Scan barcode
novella42's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, and Animal death
Moderate: Body horror, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting
jessnreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I'm reading everything by Molly Knox Ostertag now, no questions. This was a really good book and graphic novels have become my weakeness, especially when they have magic.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Blood, and Violence
foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was so good! Very wholesome.
The Witch Boy follows Aster, a young boy from a family of magical people. The men are all shapeshifters while the women are all witches. Aster has never felt attached to being a shapeshifter and he'd much rather learn witchery. When his boy cousins start disappearing, Aster might be the only one capable of saving them.
I really enjoyed Aster's character. He must be protected at all costs. His story really shows gender exclusive activities are really harmful. I'm so glad he found a friend in Charlie! She was the best and always so supportive of him.
I enjoyed this world and I'm really curious to see how things will change for Aster in the sequel. I hope we also get to see more of the world. I wonder if there will be any trans or nonbinary characters. That was really the only thing this was missing.
Rep: biracial male MC, Black female side character with a broken leg and two dads, side characters with two moms, multiple BIPOC characters (specific ethnicity was not indicated), fat white female side characters.
CWs: Bullying, body horror, sexism. Moderate: violence, blood, animal death, injury/injury detail. Minor: gaslighting.
The Witch Boy follows Aster, a young boy from a family of magical people. The men are all shapeshifters while the women are all witches. Aster has never felt attached to being a shapeshifter and he'd much rather learn witchery. When his boy cousins start disappearing, Aster might be the only one capable of saving them.
I really enjoyed Aster's character. He must be protected at all costs. His story really shows gender exclusive activities are really harmful. I'm so glad he found a friend in Charlie! She was the best and always so supportive of him.
I enjoyed this world and I'm really curious to see how things will change for Aster in the sequel. I hope we also get to see more of the world. I wonder if there will be any trans or nonbinary characters. That was really the only thing this was missing.
Rep: biracial male MC, Black female side character with a broken leg and two dads, side characters with two moms, multiple BIPOC characters (specific ethnicity was not indicated), fat white female side characters.
CWs: Bullying, body horror, sexism. Moderate: violence, blood, animal death, injury/injury detail. Minor: gaslighting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, and Sexism
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Animal death
Minor: Gaslighting
naldorah's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
oddduck's review against another edition
fast-paced
5.0
Wow, I'd forgotten how much I loved this graphic novel! It's such a cute story with a great message about gender and family. The characters are all very fun and diverse and complex. The magic system is interesting and not overly complicated. And Aster's story ties in nicely with the family history, which is always something I love.
The theme of family is particularly well explored here. It's clear that Aster's parents love him, even though they aren't quite sure how to help him or give him what he needs. But by the end, they're trying, and so is the rest of his family. It's that kind of fumbling "we love you and have accepted that this is who you are, but we're also actively unlearning a lot of beliefs that you challenged, so we're trying, but we're not perfect and we don't intend to hurt you" that is so painfully realistic. And if you look at Aster being a witch as a metaphor for being trans (or otherwise queer), this also really fits.
And the above had to happen in order for them to avoid making the same mistake that hurt Mikasi. Because yes, what he did to himself was partly his choice, but he only did it because he'd tried to get help from his family and they refused to accept that his needs were different. It was his family's rejection of him, because he couldn't do the magic he was "supposed to", that pushed him into that choice. And sure, it's hard to imagine Aster becoming like Mikasi, because he just doesn't seem like that sort of person, but that's the beauty of it. We don't know what Mikasi was like, so we might have said it was unlikely for Mikasi to go down the path he did. Now, we'll never find out, because Grandmother realized that tradition had harmed her brother and had the potential to harm Aster and so she made the choice to value her family over tradition. Or, maybe not over tradition, since tradition is very important to her still, but certainly not more than her family. And that's the best possible ending.
The theme of family is particularly well explored here. It's clear that Aster's parents love him, even though they aren't quite sure how to help him or give him what he needs. But by the end, they're trying, and so is the rest of his family. It's that kind of fumbling "we love you and have accepted that this is who you are, but we're also actively unlearning a lot of beliefs that you challenged, so we're trying, but we're not perfect and we don't intend to hurt you" that is so painfully realistic. And if you look at Aster being a witch as a metaphor for being trans (or otherwise queer), this also really fits.
And the above had to happen in order for them to avoid making the same mistake that hurt Mikasi. Because yes, what he did to himself was partly his choice, but he only did it because he'd tried to get help from his family and they refused to accept that his needs were different. It was his family's rejection of him, because he couldn't do the magic he was "supposed to", that pushed him into that choice. And sure, it's hard to imagine Aster becoming like Mikasi, because he just doesn't seem like that sort of person, but that's the beauty of it. We don't know what Mikasi was like, so we might have said it was unlikely for Mikasi to go down the path he did. Now, we'll never find out, because Grandmother realized that tradition had harmed her brother and had the potential to harm Aster and so she made the choice to value her family over tradition. Or, maybe not over tradition, since tradition is very important to her still, but certainly not more than her family. And that's the best possible ending.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Dysphoria, and Kidnapping
More...