Mooncakes

Mooncakes

Mooncakes is a book about Nova Huang, a teenage witch who works at her grandmothers’ bookshop. She helps her grandmothers loan out spell books and investigate supernatural events that happen around town. One night, she goes into the woods to find out more about a mysterious white wolf many had reported and comes across her old friend and crush, Tam Lang, fighting a wild horse demon. Tam is a werewolf and had been wandering around in their wolf form for the last few years, but was recently pursued by dark forces who wanted their horse magic for evil. That’s when they ask Nova for help. The two of them come together to fight the evil forces in their town and find out where the horse demon came from, rekindling their feelings for each other.

This book is such a great example of self-discovery. Throughout the book, Nova is trying to find her place in the world, especially considering taking a different path in life than most witches her age. As she becomes more comfortable with herself, she learns to take risks and embrace parts of herself that she often hid before. She finally finds the confidence to tell her parents what she wants from life and give her relationship with Tam a chance. In addition, people’s identities in the book were never questioned or thought of as weird. It was an integral part of their lives, but the limelight was never on it, almost as it should be in an ideal world. For example, Tam is nonbinary, but no one ever gets mad at them for it and people always respect their pronouns. I think this book is a good example of what we should strive for as a society: A place where people can understand and discover themselves freely and their identities are respected.

I enjoyed this book. The graphics were amazing, with colors that felt homey and comfortable and a fantasy aspect that ties everything together perfectly. I’ve definitely read better fantasy graphic novels, but the way this book handles people’s identities makes it very unique. Other than that though, the plot and characters were a bit forgettable and for the most part it was a pretty normal book. I would recommend it to people who like graphic novels and people who like fantasy, but personally, I don’t think it's one of the top books I’ve read. Mooncakes has a great vibe though and I think anyone who’s looking for a quick, sweet read would enjoy it.

-Praachi