Title: Mooncakes
Author: Wendy Xu & Suzanne Walker
Pages: 259
Genre: Graphic Novel, Romance, LGBTQ+
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This is an Advanced Readers Copy. That means that this is not the final version of the book. Therefore, facts, quotes, and panels are subject to change in the published book.

Release date: 10/15/2019

The is the love child of two lovely artists forced into a long distance relatiopnship and just finding a medium to create together. This story is about young Nova, a witch who lives with her nana's. When one day, a wolf rolls into the neighborhood only to be the lovely Tam, an old (almost girl)friend from the past. And I say girlfriend but Tam is non-binary so kissing partner would be more accurate but I could not resist the joke. 

Oh No's
Hmmmm my oh no is that I feel something was missing. I can't put my finger on it though. But, I did love this story and recommend it but I just can't figure out what is missing to me. (Not straight people, cause that is the best thing that this graphic novel is missing).

Yay's
The length of this graphic novel was astounding. Coming out to a whopping 259 pages (for now), this story was able to be fully fleshed out and written thoroughly. The Romance was great and everyone was LGBTQ+ filled representation. With one of the main characters being binary and using they/them pronouns.

I loved this moment between Nova and her grandmother. It's a parents job to embarrass the young ones and it was just a wholesome moment.



Finally,
This was a magical novel filled with werewolves, demons, witches, and more! I love gorgeous art and this graphic novel delivers.

My similar recommendation for this novel would be Tea Dragon Society.

Favorite Panel


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-PM

An absolutely adorable supernatural graphic novel featuring an HoH (hard of hearing) queer witch and an enby werewolf, childhood best friends reunited when a dangerous demonic spirit begins haunting the woods. Lovely illustrations and a really sweet story about magic and love and learning to trust yourself.

I'm loving the trend for queer witchy comics at the moment and Mooncakes is a particularly good one with beautiful art and a cute romance between a witch and her non-binary werewolf childhood friend whose come back to town to fight a demon.

I loved the paranormal storyline, the skeptical scientist best friend, the lesbian grandma witches and the adorable forest spirits in this. So much to love and deaf, Chinese-American and Jewish representation in the main characters. Mooncakes is a heart-warming and magical comic that would be great for all ages and fans of all things cute and spooky.

Mooncakes is the kind of novel that will warm your heart and put a smile on your face. Seriously, you won't stop grinning as you read.

It follows Tam and Nova, two childhood friends that lost touch over the years but reunite when Tam returns to town. There is a demon haunting the forest and it seems Tam is the key to unraveling it.

It's a paranormal contemporary where Tam is a werewolf and, Nova and her family are witches. Tam is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, and Nova is hard-of-hearing and uses a hearing aid. They are both Chinese-American and Nova has the loveliest family, her grandmothers are just the sweetest!

Even though the main plot is them trying to understand Tam's wolf magic and how they can defeat the force in the forest, we also follow their day-to-day life, Nova's struggles with the loss of her parents and how she can move forward, and the parent neglect Tam feels from their mother. It also follows as Tam and Nova develop and confess their feelings for each other, and learn how they can be together.

Nova's grandmothers are very present in her life, they help them with the demon and they happily take Tam in. You can see the love these characters share for one another, and their compassion. It was lovely to read about a family that is present in each other's lives.

Personally, if I don't like the art style it affects my reading experience but Mooncakes' artwork is absolutely beautiful, I just want to hang it around my house. The overall story is simple but interesting, leaving me wanting more from these characters. I want to follow them around and see what adventures they get up to. I loved seeing the little magic spells and, again, I WANT MORE!

Lastly, I must say it's an honor to share my name with Nova's cat. MY DREAM IS TO BE A CAT so I feel like I belong to this family.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this and I will definitely be shouting about this to everyone around me. It's just so good!

That was a lovely story about a nonbinary werewolf and their childhood friend (who's queer and uses hearing aids) reconnecting and defeating evil! I highly recommend it.

I NEED MORE! This graphic novel was the cutest one I have read so far. I noticed it being Read Now, and I hád to download it. I really loved that it wasn't just one person struggling with something, but both MCs had their own issues, and a clear past.

