Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker, Wendy Xu

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker, Wendy Xu

My Rating: ★★★

I received a copy from Lion Forge through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Nova spends her days working at her grandmother’s bookshop where she spends much of her time learning more about witchcraft, loaning out spell books, and investigating supernatural incidents. When a friend reports strange activity in the woods, Nova jumps on the case and discovers that her childhood friend and crush, Tam, is back in town and battling a horse demon while in their werewolf form. Determined to help Tam figure out how to use her werewolf magic to defeat the horse demon, they put their heads together and start to realize their old feelings for one another.

This is such cute and heartwarming story. It has a great cast of characters with a supernatural element that is not overpowering for those who don’t favor the paranormal genre. Nova is a Chinese American teenage witch who is mourning the loss of her parents while navigating a world that is not usually friendly toward people who are hard of hearing or deaf. Tam is a non-binary Chinese American teenage werewolf who feels alone in the world after leaving home and living on the streets for years. When their paths cross again, they fall back into the comfortable friendship they once had and rekindle the romantic feelings that were left

I love Nova’s relationship with her grandmothers as well as her friend, Tatyana, and how quickly she picks up her friendship with Tam. The story is set up nicely and the artwork is beautiful. It really lends itself to the story, especially when magic is used. I also love how this story is organic and the pieces fall into place without it feeling like it’s coming out of left field.

While I love the story, I do have a few questions, like why it’s called Mooncakes when they’re not integral to the story and only appears once. I also want to know what happened to Nova’s parents, how and when Tam became a werewolf, and the story behind Terry’s bird head. These are the things that we need more information on. Otherwise, it’s a great story and I plan on checking out the author’s future work.