Mooncakes Review — Is It Worth Reading?

Verdict: A cosy, beautifully drawn autumn graphic novel: teen witch Nova Huang, who is hard of hearing, follows reports of a white wolf into the woods and finds her childhood crush Tam Lang, a nonbinary werewolf, fighting a horse demon. Readers adore Wendy Xu’s art, the witchy atmosphere and the representation; the most common criticism is a thin, rushed plot.

Best for: Readers who want a soft, witchy, low-heat queer comic with Chinese American, deaf and nonbinary representation.

Heat level: Kisses only

Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.8/5 — a 3.81 Goodreads average across 49,170 ratings, 3.82 on StoryGraph from 22,699 reviews, and 4.5 stars across 1,607 Amazon ratings)

Tropes: Childhood friends to lovers, witches and werewolves, found family, cosy fantasy, YA, graphic novel.

Mooncakes is a 2019 paranormal queer graphic novel written by Suzanne Walker and illustrated by Wendy Xu. Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch: she works at her grandmothers’ bookshop in a New England town, loaning out spell books and investigating supernatural occurrences.

It holds a 3.81 average across 49,170 Goodreads ratings, with 63% of them four or five stars, 3.82 on StoryGraph from 22,699 reviews, and 4.5 stars across 1,607 Amazon ratings.

What Is Mooncakes About?

One night Nova follows reports of a white wolf into the woods and finds Tam, her childhood crush, battling a horse demon. Tam is a werewolf who has wandered for years without a town to call home.

Hunted by dark forces that want the magic of wolves, Tam turns to Nova for help, and their old feelings return amid witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals and family ties old and new.

What Works in This Book

The art: Nearly every reviewer, including critics, calls Wendy Xu’s artwork gorgeous.
Representation: Readers praise a hard-of-hearing witch, a nonbinary werewolf, Chinese American leads and queer grandmothers, none of them written as tokens.
Atmosphere: Many call it the perfect cosy autumn and spooky-season read.
Family: Nova’s Nanas and the found-family warmth are highlights.

Book Synopsis

A witch who never stopped thinking about her childhood friend. A werewolf who never stopped running.

This full moon, they face the woods together.

My Review

Mooncakes is soft in the best way. Nova’s hearing aids and Tam’s pronouns are part of the everyday texture of the story, and readers were moved by how naturally the book treats them. The magic system is pretty, the bookshop and black cat make you want to move in, and the romance is sweet and uncomplicated. One reader compares its heart-warming feel to Heartstopper.

The story is the weak spot. Several readers found the plot weak, rushed or haphazard, and a couple found the characters flat. Because Nova and Tam’s shared history happens off the page, one reader felt the romance read as instalove. The overall Goodreads average is lower than the glowing art reviews suggest.

My honest note: Read it for the art and the warmth, not a twisty plot.

Element	In Mooncakes
Central relationship	Nova Huang (queer witch, hard of hearing) & Tam Lang (nonbinary werewolf)
Core tropes	Childhood friends to lovers, witches, werewolves
Setting	A small New England town
Heat level	Kisses only
Length	About 250 pages (graphic novel)
Series	Standalone
Content notes	Demons, occult rituals, peril

How Spicy Is Mooncakes?

Not spicy. It is a sweet YA romance with kisses only.

The action includes demons, cult-like villains and occult rituals, but the tone stays light.

Who Should Read This Book?

You’ll likely love it if: you want a cosy queer graphic novel with a deaf lead. It is on our disabled sapphic romance list.

You may want to skip it if: you want a strong plot or an adult romance.

In short: Witchy, soft and gorgeous.

What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)

On Goodreads the split is 26% five stars, 37% four, 29% three, 6% two and 1% one. On StoryGraph, 71% tagged it lighthearted, 67% adventurous, and 93% found the characters loveable.

Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The art first. Second, representation. Third, autumn coziness. Fourth, family.

What readers argue about and complain about: The thin plot, above everything. Second, flat characters. Third, a rushed romance.

The comparison worth making first: Always Human, another gentle queer graphic romance with disability representation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mooncakes a lesbian romance?

It is a queer romance between Nova, a queer witch, and Tam, a nonbinary werewolf, so the central couple is girl and nonbinary rather than two women. Nova’s grandmothers are also a queer couple.

What is the disability representation?

Nova is hard of hearing and wears hearing aids, and readers say it is woven in naturally rather than treated as a plot point.

Is Mooncakes young adult?

Yes. It is a YA graphic novel with a sweet, kisses-only romance.

Are there actual mooncakes in it?

Not really, according to one reviewer, who found the title misleading for exactly that reason.

Is Mooncakes on Kindle Unlimited?

Yes, when we checked, or $12.99 to buy on Kindle.

If You Loved Mooncakes, Read These Next

Try Always Human or the graphic novel Bite Me. Browse our disabled sapphic romance list or the full Book Reviews archive.

The Bottom Line

Mooncakes sets out to be a cosy, inclusive witch-and-werewolf story, and its art, atmosphere and representation deliver. What holds it back is a plot many readers found thin. A lovely autumn read. Check Mooncakes on Amazon →