graphic novel – The Constellation of Moon

Moon Reads: The Infinity Particle

Posted on September 12, 2025

The Infinity Particle by Wendy Xu

Rating:

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

I have been following Wendy Xu for a long time and love her art a lot, so after Mooncakes and knowing she was making a new graphic novel, I had my eyes on it for ages. This where I find out I haven’t actually reviewed Mooncakes here even though I loved it loads.

Anyway, the Infinite Particle follows Clementine Clang who moves from Earth to Mars and lands her dream job, working with an Artifical Intelligence pioneer. It also follows Kye, who is the humanoid AI created by Doctor Marcella Lin, the AI pioneer Clem works for.

Clementine finds Kye fascinating since he seems a bit too human. And that is intriguing to her as she has built her own robots since she was young (it is part of why she got the job) and her current companion is a lovely moth-shaped one, called SENA.

As Clem collaborates and interacts with Kye, their chemistry and interactions set off sparks, but this independence and change in Kye’s behaviour starts causing friction with Dr. Lin who has issues and doesn’t handle things well, throwing rages and tantrums and being too rigid. And she’s not very forthcoming with allowing Kye independence. Brings out the interesting question of why would you create a humanoid AI and try to make it as human as possible then keep under your control too much, and not let it develop and grow as an actual AI?

As the interactions and relationship between Clem and Kye grows, it makes Clem and KYe both ask questions of where the line between humanity and AI is, what makes one human? (this is an ever pondered question, we still ponder it between humans and animals/other creatures).

The artworks was very cute and fit right, and the story didn’t shy from interesting questions and difficult topics, tackling them with curiosity and openness, and giving space for the characters to discover and work things out. I liked this thought and approach that was given and it reminded me of my own days building robots, playing with neural networks and algorithms and programming. Very well worth reading and getting a copy of it if you can.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Zatanna The Jewel of Gravesend

Posted on September 2, 2025

Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend by Alys Arden and Jacquelin de Leon

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

I am not huge on superhero type of comics and stories, but Zatanna always seems to win me over. I read another story a while back, Zatanna and the House of Secrets, and since then I keep trying to find more of her.

In comparison to House of Secrets this is an older teenager almost adult Zatanna, and it still has touches on her identity and who she is. There is as always a lot fo magic and weirdness and that carnival festival. I think those two things, the magician and magic act feels that come from Zatanna being the child of famous magicians, and the carnival vibes definitely are big reasons for my love fo her stories.

My dad used to always do magic and even had a few years when he did magic at events. I learned a bunch of tricks and how to escape two types of cuffs for some of the tricks, and so I can think of maigicnas with joy, even if it is all in tricks.

This jewel of Gravesend is a bit darker and more mystical, which questions Zatanna’s parents, her history and what she is willing to sacrifice to save what she loves, and at the same time she isn’t sure she wants anything to do with magic, but feels pressured into it, there is also her attempting to become her own person and be independent and her love for the carnival and her odd life, and the artwork here was perfectly suited to the story.

It is definitely a favourite story of magic, mystery and intrigue and with Zatanna at the front of it. So can definitely recommend it as another good read to add to the collection.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Invisible Man & His Soon-to-Be Wife

Posted on March 11, 2025

The Invisible Man & His Soon-to-Be Wife by Iwatobineko

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

As you may already know, I have a soft spot for manga, and when this popped up on my recommendations (I can’t remember where) I had to try it out. The art style looked adorable and the premise too.

The series basically asks, what would happen if you had an invisible man and a blind woman work together and fall in love?

Yakou Shizuka, who is quiet, bashful and blind works at a detective agency as a secretary and assistant. Her boss, Tounome, is a gentleman and the main investigator, with the added talent of being invisible. This is particularly helpful for investigations, even if it can generally be a bit of a difficulty for relationships and other things, but this is not an issue at all for Yakou as she can sense him and know when he’s near.

The fact that Yakou can sense him makes Tounome interested even more on her and so it starts that he decides to invite her out for a date and woo her slowly. So you get a cute slow burn romance story, and you also get a few mysteries and detective agency plots to keep the overall story going. On top of that the agency has two more characters, a human who is super good at tech and a wonderful tracking beastwoman, who also do detective work, and who are quite invested in the developing relationship between Yakou and Tounome.

The first volume is utterly cute and very sweet, it is quite slow but will make you root for them and giggle while the story develops. The “chapters” are short and quick, but they still are fun to read and there is more plot than just their relationship, including the world building happening as the investigations happen, and learning more about the coworkers.

