★★★★☆ | Magic, family, and your childhood crush! Lots to deal with but those two can do it!

➽ SUMMARY

A young witch Nova Huang is used to dealing with magic. She's been helping her grandmothers run their bookshop and side business for years now. However, one night something unexpected happens. She runs into her childhood friend and a runaway werewolf Tam Lang. Together they will have to deal with an evil spirit, family troubles, and . . . their feelings for each other?

➽ WORLDBUILDING

The world is an adorable witchy aesthetic with potions, brooms, spells, and black cats! We've got also werewolves and friendly forest spirits.

➽ CHARACTERS

Nova Huang is a Chinese bisexual hearing impaired witch living with her two grandmas after her parents died. She helps them run their bookshop (the regular and the magical part) and sometimes she ventures to help and fix magical trouble. She is helpful, hardworking and has some abandonment issues because of which she has only one friend despite being an open and cheerful person.

Tam Lang, a non-binary Chinese werewolf and a runaway. They moved a lot even before leaving home and Nova is the only person they ever had a connection with. They're a humorous person with a lot of drive but they lack the faith in themself and tend to mask their vulnerability by keeping their worries to themself.

There are also some reoccurring side characters, which are Nova's amazing and badass grandmothers in a sapphic relationship and her friend who brings some youth and scientific side into her life.

➽ RELATIONSHIPS

We have some cute friends to lovers and a second chances romance here. Nova and Tam have lots of fluffy chemistry. I cheered for them from the start. I couldn't wait for them to admit their feelings for each other. I beamed when they kissed. But there's so much more than a cute romance to this graphic novel, which leads us to . . .

➽ FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, AND FINDING YOURSELF WITH ANOTHER PERSON

The romance is not the only relationship explored here. We also have Nova latching onto her grandmothers and her extended family because of the loss of her parents. And Tam's lack of relationship with their family. We have Nova's one and only friend. And Tam slowly letting themself believe they deserve to have other people in their life.

➽ WHY NOT 5 STARS?

It was cute. The art. The characters. The relationships. But nothing screamed 'you won't stop thinking about it!!' to me?? It was a good read but not a masterpiece.

➽ TL/DR

Read this for a cute romance, an adventure, magic forests and bookshops, and two badass grandmas!

Well this was such a disappointment.... I was very much anticipating this book because it was so hyped and because the premise sounded interesting. My main complaint is that it was so blurry and all over the place . Even though the characters were so amazing and can we talk about how diverse they were ? The arts were amazing and there were some moments where I almost died of cringe *-*
Overall I would recommend it for everyone who is not used to read graphic novels and I guess I'm going to check the authors works in the future.

The graphic novel covers many different aspects. Not only is it a fun story about a witch and a werewolf fighting an evil cult, but it also explores gender roles/identities, LGBTQI+ relationships, and friendship.

This was really a great read.

Childhood friends Nova and Tam reunite after an abrupt separation and seem to pick up right where they left off, only... could they potentially be more than friends? As if that wasn't difficult enough to navigate, throw in a demon running around in the woods, some crazy cultists, and the stress of adjusting to adulthood and you've got one heck of an adventure.

The art style was amazing, I loved the LGBTQ/disabled/Asian representation, and the story was incredibly engaging. I cannot wait to see what comes next for this cast of characters.

I read this cute graphic novel about witchcraft and werewolves in one sitting. I think this would be an appropriate read for younger teens and up. If there's another one after this, I'll definitely pick it up!

