Cute little witchy Graphic Novel "Mooncakes"

MOONCAKES  By  Suzanne Walker 

Age Rating: 14+

Trigger Warning: Abuse (parental, mentioned), Adoption, Betrayal, Body horror, Captivity, Cultist rituals, Dead parents, Death, Kidnapping, Miss-gendering, Supernatural creatures, Witchcraft.

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Graphic Novel                                      

DESCRIPTION: A story of love and demons, family, and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmother's 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 in 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 townhome.

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.

  REVIEW: This is just so heartwarming graphic novel I read in 2021. So basically you already know what this book is about by reading the description. With Mooncakes, I’d been particularly impressed with how many socially inclusive details made it into the story without it ever feeling heavy-loaded or performative. In addition to the first story I’ve read with a character using they/them pronouns, it was also the first story I’ve read that included a character with hearing aids. In the story, Nova even uses her hearing aids as part of an innovative spell to escape a villain.

Mooncakes also include commentary on having parents who passed away at a young age, homelessness, single motherhood, and one of my personal favorites, a young adult living at home and feeling too inadequate to start their “real” life (personal favorite because I am a young adult living at home and feeling too inadequate to start my “real” life). The story met each facet with simple, ordinary inclusion. One would say it served as a normalizing quality.

 OVERALL: This book is just so cute, and, if you're in a reading slum it will definitely take out from that. It is just a short read and will fill you with happiness.