residential school. And finally, Cheng Kwan, a Chinese American trans woman. All of the MC were focused on at different times throughout the story, and we got to see all of them in lots of situations.

I thought this graphic novel was an interesting take on history. The story was engaging, and although I probably should have been mostly invested in the races, I felt far more captivated by the lives of these people. Seeing how they dealt with discrimination and dangerous situations in their everyday lives, was far scarier than anything that happened while they were racing.

If you want to try a graphic novel that is an alternative take on history with BIPOC characters in focus, you should definitely give this one a go.

Thanks Netgalley and Levine Querido for a chance to read an early copy of this book. Brooms is out in the world on 3 October.

Thank you, Levine Querido, for the advance reading copy.

I wish I loved this graphic novel and liked it more than I did.

For readers like me who enjoy both graphic novels and novels, I feel that it would deliver more as a novel.

I love the blurb.
However, I got disappointed with the dialogue delivery, the art sequencing and the way the characters interacted with the least interest shown on their faces.

It is a story based during the 1930s, queer and magical. And should be thrilling too fighting against the government. Who would want to miss that?!

I missed out the vibes somehow. It’s a me problem. I just want to read the script now.