An absolutely adorable reflection on friendship and vulnerability for young readers, written through the lens of a witchy land of wonder

This graphic novel follows Planchette's plight of moving into a town of witches to feel like she belongs only to find out that her new home is haunted by ghosts. She ends up befriending some of the residents and slowly then work on fighting their fears and freeing the ghosts from their plight in Planchette's house. It's a quirky graphic novel about belonging and found family and I can't wait for the next installment.

This was such a cute graphic novel! I absolutely loved the entire atmosphere and all the characters. I loved all the commentary that the familiars would add and especially loved the artwork. It was beautiful and different. The story itself was a little all over the place, but I really didn't mind it. We followed a lot of different storylines, but it feels like a set up for future volumes, perhaps? The pacing was quick and I am usually not a fan of that in books, but considering this is a graphic novel, I didn't have a problem with it. The colors were perfect for the novel and I loved the end notes when we saw the character sketches from beginning to end. Babs had to be one of my favorites. She was so precious and PINK! I love the color pink, so it being her entire color was so fun. I am so excited to see how the next volume plays out and I'm hoping to see more of Sun and Babs's relationship develop in the next volume (they're my absolute favorites!)
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the ARC!

I am a huge fan of Haley Newsome*s youube channel and already read some of Unfamiliar online and immediately fell in love with it.
I love all the character designs, the story and the quirky drawings. It's unique, funny and fresh.
I would highly recommend this one to all witch and fantasy lovers who love some good written outsiders and surprises.

A fun graphic novel overflowing with quirky little witches, pesky ghosts and adorable familiars. The artwork is the perfect aesthetic for a kitchen witch vibe, and I found myself flipping pages faster and faster, wanting to get to the bottom of why these ghosts are.... ghosts. Looking forward to part 2!

I've been a big fan of this artist for a longggg time and I was super excited to see Unfamiliar be printed. I've already convinced our library to order a copy. Very cute with a spoopy twist. Great for fans of Wednesday, Ruby Gloom, and Emily the Strange

Thanks to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the ARC of this!

This was super cute, with outsider gets a found family vibes. The art style was adorable, the pacing was good, and I loved the characters. I’m definitely excited to read more!

This was a really unique and playful interpretation of witches, magic, and the power of friendship. I loved the subtle changes to the illustrations that reflected the character’s moods and actions, like ghosts in the pupils or characters and those little details. From witches to sirens, curses to a lack of power, popularity to family detachment, this was a fun story of young magic and friendship. I like the quirkiness and unique qualities of the characters and plot so far, and I do think it’s a series I wouldn’t mind following. I mean how cute are those characters!?
This was a short, easy read that I feel would be better for young readers, as the story itself was simple, but the witchy vibes could be great for any person who finds that of interest. A great intro to graphic novels in my opinion!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you so much to Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley for an eARC!

I enjoyed this adorable witchy comic so much! The art style is so cute and as someone who believes that spooky season is all year round, I can’t wait for volume two!

Planchette makes pizza from her spell. Winston is not impressed. Planchette, a witch and her rabbit familiar, Winston moved to a new home in a magical town. She finds out that her new home is haunted with several ghosrts. It overwhelms her. She asks the ghosts the following morning to give her 15 minutes to make and eat breakfast. There is nothing to make for her breakfast. She and her rabbit go to a diner. She runs into Sun at the diner as she is now working as a waitress. When she had asked Sun the day before to do an exorcism of her home, Sun said no, she would not do it. Planchette finds out that Sun must work several jobs to pay the rent. Planchette ends up with several friends and her house Planchette makes new friends in town. Will she find someone who can get rid of the ghosts in her new home?

The author has written a charming graphic novel. Witches and ghosts are not to be scared of. It is a story full of whimsy and personalities. I enjoyed the story . I think anyone of any age would enjoy this novel.

Unfamiliar is an absolutely adorable Halloween read. It has a vibrant and loveable cast of characters. Despite the story being relatively short, I found the development of the characters and their friendships believable. Having been a fan of the author's work before I went into this book knowing her talent for creating cute and well-designed characters, and of course I was completely sucked into the atmosphere and setting from the very first page. I'll be eagerly awaiting volume 2.