So, Nova and Tam were friends when they were childs, but Tam had to move away, so Nova stayed behind with her grandmothers (who are the cutest ever). It all seems like a run of the mill story - except Nova is a witch (like her grandmothers) and Tam is a werewolf.

The story revolves around the them defeating a demon - banding together to combine their magic. And them together is truly awesome. The relationship between Nova and her grandmothers is absolutely amazing, and between Tam and Nova's grandmothers aswell. When Tam has nowhere to go, Nova's grandmothers take them into their home - yes them, because Tam is nonbinary, something that's awesomely depicted in the story.

The art was beautiful aswell! Being an ARC, it wasn't entirely done, but I'm really looking forward to see the finished copy, and I will definitely be buying it when it's available!

Mooncakes is a fun and sweet graphic novel that I think anyone who enjoys magic/romance/family should read. The story was really easy to follow and the artwork is beautiful. The relationship that Nova and Tam have was really sweet and it's nice to see queer relationships represented. I loved Nova's Nana's also and I want to read a story with just them!

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy,

This was a great graphic novel! I loved the art style, the characters, and the romance. It also included a lot of different types of representation done well like nonbinary, hearing impaired and more,

Mooncakes is a heartwarming and sweet story about a young witch and werewolf who are reunited after years of separation. I loved the art style shown in this graphic novel, I think it conveys magic really well. The magical animals are the cutest little forest creatures I could ever want. The story has really good representation (imo) of a hard of hearing character who wears hearing aids and a nonbinary character who identifies as they/them (and they're both Chinese-American). Their friendship turned romantic relationship is super sweet, it seems like they picked up their relationship where they last left it. The main story-line revolves around Tam and the reason why they came back to their old town in the first place: to track down a demon using wolf magic and then destroy it. There were some mystery elements in this story that I really enjoyed. I wouldn't mind reading more about Nova and Tam as they grow into themselves and resolve some of their other issues (family-related and whatnot). Overall, this was a really enjoyable, quick read and I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested.

I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing. Full of family, fun, witchcraft, discovery of self, and self love. A quick read that you will not want to put down, Welcome to the world of mystery and acceptance. Every ally and LGBTQIA person should read this, Cannot wait for the next installment.

I believe Mooncakes is about a cult looking to unleash a wolf demon and Nova, her Nannas, Tatyana, and Tam work together to stop it from happening. It is a quick cute read where the action happens really fast with a not a lot of context. What I absolutely loved was all the representation without it feeling forced. I have read books where it felt like the author was just checking off different types of people to have in their stories but this did not feel like that. The characters identities were simply who they are and it was accepted by everyone without and push back. There was a misgendering in the beginning between one of Nova's grandmothers and Tam but it is corrected and respected throughout the rest of the story even by the villain! It is the utopia I dream of for the future!

Nova is a female witch who wears a hearing aid. She falls in love with Tam who is a non-binary werewolf. Everyone in the novel is pretty much expecting them to get together, even though there is no background as to why, but they are still so cute! Then there is Nova's grandmothers who I believe are a couple because in one scene they are sharing a bed. Correct me if I am wrong. Finally, and my favorite, Tatyana who is a plus sized woman and super awesome supportive bestie to Nova. She is into science but accepts all the magic in stride because she is willing to learn. Overall cute story and beautiful artwork!

Thank you Netgalley and Lion Forge for providing an e-arc of the graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

This is is really sweet story about a witch, Nova, who lives with her two grans and they have the most amazing bookshop ever. This is also the story of Tam, Nova's non-binary werewolf friend. Its such a unique premise and it filled with cute moments, magical creatures, love.

The only fault I had with this really was that I would really have loved a little more depth to the story, some history of the characters.. And maybe a little more time spent with characters in order to remember them when they pop up later in the story.

The diversity rep is fantastic though and the artwork is beautiful. I am really looking forward to seeing a finished copy when it comes out!

Many thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc of this in exchange for an honest review.