I would recommend it as a soft romance with a little bit of disability, and an interesting take on how to coexist with variety of differences. Very sweet overall.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Galaxy The Prettiest Star

Posted on February 28, 2025

Galaxy The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axelrod and Jess Taylor

Rating:

This was one of those recommended books by Storygraph and Goodreads on due to whatever I had been reading, and so I liked the artwork and decided to go for it.

The artwork is absolutely love, very colourful! It is a wonderful palette of colours and it is vibrant and very alive, telling the story well. It also has a corgi sidekick/nanny which is adorable and drawn so well!

As for the story, we follow Taylor, who looks like a perfect boy with good grades, a loving family, sports going well, and yet he is unhappy. Because he is not actually human but the princess from an alien planet and one of the few survivors from a horrible war.

Enter Katherine, Kat, who is incredibly confident just being her own self, and suddenly Taylor seems to be seeing a different way of life, and maybe it isn’t worth to keep hiding her own identity and be human, is it so bad to be her own self and a princess?

Obviously this whole thing is a dangerous thing, because she is a survivor and a princess and well, there’s a reason for hiding her, but the story does this well and the relationships, with heir strains, their impact and the feelings everyone has are conveyed in a lovely way that makes it a heartfelt narrative.

An overall entertaining read even if not absolutely life changing, but I could see it being a light for others when they read it, and as such I think it is a worthwhile read.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Doughnuts and Doom

Posted on December 13, 2024

Doughnuts and Doom by Balazs Lorinczi

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

I love a good little graphic novel and Doughnuts and Doom does not disappoint. For starters, what a title!

But our story follows Margot who has troubles being a witch in public or under stress, she just wants to get her license and be able to do her own life. But as she gets a craving for doughnuts to cheer herself up, she accidentally casts a curse on Elena who just wants to be a rock star and make it.

Their lives now accidentally entwined due to Margot’s chaos and her magic being a little out of control, we keep getting some interesting interactions and a cute story.

One of my favourite things is that there are a lot of raw feelings depicted here, the frustration, the anxiety, the fears, they are here and they’re not “positive” or made pretty, instead they cause chaos, they harm, and then our characters have to figure out a way to make things work, or to find a way to keep going.

A feel good lovely graphic novel that will have you craving doughnuts and maybe a good soundtrack in the background to listen too while reading.

Book Review

Moon Reads: In Real Life

Posted on December 3, 2024

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang

Rating:

Gamer girl graphic novel? Couldn’t pass it up!

Anda loves spending time online where she can do whatever she wants, and be whomever she wants. And she can meet people from all over the world and make friends, it is overall a good thing.

But then in the game, she meets a “gold farmer”, an avatar in game that illegally collects valuable objects and sells them to players that afford the expense, with the kid behind it being Chinese and trying his best to provide for his family.

As Anda interacts with the gold farmer, this brings into questions a lot about what is right and wrong, and what the rules mean, since they are not as straightforward when real lives are involved.

This may be a book that does not sit well with people, but as I come from a “third world” country (I hate this designation and calling it “underdeveloped” is also not good) this resonated with me in how life can be easy to live by the rules (or break them in ways that sound just daring) but that don’t have any real impact in livelihood and how life pans out for you.

There is usually some discourse on social media about “you shouldn’t do this, go do this privileged thing that to a developed rich country sounds like a low class thing or a right everyone has everywhere”, and usually it is done in ways to say “well, I am better than you, how dare you break the rules that were imposed by capitalism”. and well, this books brings some of the reality of life for those not as privileged and what the impact of it is, and why hard choices are made.

It is still a very idealised approach and I get it, the discussions for this type of nuance can’t be had in a single graphic novel, but at least it tries to touch on it and ask some of the questions we love ignoring because it is nicer to feel better and morally higher than others that have less options or possibilities.

The artwork is really fun and fits well with the ideas behind the story, so that’s a good win for me too.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Garlic & the Witch

Posted on November 5, 2024

Garlic & the Witch by Bree Paulsen

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

I really enjoyed the first book, Garlic & the Vampire which was very cute, full of chaos and enjoyable. It was inevitable therefore that when seeing there was a second book, I would pre-order it.

I have no regrets.

Garlic is enjoying life with her vegetable friends, Carrot included, the Count (from the previous book) and the Witch Agnes. However, they are struggling to make a good substitute for the Count (he doesn’t want blood, but a vegetarian alternative).

