I had really high hopes going into MOONCAKES - it looked like a very cute, inclusive love story with a good amount of witchy magic and Halloween feels. I planned to read it ON Halloween but got sidetracked with finishing some other books for the end of the month, so I read it over the course of one night (the next day). I received an egalley for review but ended up purchasing the paperback after my review copy expired (whoops!).

This graphic novel is about Nova, a hearing-impaired witch, who lives with her two grandmothers. Her parents passed away but do appear in the story. When a wolf is discovered in the nearby woods, Nova goes to investigate. It turns out to be her childhood friend, Tam, a non-binary werewolf. The two, along with the Nanas, work to remove a demon from their town. Lots of family feels and little touches of side-stories that I'd love to read more about. An old flame reignites between Nova and Tam and it's THE CUTEST. I love childhood-BFFs-to-more storylines.

I have to say, a higher rating could very well have happened here but I seriously struggle with rating graphic novels. I know that they're just as good as reading a novel, obviously, but I personally rush through them. It's like I have a timer in my head saying I NEED to finish a comic in one sitting, just because I know I can. I blaze through them and it results in lessened enjoyment. Completely my fault. I still REALLY recommend this one. So cute.

Might be late to the party but I absolutely adored this book.
Once you start to explore this graphic novel, you find yourself immersed in a wonderful world of magic.
I particularly appreciated the representation of love,friendship and family’s ties, so inclusive and diverse.
The illustrations and the colours used are really amazing and would love to see a sequel to this first boon of adventures!

The first thing to note is that the illustrations are so adorable and striking. Which, combined with the colour palette and slightly spooky themed – it was a perfect mix. Halloween can be cute and enjoyable with a little thrill.

There is a whole heap of diverse representation in here, which is so good. Our main character Nova is hearing impaired and wears hearing aids, Tam prefers the pronouns ‘they’, and we have f/f relationship Nanna’s. The scene where Tam asks if they can used their preferred pronouns was so heartwarming to read, I really hope we start seeing more of this in books.

We also need to discuss the Nanna’s. They are my favourite characters in the book (except maybe Terry) and they were always so loving, caring, and the kind of people that restore faith in humanity. One of them literally turns around to a scary horse demon and says, “you picked the wrong town to haunt, dear“.

There are definitely scenes which are going to give you all the feels, whilst also being lighthearted and having jokes. It really is a great read for any mood because of this. It definitely captures your attention with both the plot and the illustrations.

Why only 3 stars? Whilst I did enjoy reading it, I also felt like there was something lacking from the overall narrative. I wished it had felt more ‘high stakes’, and once things were quickly revealed it felt as if it was rushed through and then ended. I also wished we had delved more into the witch community, how the magic system works and a little deeper into our characters.

Mooncakes perfectly fuses the importance of different types of love and friendships, with adorable graphics and heart-warming moments. It was a perfect read for the Halloween season, under a blanket and with a warm drink in hand. It was made for when it’s getting dark and you want a spooky vibe but still want to sleep!

I can't tell you how delightfully unexpected this story and art was. I have been reading a lot more graphic novels of late, so when the opportunity to read and review a graphic novel containing magic, books, and self discovery, I was completely taken in and lucky to be given the opportunity to read and review it. The art within the book combines with the story perfectly to weave a whimsical and spellbinding story of family, friendship, and magic.

The witchcraft and magic within the graphic novel was rich and warm in all of the best ways. Stemming from the delightful witches/grandmothers that feature within the story, the Walker and Xu have imbued all aspects of this tale with a power that literally jumps from the page. The magic that the witches instil in Nova and their bookshop is powerful and enjoyable and forms the basis of a great magical story and world.

The inclusion of Tam and her shapeshifting abilities added another level to the story that was really welcome. Her inclusion added more literal magic, yes, but it also added an extra level of love and warmth in the form of relationship and friendship. There is literal magic abound in this book, from spells to witches to werewolves, but the real power is found in the strength of the relationships between Nova and her grandmothers, and between Nova and Tam. Nova looks up to, learns from, and has a beautifully loving relationship with her Grandmothers. Her relationship with Tam is full of wonderment and self discovery that was stunningly written and beautifully played out and had all the tact and rawness of the characters ages and learning experiences.

The artwork in this is equally as entertaining as the story itself. The words and pictures coalesce to create a rich and warm tapestry of belief, love, and magic, and really underpins the magical tale that the story is telling. The colours and style are fitting and toe the line of simplistic genius, much like the story itself.

Simply put, this story of self discovery, love, and magic was a warm and beautiful delight.

I absolute loved this story! The magic was great,the art was amazing, the characters were adorable. I loved the family dynamic and the trans rep. I would love to see a follow up story in this world. Quick that I can see myself rereading every fall.

I received a copy of Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker from Lion Forge and Netgalley in exchange for and honest review. Thank you!

