Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Mooncakes

This is the magical, cute and just plain adorable graphic novel I have been waiting for! I had a constant smile on my face the whole time i was reading and was very sad when the book came to a close. I wanted more cute and was sad to see it end.

A young witch follows a white wolf into the woods one night, what she didnt see coming was to get attacked by some scary house demon and to run into her childhood crush she hasn't seen in years. Follow them as they reconnect and discover the threat of a cult who wants to use werewolves and their magic to change the world in their awful image.

The characters, Nova who is a Chinese American with magical gifts and also hearing impaired and Tam, a Non Binary werewolf are the most sweetest characters I have ever seen. I love them both separately and love them even more together. Nova is still struggling with the loss of her parents and is currently living with her two grandmothers( who are amazing by the way!) and Tam who has ran away from home after being mistreated by their parents. I love how they supported each other and loved each other so unconditionally. You could feel their love for each other come right off the pages and it was adorable.

This novel had such good representation of found family, finding your own place in the world and being comfortable there and loving and accepting who you are. The writing and the illustrations were so beautiful and I can not wait to see what Suzanne and Wendy do next.

If you want a cute magical adventure with equally cute magical characters then go and get Mooncakes, you won't regret it. Get some actually Mooncakes while you at it too it would be the perfect compliment to such a good graphic novel!

Content Warnings

womanwill's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

4.5

Content Warnings

wardenred's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Home is where you are, okay?

I've been meaning to re-read this wonderful story for a while now, and when a conversation in one of my Discord servers reminded me of it yesterday, I just had to crack it open again. Sometimes, your entire TBR can't stand in the way of a good re-read!

Mooncakes has been among my top favorite graphic novels since I first discovered it back when it only existed as a webcomic. I remember getting hooked in a matter of minutes by the wonderful, wondeful artwork, and then each new detail just kept pulling me in further. The characters! The warm family feels! All the casually used magic! The queer reunited-childhood-friends-to-wholesome-romance! There's just so much to love about this story.

I absolutely adore Nova and Tam and their relationship, but it's the secondary characters who truly help this story shine. Nova's friendship with Tatyana is amazing, and all their interactions brought a smile to my face. And I can't put into words how heartwarming everything about Nova's grandmothers is. For once, these two are absolute relationship goals: they've obviously been together forever, and their relationship is still obviously so strong and tender. Second, they're just amazing people—I love how easily they welcome Tam into their home, and how Tam only needs to state their changed pronouns once for both of these women to just start using they/them without a single slip, even when Tam's not around to hear them. Finally, I love how they were actively involved in the whole demon mystery plot from the get-go instead of pouring tea in the background, or warning the younger character against danger, or getting swiftly kidnapped/otherwise indisposed—you know, the way adults in young adult/new adult SFF so often tend to do. At the same time, they offered Nova and Tam plenty of freedom to explore and experiment and be heroes on their own, never overshadowing them with all of their experience, but still always tangibly being there. They all handled that (very interesting and exciting) mystery together, as a family.

Some other things I loved:

the disability rep;
the family holiday and the balance of heartwarming belonging and drama there;
the character growth both Tam and Nova go through over the course of the story;
the artwork. I know I mentioned the artwork at the very beginning, but it's worth mentioning again! It's just so beautiful, and I love how all the characters have their own body shapes, with no "golden standard" to adher to.

I love this story, and I just want to rec it to everyone.

❤️️

Content Warnings

valereads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This gorgeous graphic novel follows two characters. Nova, a witch who lives with her grandmothers and works in her family's bookshop/cafe. Tam is a werewolf on the run who has come back to the last place they felt safe and happy. The childhood friends are reunited and romance begins to blossom between them but the danger Tam was running from is about to catch up to them.

This is a wonderful little comic with adorable art. There were fun, light hearted moments in between the family drama and fighting evil magic. It is well written with elements of found family, a cute romance and queer, trans and sapphic rep.

I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a witchy queer book. I especially recommend this to older fans of The Witch Boy by Molly Ostertag.

Content Warnings

caseythereader's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

- I mean, I feel like I don't need to do a lot of work to sell this book other than tell you the synopsis? Disabled teen witch Nova falls in love with nonbinary werewolf Tam while saving their town from demons and cults - what more could you want?
- Plus, the illustrations are engaging and adorable.
- Honestly, my only complaint is that there isn't a sequel about Nova and Tam's post-demon life!

Content Warnings

melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious 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? No

4.75

This book is absolutely adorable! One of the cutest books and graphic novels I have ever read.

The diversity of characters in this book is amazing. We have a sapphic witch with hearing aids who lives with her sapphic grandmother's. Then our other MC is a Nonbinary Werewolf! The best friend is also fat, so there is that representation as well.

This was so so adorable. The storyline was good and exciting and I liked the messages. But the characters were where this book really shined! Definitely a new fave.

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