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.
Disclaimer: I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The content/art of the book as I read it is not the final version.
My spoiler-free review:
So this was a super sweet little graphic novel that I genuinely enjoyed reading! The whole thing was very wholesome and vanilla, with a cozy, witchy aesthetic that makes me wish it were spooky season. The plot was satisfying, although there seemed to be a few holes (that could have been a result of me not reading closely enough, though). For a graphic novel, I think the little world was very well-developed, and I liked the witch-culture that it established. I wish there had been a bit more structure to the magic, but that’s a personal preference.
The love-story aspect wasn’t too overwhelming, just really sweet and heartwarming. I love the diversity of the characters, too—from hearing-impaired and Chinese to non-binary and queer, there was no lack of individualism in the protagonists. I liked it because although these characters have these diverse elements as a part of their identity, it doesn’t completely define them. They are just people who happen to have a hearing impairment or be gay. It doesn’t overwhelm the rest of their personality and become their single identifying trait.
And of course, the art! It was drawn in such a lovely and unique style. The colors were beautiful and engaging, and the panels were well-planned and easy to read and follow. My only complaint is that I received an advance copy, so the coloring wasn’t quite finished towards the end of the book. I guess that just means I’ll be buying a hard copy when it’s released 🙂
Bonus: there are cute cats and lots of puns!
