Author: Joamette Gil, Suzanne Walker, Wendy Xu
First Published: October 15, 2019
Publisher: Oni Press
Pages: 256
Genre: LGBTQ, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Source: Library
Rating:
Synopsis:
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 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.
Buy the Book: AmazonReview
Mooncakes is a fluffy and adorable graphic novel about witches! It is wonderfully diverse and features a non-binary werewolf and a Chinese-American witch with hearing aids that lives with her grandmothers. I really liked each of the main characters, especially the grandmothers. Even the non-magical best friend who professes to hate magic was funny and charming.
The plot is bare-bones, and although the conflict seems major it feels low stakes the entire time. A threatening demon is suddenly no problem and then treated like it’s not a pressing issue. The romance in this novel also felt weak and too rushed. The main characters are childhood friends and the feelings are implied, but it all occurred before the beginning of the graphic novel so it feels like insta-love. It’s a shame because I really liked both characters, they are so sweet together. I liked the idea of both the plot and romance, but both left much to be desired. Overall not a bad read, but it didn’t nail it for me. I also read this with my tween daughter, who is more the intended audience, and she absolutely LOVED Mooncakes and wants to read more graphic novels like it, and it makes me such a proud parent.
Quote
“Anyway, that was the only time I never had to worry. Worry about understanding people or dealing with the hearing aids. And it just… it makes me wish people could handle things better, in the real world.”
Content Warnings
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