Unfamiliar, Vol. 1 by Haley Newsome

Unfamiliar, Vol. 1 by Haley Newsome

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Andrews McMeel Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In the first volume of this webcomic, we follow Planchette as she finally moves to a magical town where she won’t be the only witch around. As a kitchen witch, Planchette has magic on her side… at least that’s what she thought, because it turns out she bought a haunted house and she doesn’t know how to sort out the haunting! Planchette makes her way around town making new friends while looking for someone to perform an exorcism, allowing us to follow her new friend’s lives as well.

I picked up this book because it sounded adorable and heartwarming, and it sure didn’t miss the mark! We follow Planchette and the friends she meets along the way. I can’t even choose a favorite because I love Planchette, Pinyon, Sun, and Babs equally. Pinyon is a witch who appears to not have any powers, Sun is working day and night so she can afford to have a curse removed, and Babs is an introverted siren who hopes to be more like Sun. Each of these characters become friends through the course of the first volume, and to think it all began with a haunted house!

There’s so many charming characters and storylines, and then there’s a few darker storylines that we’re about to watch friendship blaze the way through them. Each of the main characters have many layers and are full of surprises while the townsfolk are a bunch of interesting characters I’m excited to see more of. It’s also a surprisingly fast paced read. There’s a lot going on without being overwhelming, and we’re slowly introduced to characters so we can get to know them rather than suddenly have a large amount of new characters on our hands at every turn. I really like how the story is written and pulled together, so I’m excited to see what happens next.

Of course, the artwork is adorable! It’s colorful, cute, and fun. I really like the concept art that’s featured at the end of the volume, allowing us to see the early sketches of the characters compared to the final results. It’s always fun to see!