This was gorgeous.The illustrations were magically beautiful. The paper silkiness was lovely to touch. The story and dialogue are great. I'm personally not a huge fan of "friends with each other as very young children" romances but it was still sweet. The nannas were awesome.

watch me chat about it here: https://www.youtube.com/@starkissedstories/about ( )

A super cute and charming graphic novel with excellent representation (bisexuality, non-binary identity, disability, Chinese heritage), a genuinely sweet romance, and refreshing take on witches and werewolves (it's amazing to me that with how often werewolves are used as LGBTQ metaphors, next to none are presented as non-binary/gender-fluid... despite the werewolf literally being a creature whose body is non-binary/in flux... you've already committed to this metaphor, folks, give me some non-cis werewolves, please!). Tam, Mooncakes' non-binary werewolf is accordingly a nice change of pace and easily the most interesting character in the novel.

It was indeed Tam who initially sparked my interest in this graphic novel, as my dissertation is on recuperation of the figure of the monster in queer YA and I'd been dying for more texts with non-cis rep (especially for werewolves). Mooncakes seemed a timely answer to my little grad student prayers. It did not disappoint and I would love to see more with these characters.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )

graphic teen fiction (Deaf author, Asian-American illustrator)
a witch with a hearing aid, a trans/nonbinary werewolf, 2 kindly Nanas who sell magic potions and books, a weird horse demon, magical creature puns... what's not to like? The plot/storytelling isn't that special but the characters are really adorable and I wouldn't mind reading more...

takes place over the Sukkat (Jewish holiday) and Mid-Autumn Festival. ( )

I found this book to be the prefect witch graphic novel. I really did love the world building and the characters. I thought this book featured so much diversity in so many different aspects including deaf characters also LBGTQ characters. I found this art style to be so adorable and I flew through this read. I wanted a little bit more from the plot towards the end, but really did love this read and hope that we get to sequel soon! ( )

I found this book to be the prefect witch graphic novel. I really did love the world building and the characters. I thought this book featured so much diversity in so many different aspects including deaf characters also LBGTQ characters. I found this art style to be so adorable and I flew through this read. I wanted a little bit more from the plot towards the end, but really did love this read and hope that we get to sequel soon! ( )