Mooncakes

by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu

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A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

Taken from book blurb

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My Thoughts

Mooncakes is a cute , inclusive, and easy to read graphic novel. The book is a fantasy story set in modern times, with witches, magic, and werewolves taking centre stage in this graphic novel.

I really enjoyed the whole cast of different characters – in particular I loved seeing how effortlessly Tam was included in the story. In an early panel, Tam asks for the pronouns they to be used in relation to themselves and throughout Mooncakes we are given glimpses of Tam backstory – some of these include them as presenting as more feminine, and others are they transition and make changes to themselves.

In particular there are two panels that exemplify this excellently, in one Tam is a young girl with two long braids, in the other Tam is emotionally cutting her hair.

The LGBT and inclusion of Mooncakes can be seen in not just Tam but also her relationship with Nova, Nova’s grandparents, and Nova’s hearing aids. Mooncakes is just a queer feast for the senses!

Mooncakes was an engaging graphic novel that had a unique art style that often drew my eyes to small details. I would really recommend Mooncakes if you’re looking for a magically inclusive fantasy read.

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