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readingbrb's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism and Violence
Minor: Transphobia
kurumipanda's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Sexism, Bullying, Blood, and Animal death
Minor: Violence
cozylifewithabby's review
4.5
Cozy read and an important message about allowing people to be who they are and use their strengths.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Violence
rtaire's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Bullying
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Gaslighting
jessnreads's review
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
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
itsmeyseniab's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Alright, clearly I'm in the minority here and nobody is more shocked than I am at how much I did not enjoy this! What in the WORLD.
I did not connect with this story on any level. I thought the dialogue/storytelling was lackluster... I understood the message that Molly Ostertag was trying to convey in terms of combatting toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes, but the actual story itself made 0 sense to me. Nothing was fleshed out in my opinion. It almost felt like an argument many kids have with their parent/authority figure that ends in the adult saying "because I said so." I don't like being told things in a story (ESPECIALLY graphic novels) - show me! I will say that I found the art style to be kind of creepy (specifically in terms of the characters' eyes). I loved the color palette though!
That being said, I did love the message of being true to yourself, not conforming to what society expects of you in terms of gender, sexuality and all other stereotypes. I thought the exploration of these topics were great, especially for young readers!
Sadly I don't plan on continuing on with this series :(
I did not connect with this story on any level. I thought the dialogue/storytelling was lackluster... I understood the message that Molly Ostertag was trying to convey in terms of combatting toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes, but the actual story itself made 0 sense to me. Nothing was fleshed out in my opinion. It almost felt like an argument many kids have with their parent/authority figure that ends in the adult saying "because I said so." I don't like being told things in a story (ESPECIALLY graphic novels) - show me! I will say that I found the art style to be kind of creepy (specifically in terms of the characters' eyes). I loved the color palette though!
That being said, I did love the message of being true to yourself, not conforming to what society expects of you in terms of gender, sexuality and all other stereotypes. I thought the exploration of these topics were great, especially for young readers!
Sadly I don't plan on continuing on with this series :(
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Violence
Minor: Animal death
bodiesinbooks's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Violence and Animal death
candycain's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
ehmannky's review
adventurous
emotional
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
This is an incredibly charming use of fantasy to explore the way that forcing our loved ones into a gender binary is incredibly damaging and painful thing to do. And that forcing ourselves into those molds is an act of violence that can make us violent. It's a lovely read all around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Blood
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