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Review: Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu

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“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.”

Review: 

Mooncakes was such a fun read! It was fairly short and I devoured it in one sitting. I don’t have much experience reading graphic novels, but the world-building was a little underdeveloped for me. I’m not the biggest fan of unexplained magic systems. But, for how quick this read was, I give it a pass. The kind of lacking magic system didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story though.

The characters were amazing! The cast of characters was so effortlessly diverse! Each of their individual differences were so intricately written into the story. Tam is non-binary and addressing their pronouns was done pretty well and pretty early on in the story. Nova wears hearing aids, and it was so great to see her not just living with them, but they were shown as a source of strength for her.

I really loved how the characters’ Chinese American culture was such a prominent part of the story. Many of the books I’ve read with a witchy, fall vibe don’t really try to incorporate different cultures and mythologies other than the common ones used during the fall, but this one did! I have been craving for a cozy fall read that introduced some new mythology and I am so glad I found this one! 

With the length of the story being so short, I think the story progressed a little fast in some places and it was missing some things in others. Like I mentioned earlier, there was really no background into how Nova and her family have magic or where it comes from, or Tam’s wolf powers. I would have loved to see that added into the story. The story also reads like a middle grade. At one point, I was wondering why Nova wasn’t in school in the middle of fall only to find out later that Nova has already finished school. The romance in this story was so pure and heartwarming! It was genuinely my favorite part of this story (and also Nova’s badass Grandmas)! 

Overall, I give this story a 4/5. It was fun and so very cute! I really hope there are sequels! I would love to see Nova and Tam traveling the world learning about their powers and being in love! The illustrations were so great and the story was wonderful! I highly recommend picking up Mooncakes on October 15th!

Want to Pre-Order Mooncakes? 

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***An ARC of Mooncakes was provided to me for an honest review through Netgalley.

–Urussa, Stay Caffeinated 

 

Mini Review: Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (SPOILER FREE)

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This story has such an interesting concept. Unlike a traditional portal fantasy, we get to see the lives of the characters after they’ve come back from these worlds. Even though the story is set on Earth, the world building of the other worlds is done so well. It’s so easy to imagine these other places.

I found the main character to be a little bit boring. I think I would have liked her better if we got to spend a little more time getting to know her and her world. My favorite character in the book was Jack. She was so intriguing and so unapologetically herself. It’s so great to see a well written morally grey female character. Her actions and choices in the story were so interesting. I’m the most excited to read her book next.

My overall thoughts:

    The world building was great.
    The length of the story was nice a break from longer fantasies.
    I would have liked to explore the stories of Nancy and Kade more.
    The concept and rules of how the doors work was very unique.
    It was so easy to be immersed in the story.
    Asexual and Trans rep, plus the characters were so relatable!

-Urussa, Stay Caffeinated

Book Review: Sadie by Courtney Summers

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“Sadie hasn’t had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she’s been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water. 

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie’s entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister’s killer to justice and hits the road following a few meagre clues to find him.

When West McCray—a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America—overhears Sadie’s story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie’s journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it’s too late.” (Goodreads)

Review: 

When I started reading this book, I fell right into it. Summers weaved such a captivating tale! The reader simultaneously follows a radio show about the disappearance of Sadie Hunter following the murder of her younger sister, Mattie Southern, and Sadie’s perspective while she is on the run. Summers’ writing is great. My eyes were gliding across the pages of this book. The atmospheres she created felt so real. At points, I could feel the heat and humidity of some of these places. I could picture some of the places in my head so clearly.

Following Sadie through these different towns was so interesting. I really enjoyed her as a narrator. She was a girl on a mission to avenge her sister. But, we were constantly reminded that she was just a teenage girl. And, she kept reminding the reader: “I’m dangerous. I have a knife.” Her stutter was also a pretty significant part of this story. I have never read from the perspective of a character that had a stutter before. So, a first-person perspective was really great for that. I loved reading how Sadie reacted to other people’s reaction to her stutter and how she felt about it herself. 

I really loved the format of this book. I did feel at the beginning that the constant change of the format every chapter was going to slow down me down since I am a pretty slow reader, but it didn’t. It actually helped me read the book faster. West McCray, the host of the radio show was a great character. Watching him come to conclusions and unravel the mystery of Sadie was really great. Macmillan’s podcast for this book, The Girls, is really great too. I liked listening to it while I read the radio transcripts. It added a whole nother layer to the story. So far, three episodes have been released. Episodes 1 and 2 of The Girls corresponds to Episode 1 in the books and Episode 3 of The Girls is a part of Episode two in the book. 

Overall, I really loved reading Sadie. The radio show element was really fun. The writing was beautiful and atmospheric. Sadie was an incredible character to read. This was the first time I have read a YA Mystery/Thriller and I will definitely be reading more! 

Want to follow along with the podcast? Find it here.

Want to buy Sadie? It’s out September 9th!  Check out Macmillan’s page for purchase links and an excerpt.

TW: pedophilia, sexual abuse, substance abuse

***An ARC of Sadie was provided to me for an honest review by Wednesday Books.

–Urussa, Stay Caffeinated