Coven is a lovely graphic novel about a teenage witch (Emsy) and her family move from California to rural New York to rejoin their coven after a brutal attack on their family of witches. I loved this premise and the artwork! I'm glad this story was told in this format because it works really well. Esmy, our main character, emotes so well over the illustrations. You can read her so well and she shines on the page. I enjoyed flipping through this vigorously and then flipping back a few pages to look at it all over again!
Besides the format, the plot holds pretty well. Esmy is a likable character and you can feel her frustrations with her situation and consequently the frustrations other characters have with her too. We get a good sense of who the characters are, what their magical abilities can do and how they work. Ben was a sad character to work with but he had some moments and ultimately it's him trying to get his family back, in a unfit way. Overall the story felt very Sabrina in high school, only Sabrina was a surfer girl before the witch part. I also appreciate the diversity and LBGT representation in this novel with multiple characters.
My only critique was that it was quite a bit of build up for a quick ending with a somewhat obvious villain. And for as much time as we spent building up this story it still felt like we were missing something vital to the story. I wish we could have had a flashback sequence to really get a sense of the tragedy or even a picture of Ben's family so we could put faces to these people that were senselessly destroyed.
It was a quick read, but it's perfect for the spooky season and I would recommend it!
Besides the format, the plot holds pretty well. Esmy is a likable character and you can feel her frustrations with her situation and consequently the frustrations other characters have with her too. We get a good sense of who the characters are, what their magical abilities can do and how they work. Ben was a sad character to work with but he had some moments and ultimately it's him trying to get his family back, in a unfit way. Overall the story felt very Sabrina in high school, only Sabrina was a surfer girl before the witch part. I also appreciate the diversity and LBGT representation in this novel with multiple characters.
My only critique was that it was quite a bit of build up for a quick ending with a somewhat obvious villain. And for as much time as we spent building up this story it still felt like we were missing something vital to the story. I wish we could have had a flashback sequence to really get a sense of the tragedy or even a picture of Ben's family so we could put faces to these people that were senselessly destroyed.
It was a quick read, but it's perfect for the spooky season and I would recommend it!