Mooncakes is a beautiful story about finding love with childhood crushes, magic, believing in oneself and the power of family. Although it was quite short (as most graphic novels are), the characters were well developed and their connections with each other were well described and detailed. It did feel, to me, more of a middle-grade book in terms of the 'simplistic' premise, but it worked so well because ultimately, it is a story about finding your true power and about being your own person. The fact this this novel had such a wonderfully diverse cast, also made me scream in happiness. Nova, our resident witch, was hard of hearing and thus wears hearing aids, which was so fantastic to see portrayed! She is also queer and from a Chinese family (I believe) and her grandmother is married to another woman, so again, incredibly diverse representation. Then we have Tam, our non-binary werewolf who runs away from home after their stepfather shows his true colours as a man who is a part of demon-wolf cult who wants to sacrifice his step-child to the…you guessed it…the demon-wolf.

I loved Tam and I loved Nova, I loved how their relationship progressed, I loved how Tam ‘came out’ as non-binary to the Nova’s grandmother’s and it was just so chill and depicts such a fantastic inclusive and accepting story that it had me tear up.

Also, I want to work in a magical book shop.

Mooncakes is a definite 5 star read because it made me so happy! I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone, for it is such an amazing story with incredible characters.

A magical tale about Nova and Tam who meet up after Tam moved away and then returned. A lovely story about magic and were wolves and wolf demons with brilliant graphics. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher, Lion Forge for an ARC.

Randi’s Reviews- 7/21/19

I got to read an e-ARC of Mooncakes on Netgalley, and it is such an awesome story! It features a very diverse cast of characters, touching on LGBTQ+ and non-binary identities within a larger fantasy story line!

Mooncakes is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel, which focuses on a pair of old childhood friends: Nova, a witch-in-training and Tam, a werewolf with no one to turn to. The two quickly rekindle their bond in the face of impending danger, when they are threatened by a dangerous magical force. In order to save their town, and the ones they love, Tam and Nova will need all the help (and magic) they can get!

I absolutely LOVED this book! @artofwendyxu and Suzanne Walker did a fantastic job creating a fun, spooky story, that I wasn’t able to stop reading! @lionforge will be releasing Mooncakes on October 15th (just in time for Halloween!) and I can’t wait for others to talk about it with!

Randi Recommends-
If a spooky, queer, witch adventure is right up your alley then you have found the right book! I would recommend this book to fantasy lovers, and those who find graphic novels easier to digest than regular books. Additionally, if you are looking for a book that addresses disability in everyday life without it being the only focus of the story, Mooncakes is for you!

This was so cute!!!! I loved it so much! Seriously such a great, cute read. Highly recommend. The overall story was top notch too and the art style was pretty.

Excellent LGBTQ+ friendly graphic novel featuring a diverse cast of characters and beautiful artwork.

Mooncakes is a beautiful graphic novel about two friends that find their way back together again and learn that there is so much more to their connection than they ever knew. I loved the sweet grandmas and how they fit into the novel. The characters mixed with the unique story really draw you in and make you want to know what happens next.

Thank you Netgalley for providing an e-arc review copy!

It has all the non-binary, queer, diversity that you're seeking in a female/queer led title. That being said, I didn't like the muddy coloring in this book - it perhaps should've invested in a colorist (or gotten a better one), used ink washes, or stuck to black & white with screentones. The e-arc copy provided was an incomplete version with only lineart in the last chapter & I could definitely see that the lineart was strong - I just felt that the coloring is very weak in comparison to all the hype going on about this book and that's also why I downgraded it.

Story is okay - childhood friends meet after a long while apart, fight this evil horse demon creature in the forest & save the town in a story arc while realizing some feelings for each other. I thought there would be more emphasis on some Chinese influenced magic in the magic structure of this universe, it mostly felt very western-type magic (learn from a book, werewolf transformation, apprenticeship learning structure). It felt very American without mixed magic culture that I was expecting since that was one of the key points of the summary.

My favorite part of this book was actually the cute forest creatures, so maybe the creators should try doing something with more of an emphasis on fantasy creatures in the future?

Overall, I probably would not recommend buying this book for keeps but watch out for the creators for their future works. I was expecting this graphic novel to be amazing with all the hype going on about it, but was disappointed. It would be a good gift for a queer, younger teen reader since they might enjoy it more than me.