I give this 2 stars! Definitely creative and artistic graphically speaking, but the story was ....... I'm at a loss.

Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog or welcome if you are new here.

Today, I am here to talk about a graphic novel that has been hyped up by many trusted reviewers in the book community- and for good reason!

Mooncakes is about two Chinese-American teens: we have Nova Huang, who is a witch and she lives with her two grandmothers after the death of her parents. Nova helps put her grandmothers run their bookshop while dealing with any potential magical happenings in the town.

One day, Nova is in the woods as a towns member mentioned a wolf sighting and she reunites with her old childhood friend, Tam Lang. Tam is fighting a demon horse and Nova helps them out. They moved away from town when they were young and Tam actually ran away from their mother and stepfather.

Tam asks Nova and her grandmas to help them figure out who has been attacking Tam. While this is happening, we see Tam & Nova’s relationship go from friendship to something more.

I absolutely adored this; the art is beautiful, the characters are so much fun to read and the story was so cute!

I gave this a 4.5 out of 5 stars and I highly recommend you all check it out!

I thought the pacing and writing could have used a little work, but nevertheless I enjoyed reading this. I loved the diversity of the characters and how they had intersecting identities; they seemed like real people with complex aspects to them. I also enjoyed that these various elements were simply part of the story but not the focus, and not the source of the conflict. Overall, this is a fun and fluffy comic with fantasy elements that I would be interested in reading more of.

This was a cute, fun comic and I would like to see more! Full of diversity and bright illustrations, it's a perfect Halloween read. I would like more backstory on Nova's parents.

Inclusive and atmospheric! This book will have readers hooked with its witchy female empowerment and beautiful illustrations. A spot on brew for any shelf.

This was such a cute story and perfect for the fall, especially around Halloween. I have been wanting to consume all of the witchy reads and movies during this Halloween season. I adored the artwork and colors. I loved all the diverse rep in this story. I really wanted the story to continue. After I finished reading it, I was content with the ending but I didn't want it to be over. It was such an adorable read and I'd definitely recommend it.

I never knew how much I needed this precious graphic novel about a queer hard-of-hearing witch and a nonbinary werewolf (both Chinese-American) childhood-friends-to-lovers relationship, but WOW, here we are and this is going to be one of my favorite releases of the year, no doubt at all.

Because I'm having a hard time putting into normal review formatting how much I loved this, let the bullets do their thing:

• DIVERSITY FOR DAAAAYYYYYS
• Not only are both MCs Chinese-American and queer, but Nova has two grandmas in a relationship with each other, too?! KILLING ME WITH CUTENESS, Y’ALL
• Such sweet and wholesome witchy rep, please give me more stories about good witches interacting with nature and doing sweet protective craft ♥
• This art is adorable, full stop, and can we just take a moment to appreciate the precious quiet detail of Tam’s ears?!
• Tam uses they/them pronouns (and even corrects other characters) and the other characters are so respectful of them!
• Multiple references to Nova’s hearing aids ♥
• Nova’s bestie is the obligatory skeptic character who’s also a trip and ships Nova/Tam so hard, A++ wing-woman over here
• Everything is just so wholesome and precious and we stan 😭

I seriously can't recommend this highly enough

This was such a soft and lovely story filled with so many magical moments. From it's amazing cast of characters to its storyline that had me hooked from the start. Mooncakes was a joy to behold and the romance between Tam and Nova gave me all the feels. Tam is a non-binary werewolf and Nova is a chinese-american queer witch that lives with her two (kickass) grandmothers. I enjoyed the art style and the narrative kept me turning the pages. This was such a cute read that I flew through but I really wish that we got more substance on the magic system and the backgrounds of each character that led them to their arcs. Nevertheless, highly recommend to anyone looking for something to swoon over

“Do you remember that night, before you left, when we almost…”

I know many of my readers are new to graphic novels. They want to try them but are unsure where to start. To you I say; read Mooncakes. The story follows a hard-of-hearing queer witch and nonbinary werewolf, both of whom are Chinese-American.

A queer childhood friends-to-lovers tale that we all need to read. Right now.

Sometimes you read a book, you’re blown away by it, and unsure how you existed prior to it.

Mooncakes is definitely one of those for me. And I think it’d become one for you too.

We know from the get go that Nova and her family are witches; they own a magical bookshop and help the community with supernatural occurrences. The most recent one being sightings of a huge white wolf at the edge of the forest, which Nova chooses to investigate alone.

Happily stumbling across her old friend Tam!

It doesn’t take long for the two of them to recognise each other, and rekindle their friendship. Nova and her family welcome Tam into their home whilst they work together to figure out what the actual problem is in the forest.

Whilst researching what the demon is and how Tam might be able to take it down with their own type of magic the two inevitably get closer and more comfortable. They’re so soft and sweet, and always looking out for each other. You can tell that this relationship was always meant to be.

