Title: MooncakesAuthor: 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.
Review
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
View Spoiler »About the Authors
About Joamette Gil
Joamette Gil is a (gender)queer Afro-Cuban cartoonist, editor, and letterer for hire. She’s also the one-man operation known as Power & Magic Press, publisher of such titles as Heartwood: Non-binary Tales of Sylvan Fantasy and the award-winning Power & Magic: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology. She is a full-time freelancer living in Portland, Oregon, with two furry gremlins.
About Suzanne Walker
Suzanne Walker is a Chicago-based writer and editor. She is co-creator of the Hugo-nominated graphic novel Mooncakes (2019, Lion Forge/Oni Press). Her short fiction has been published in Clarkesworld and Uncanny Magazine, and she has published nonfiction articles with Uncanny Magazine, StarTrek.com, Women Write About Comics, and the anthology Barriers and Belonging: Personal Narratives of Disability. She has spoken at numerous conventions on a variety of topics ranging from disability representation in sci-fi/fantasy to comics collaboration.
About Wendy Xu
Wendy Xu is a bestselling, award-nominated Brooklyn-based illustrator and comics artist.
She is the creator of the middle grade fantasy graphic novel TIDESONG (2021 from HarperCollins/Quilltree) and co-creator of MOONCAKES, a young adult fantasy graphic novel published in 2019 from Oni Press. Her work has been featured on Catapult, Barnes & Noble Sci-fi/Fantasy Blog, and Tor.com, among other places.
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