This is a really cute graphic novel, that immediately caught my eye because of the cover. I think the drawings and the colours in here are utterly stunning, I love how it feels like old cartoons I used to watch, when I was little.
Indeed, I find it to be a perfect adaption for a animated movie.
The plot is very interesting and soaked with magic: there's a demon who has possessed a horse, and this event makes two people meet again, two very special people: a witch and a werewolf.
Apart from their magical abilities, they are also very different from most of people: Nova needs a device to hear better, while Tam is non-binary.
There's a Chinese representation, and also Jewish?
I really recommend it, because it's a cute, magical story so different from all the rest

Nova is perfectly happy living with her grandmothers and working in their New England bookstore—until she follows a white wolf into the woods and discovers her childhood crush, Tam. But Tam has been chasing a particularly nasty demon, and they're going to need all the help they can get to defeat it...

This was super cute and fluffy!

There's so much representation—people of color, fat rep, disability rep, and oodles of queer rep, with a F/NB romance at the heart of the story.

It reminded me a little bit of The Witch Boy, but for an older audience, since the leads have graduated high school. However, despite Nova and Tam's ages, this reads very YA and would be appropriate for tweens as well.

My only wish was that it was a little longer!

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

This was my first ever graphic novel and it didn't disappoint! A cute, lovey witchy read that gave me all the feels. I really enjoyed how inclusive this was, a nonbinary main character, a character who wears hearing aids and much more. This is something that i know will be very important for a lot of people so its lovely to see those things portrayed.

The art style was cutesy and rustic, and the spirit animals were adorable!!

Tam and Novas relationship was great to follow, to see Tam open up and begin to trust someone again, plus the ending brought a tear to my eye!!

Would recommend and can't wait to read more from the authors x

➖This book will be published 15th October 2019➖

〰️My very first graphic novel and I adored it〰️

This book is so up to date with life. It has queer witch who is very hard of hearing. Which makes it great to read as it’s a disability that prevails many (even if they aren’t a witch!)

And a Chinese/America werewolf. How awesome is this to introduce nonbinary characters.

Nova also has two Grandmothers who are in a relationship with each other.

I felt this layout around Nova was absolutely great. In today’s society we need more acceptance of people’s life choices that are personal to them.

And the Invisible parents just knocked my socks off, I was in awe of the imaginary with the help of powerful illustrations in this book.

These are good witches. It’s all around nature too which impacted on me.

Who could have foreseen I’d love this book.

This has opened a doorway to me to look into graphic novels more.

Loved reading this on my iPad however I feel I’d have enjoyed it even more so in physical book format.

It has a young love story running through this which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Suitable for Young adults to teens.
But Adults May love this just as much.

This little book is full of magic, family and friendship. It was good, really, but nothing all that special? I'm glad I read it, but will probably not remember it for very long. I would, however, dive into another story with these characters - I feel like this should be an ongoing graphic novel with a bunch of magical mysteries for me to indulge in.

It's a sweet, inclusive, queer read that I recommend to every graphic novel lover with a taste for magic, family dynamics, great Nanas and a bit of romance.

I give it 3,5 stars because I would have liked to see a bit more backstory and a developed picture of both the magic wielding, the wolf magic and the world all in all.

/ Denise

This was so cute! I loved the story, I loved the art, I loved the diverse representation. I wish there were going to be more volumes to this story because I'd read a whole series of Nova and Tam and the Nanas. Such a fun graphic novel that I think anyone and everyone would enjoy!

Wow! This was such a great and fast read. I truly didn't want to put this book down because I wanted to know what happened next! I loved our main characters and Mooncakes put such a smile on my face. I definitely recommend people to read it.

I only wish there was a little bit more at the end about, well Mooncakes, and the main characters!

What a sweet, wonderful book! So great to see a diverse, queer set of characters living their (magical) lives. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and this was a pleasure to read. A+