The scene in which Nova first address’ there might be something between them is full of blushing goodness which made me squeal. It was truly so refreshing to read about such a positive and supportive relationship. To see it blossom and have strength to face some very real, and demonic, evils.

Yes, this story does cover more than their romance. And it’s wild to say that even with the tough areas it approaches, I still found myself mostly smiling throughout. That’s how life is when you’re ready to root for such a magical family!

Together they have to deal with Tam’s transphobic family, a hungry demon, and a werewolf-killing cult! I don’t really want to talk about this area of the story too much as it’s the main plot, but I loved it.
“Yeah, I think you two should definitely experiment.”

But I can mention Nova’s skeptic best friend who provides the type of comedy that I approve of. She ships Nova and Tam, HARD, and is just an all round joy tbh. It’s a great portrayal of female friendships, nothing toxic here! I seriously hope we get to see the team again.

They also had cute little forest sprites team up with them!

As I stated at the start, if you’re new to graphic novels this is the one for you. With such great diversity, heart-warming romance, witches who get shit done, and intense action scenes, this isn’t a story to be missed.

Mooncakes is a very diverse graphic novel that features many magical elements, including witches and werewolfs. Both of the main characters are Chinese-American. Nova is also hard of hearing, while Tam is non-binary. There are also many diverse side characters, like Nova’s grandmothers. The characters in Mooncakes were all wonderful and I loved learning more about them. Seeing them interact with each other and care for the people surrounding them was amazing! They all just warmed my heart.

The story of Mooncakes was interesting, though I found it to be somewhat predictable as well. I knew what was going on nearly from the get go. I also found that we didn’t get nearly enough magical explanation in this graphic novel. By that I mean that I don’t know how exactly the magic works, what magical creatures are out there and so on. I wish we had more information on that. There are super cute magical beings in the forest and I really wanted to know more about them.

With all of that being said, Mooncakes was a wonderful and heartwarming graphic novel and I would highly recommend it! It’s also an amazing autumn read, because of the cozy atmosphere of the story.

This was a sweet graphic novel. The sweet relationship between Nova (a witch) and Tam (a werewolf) was extremely sweet. I enjoyed the plot of Nova and Tam battling a dark force together, along with Nova's witch grandmothers They uncover a town plot and have to all use their skills to bring down the evil. I loved all the characters and the artwork was gorgeous. And bonus for queer characters! This is the perfect fall read.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this graphic novel 💜 I genuinely loved this, I thought that it was very original and fun, and it also had a lot of representation!
Our protagonists are Nova, who is a witch that needs hearing aids, and Tam who is a non-binary werewolf. When Tam comes back to his hometown they will need Nova's help to capture a demon, while they're at it old feelings will make a comeback and a cute romance will blossom. They will also have a little (or a lot) of help from Nova's grandmothers (I looove them). This graphic novel has everything I could have asked for: witchy vibes, queer relationships, magic and a very fluid and funny dialogue. I also love the art style, it fitted the story perfectly. 4/5🌟

What an adorable story just in time for Halloween aka Spooky Season! Nova is a young witch living with her two grandmas. She is unexpectedly visited by her old friend Tam, who is a werewolf (but not the kind of werewolf that gives me nightmares). Tam has been on the run for a while but with the love of their friend and some friendly-neighborhood spirits, they learn that they truly are not alone.

I loved the magical elements in this story but also the real-world ones. Nova and Tam are queer, with Tam also being non-binary and using the pronouns they/them. I loved that this was included in the story because being non-binary is still something many do not understand. In Mooncakes, it isn't treated as something weird or suspect, it just IS. I mean, why would being non-binary be weird in a story about magic, witches and werewolves?? Because although those elements are in this story, the main element is plain ole love. Being loved by family and friends is how you know you truly are not alone. And with many young people feeling so lost right now, I think Mooncakes will be a great reminder that they are not alone and that love is right in front of them.

This is perfect for those who like Halloween but don’t want to be scared and prefer something lighter and cuter.

It tells the story of Nova, a witch that reunites with her childhood best friend, Tam, who can turn into a wolf. What I liked best was the relationship between Nova and Tam (childhood best friends to lovers really is the superior trope) and how diverse all characters were: all the main characters are Chinese-American, Tam is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, Nova is hard of hearing and she actually uses her hearing device to her advantage thanks to her magical powers… It was so refreshing.

Even though I thought the ending was a little rushed and easy, I really enjoyed the story and how it focused on the importance of family and how you can find your own one. Also, the art style was adorable and fit perfectly. If you like comics like Katie O’Neill’s and Noelle Stevenson’s, check this one out!

This book was a pleasant surprise that I really enjoyed. I loved the art style and I will definitely be picking up my own hard copy because it was just so beautiful. It didn't take me very long to read so I really hope there will be a sequel so I can learn even more about the characters.