Spooky season might be over (for now), but this book was a wonderfully quirky and endearing trip to the goth-emo scene of young witches! It is a lighthearted but still emotional story about three very different female witches, navigating their personal obstacles in their craft and life, supporting each other. There are feminist and queer undertones to the story which - to my opinion - makes it a beautiful piece of work to give to younger readers with certain morbide tendencies or older readers that want to return to a bit of the childlike wonder and imaginative spirit of younger years.
I was very entertained reading it, enjoyed the chapters structure of the graphic novel and already want to spend more time in the world, finding out more about the characters and how they grow.

Planchette is a young kitchen witch who moves into a haunted house in a new town. After trying and failing to make the ghosts leave, Planchette heads into town to find a witch who will help her.

This was a super cute story, I need to know what happens next. I know this is a super short story but I have grown very fond of my girlies. I love reading about witches in the modern world, and the illustrations were gorgeous! Them searching things on the internet and witchyhow was so funny!

Also, there are so many open plots, I need to know more.

Thoroughly recommend!! :)

I thought the idea was cute and that the characters all looked adorable. I liked that they were all witches but had different strengths and weaknesses and looked different in many ways. I loved their familiars, they were all so cute and it was an adorable and cozy quick read. In terms of the plot, it seemed a bit messy and lacked in some areas. The illustrations were amazing but overall the story was not my favorite.

I recieved a free eARC of this book. Thank you for the opportunity.

A young kitchen witch moves into a haunted house, beyond her powers to solve. Through this sweet graphic novel, she discovers that they are stronger together, when she connects with other magic users who don't quite have the powers they're supposed to have. On the way, they solve more problems than just a few ghosts.

An enjoyable read that is appropriate for middle grade or young adult readers-or anyone who' enjoys fantasy.

This was a really quick, lighthearted, funny comic to read. I had an enjoyable time with it, but overall it didn't entirely match my taste in comics. It's very much on the silly side and it didn't have quite enough substance for me. I did enjoy this, but I don't think I'll read the next volume.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Planchette is a young kitchen witch who moves into a new house-- a very haunted new house. Unable to banish the ghosts, she seeks help from an interesting cast of characters: a magically-challenged witch from a prolific coven, a grumpy witch with a curse, and a siren who wants nothing more than to blend in. Will they be able to band together and banish the ghosts?

This book is a quick, fun read. The characters are quirky, the situations are wacky. It was a bit lacking for me in terms of the story (it ends very abruptly), but overall, I enjoyed reading it.

5/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for giving me a copy of this book! This is my honest review, all views are my own.
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Unfamiliar is a wonderfully witchy graphic novel by popular content creator Haley Newsome, otherwise known as LavenderTowne. It is the first volume in a series that is currently in progress on Tapas.
I’m a huge fan of Haley’s work and artstyle, and I had actually already read the published parts of her comic in 2020 (around the end of chapter 8, if I recall correctly?). I remember liking the plot a lot, and it was really fun to revisit Planchette and her friends’ beginnings!
The graphic novel had a pretty good pace and introduced the reader to our main cast (Planchette, Pinyon, Babs, and Sun, as well as all of their familiars) with ease. Each introduction happened at a unique point in the story, and their designs are so cute and memorable! In terms of storytelling, the backstories were shared as a bit of an infodump, but I don’t think the story style/direction allowed for anything more subtle—there’s enough going on, and it would have muddled the story if some of the backstories dragged out too long. But don’t worry: this isn’t the case for some of the other characters! Sun in particular has a very intriguing journey that was only touched upon in this volume, and the ghosts themselves have specific narratives that are super fun to learn about.
Overall, I really enjoyed rereading the first few chapters of Unfamiliar as a bound graphic novel, and I would highly recommend it to those who enjoy funky art styles with cute details as well as a light-hearted high fantasy world / magic system!! 5 stars.

4/5 stars, a cute little witchy read

While it's not October anymore, this was an adorable witchy read that I'm so thankful I was able to receive an arc of. The art style was a bit different from what I am used to, but not in a bad way and it was still so adorable at times! I especially liked the color palette that the story had and how it changed with every character.

The story was also cute, and I love all the interesting people in this magical town and hope that there is more introduced in the coming graphic novels. My favorite was probably the sirens, and the witch doctor, though I loved all of the characters. It's a quick little read that a lot of people would love for the cute moments and of course families, I totally recommend if you ever want an adorable witchy graphic novel.

[TW: mention of murder, missing children, death of a loved one, death of children, abusive family mentioned]

I really enjoyed this fun story about magic and friendship. The art was cute and I would definitely read more.