It was cute? The story seemed forced and moved far too fast. Especially the romance which felt very random, no one even mentioned a crush until more than half way through the story when the main characters had already been in a relationship for a while. It honestly felt like I was reading a sequel and I missed a giant chunk of the story. But for people who enjoyed Moonstruck (which I personally didn't) this would be a story they would enjoy.

Werewolves, witches, LGBT representation, and puns! What more could you ask for? This book will be great for fans of the fantasy genre or who like the romantic side of the story. It was a lot of fun to read and the illustrations in the final version will be gorgeous.

3 stars---------------------------------------------
This was adorable. It was exactly what it said it was. Sweet, lighthearted and magical. There was a non-binary werewolf dating a witch. I love the representation because I hardly see non-binary characters in fiction. I loved the themes of love, friendship and family.

Overall all i can say is that this graphic novel was cute and sweet.

For me personally sometimes I found it cringey. I am a cynic at heart and any displays of love honestly make me what to gag. But thats more of a me problem than a book problem. I don't have much to say. Definitely pick it up if you want to enjoy a nice, sweet queer time.

It was a very good book! I loved the two main characters so much!! They were so cute and omg the art style was very beautiful!!!
Thank you so much Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange of my honest review!!

Ah I loved this! This was probably one of the cutest graphic novels I’ve ever read. The art style is gorgeous and the characters were so likeable. I loved all of the representation and was happy to see it. The family dynamics were so sweet as well and I appreciated how well it was shown.


Thank you to Lion Forge/Oni Press via NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was so freaking cute!!!!!!
I loved everything about this, the diversity, the relationship between them <3 <3 I WILL DEFINITELY BUY ME A COPY <3 <3

Disclaimer: I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Mooncakes is a gorgeous graphic novel. Nova is a witch who lives with her grandmas as she continues to learn magic with them rather than pursuing an apprenticeship elsewhere. One night, a report of a white wolf and glowing in the forest leads Nova to explore.

She finds her old best friend Tam in battle with a demon possessing a horse, and she helps them get away from the demon possessing horse and takes them back home. With the help of her grandmas, Nova and Tam quickly learn that this demon is one that will need some wolf magic in order to vanquish it–if Tam can figure out how to use their powers.

Mooncakes has gorgeous art throughout, and while the eARC didn’t show all of the final art details in the later chapters, the art work throughout is gorgeous, and no doubt, the final version will be even more gorgeous. The story also shines for the inclusion of a character who is hard-of-hearing and for a character who is non-binary as a part of the story while not making it the story.

Mooncakes will release in October, just in time for a delightful autumn appropriate read. Of course, the read is great any time as well. Check this one out.

A queer witch and a non-binary werewolf? Yes please!

Nova and Tam were childhood friends, until Tam moved away. But when a large white wolf is seated close to town, Nova knows Tam is back. It turns out Tam is trying to defeat a demon, and Nova decides to help them. She lives with her grandmothers (who she calls "the Nanas"), and Tam stays with them. They have an antique bookstore where they sell books on witchcraft in the back of the store, so they also try to help with defeating the demon. They're also joined by one of Nova's friends, a fat girl who lowkey hates magic because she's a massive science nerd.

Overall, the relationships in this novel are all so great, especially because they're very accepting and there's not a lot of conflict. And did I mention one of them is a werewolf?! There are even werewolf puns! And just... so many puns in general. The characters are just very amazing, and this was made even better because this novel has one of my favourite tropes: childhood friends who lose touch and are reunited when they're older, only to fall in love. I thought this was really well done here.

I also loved the art in this book, which is really atmospheric and done in soft, muted colours. I always feel like art is essential to a graphic novel, not just to depict the story, but to enhance it. And that's definitely the case here. The coloring was not entirely done yet, so the last part of the novel is still more of a draft. So I'll definitely be picking up a finished copy once the book is released in October!

Needless to say, I loved this a whole lot. It's just such a lovely story to disappear in for a little while.

Rep: Chinese-American, Deaf, queer MC, Chinese-American non-binary MC who uses they/them pronouns, fat side character, f/f side couple

CWs: depictions of blood and wounds, misgendering (challenged), grief/past death of parents