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The Okay Witch Review


The Okay Witch
Title: The Okay Witch
Author: Emma Steinkellner
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Magical Realism
Trigger Warning:
Rating: 4 stars
Release Date: September 3, 2019


Synopsis

Sabrina the Teenage Witch meets Roller Girl in this hilarious, one-of-a-kind graphic novel about a half-witch who has just discovered the truth about herself, her family, and her town and is doing her best to survive middle school now that she knows everything!

Magic is harder than it looks.

Thirteen-year-old Moth Hush loves all things witchy. But she’s about to discover that witches aren’t just the stuff of movies, books, and spooky stories. When some eighth-grade bullies try to ruin her Halloween, something really strange happens. It turns out that Founder’s Bluff, Massachusetts, has a centuries-old history of witch drama. And, surprise: Moth’s family is at the center of it all! When Moth’s new powers show up, things get totally out-of-control. She meets a talking cat, falls into an enchanted diary, and unlocks a hidden witch world. Secrets surface from generations past as Moth unravels the complicated legacy at the heart of her town, her family, and herself.

In this spellbinding graphic novel debut, Emma Steinkellner spins a story packed with humor and heart about the weird and wonderful adventures of a witch-in-progress.


Review

A special thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing/Aladdin for providing a free advance digital copy in exchange for a honest review.

This graphic novel shows the story of how Moth discovers her family history and her witch powers, as well as growing into herself and the person who she wishes to be. There's a historical element that I wasn't expecting and Moth has to define herself not only as a witch but also as a biracial middle schooler being raised by a single mom. The ideas for this graphic novel were absolutely amazing and were well thought out and created throughout the course of the novel. The whole thing is absolutely adorable and would appeal to a wide variety of readers because there are so many different aspects to this.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this book is Moth's character itself. She's described as weird, but this characterization is accurate throughout her behaviors throughout the book. This doesn't suddenly changed and while she learns and grows throughout the course of the book, she is still the same person without a transformation into the "normal". She has great traits and flaws, but overall she is a positive character that I looked forward to seeing where she ended up going.

I do wish that there was either more or less of the historical element. It was a really interesting idea, but there was more than just a basis, but not enough so that I still had many questions about what was going on that were never clearly answered and just confusing.. The witches from the 1600s thing and the play was a really cool idea, but the historical element definitely could have been executed better.

I really loved this book overall. It's a really cute book that I would recommend for anyone in the middle grade age range and older to get some variety in their reading in a great coming of age story about a biracial main character.


There are so many good graphic novels coming out and everyone should seriously read them! There are so many great messages and stories and in such a format it's so great and cute to read. I would definitely recommend this one to start as well.

Thanks for reading!
Alyssa
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