Turns out to find the ingredients she has to go on a journey to the Magic Market for those ingredients to help Witch Agnes finally nail the substitute. But the other big thing looming for Garlic is that she is turning a little bit human and this feels a little too much and a big change even if it is gradual, what if Garlic doesn’t want to?

The story tackles many things and includes our cast in a more “mature” way having learnt and grown from the previous story. One of the big things is anxiety and how that can sometimes mix with fear of change and maybe hinder you a little.

It made me think a lot about how different and change aren’t bad words. It is important to work on that openness and that understanding that it will be different, it will change but that does not inherently mean it is good or bad, it could just be, or it could be good. And well, Garlic really has to work on this and on her anxiety, and trying to understand herself a little more, a bit more bravery and courage as she goes on a journey and as she looks inside herself and tries to define her own answers to who she is.

A very lovely sequel to the first book and left a warm fuzzy feeling, perfect as an autumn or winter read with a lovely cup of warm tea or hot chocolate.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Night Marchers

Posted on October 25, 2024

The Night Marchers

Rating:

Another collection of stories, but this time in graphic novel form. This is a rich collection of “Cautionary Fables and Fairytales” from Oceania and around the area, so you get a lot of different stories than the usual fairytales we all know.

Forget Snow White or yet another greek mythology retelling, here you will get tales with a wide range of ideas, some from superstition (like consider what happens to the spirits and invisible beings, or they may be out to get you), to wider and more elaborate stories ranging Philippines, New Zealand, Hawaii, and beyond.

Some reminded me a little of the stories from Spirits Abroad but now in graphic novel form, and some felt new and interesting, and it was also an introduction to artists that may not be as well known or that you see less of their work on the Western side of the world, and boy the artwork was also stunning considering it was in black and white, there were many styles and stories.

I haven’t read the rest of the series of Cautionary Fables and Fairytales so I cannot compare it to the rest, but it was a decent number of stories and even though as usual some were not my style either in art, or story or both (I think only one didn’t hit both things for me) the overall feel of the book was good and interesting leaving me wanting to get some more books to read on fairy tales and fables from the regions.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Meesh the Bad Demon

Posted on October 11, 2024

Meesh the Bad Demon by Michelle Lam

Rating:

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

What makes a bad demon? Apparently Meesh is one, as she is better at seeing the good in everyone than the bad and doesn’t act like other demons. Therefore the other demons bully her because she dreams of being more like a fairy princess than the expectations of a demon.

But, as a big disaster strikes, Meesh ends up journeying to other worlds to try to find help. And why not start where she thinks she could get help, the fairy realm?

The artwork and the story were very cute and perfect for a middle grade graphic novel, the colour palette was also beautifully used to show the different worlds and the elements of what was happening so you could get an idea before you fully understood what was going in, which was done in a subtle interesting way and I liked that.

The story focuses on being brave, on being true to yourself and in some ways, challenging the expectations set on you from society and others and that what sometimes we are told is the way we ought to be, doesn’t make who we are less, and sometimes we have to do things for the better.

It is a very cute lovely story and I am looking forward to reading the second book.

And yes, I am trying to keep a relatively spooky/scary vibe or as close as can be for the posts of the month. Let’s see how well we can do.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Over My Dead Body

Posted on December 30, 2023

Over my dead body by Sweeney Boo

Rating:

I saw this book in a bookshop and it caught my eye. I normally try to browse the graphic novel section, as sometimes it contains gems, and honestly Over my dead body did not disappoint.

At Younwity’s Institute of Magic, they don’t talk much about a girl that went missing many years go, but when Abby notices that Noreen just seems to have vanished, she starts to wonder and investigate. The problem is that there is a forbidden forest a plenty where Noreen could have disappeared to and also preparations for Samhain festival which are also distracting.

And so the adventure starts of Abby trying to find what happened to Noreen and slowly finding out the potential things that make it much too similar to what happened before her time in this school.

The art is glorious and the use of colour was epic, alongside giving it a magical appearance to things and setting the moods of each character and their ways clearly. It is a fun and mysterious read, with a lot to go for it and I enjoyed it a lot.

Of course there are frustrating bits, various things at stake and obstacles to overcome, including adults that don’t seem to be doing their duty (I admit this part is probably my least favourite trope of “hey the adults are just there to be an obstacle” and probably my least favourite part of this, but it works out not too badly and with a little more plot as you go along, but on first impressions it wasn’t winning much.

Overall, a good witchy and mysterious read worth grabbing and reading in one sitting.