Witch Boy

Maybe if I just never do witchery, it'll go away.

For some reason, this book made me so incredibly sad. It's not because there's anything wrong with it! I didn't fail to notice the heartwarming ending, nor the very positive message about being yourself whatever other says. I really enjoyed the beautiful art. All the witchiness was awesome, too: the spellcraft, the magic weapons, the sigils, the overall vibes. But the themes just hit so hard. All those gender roles—isn't it utterly stupid that we as a society keep sorting people into two narrow boxes? And Aster's family: his parents seem like such genuinely nice people, except they lead him to believe that if he only could become the kind of person they want him to be, they probably won't care if he learns the necessary skills from a monster. His grandmother sneaks small bits of support his way, but she never openly speaks up in his favor until he does something completely extraordinary with his talents. Like it's not enough to just be himself, he also has to do a really great job against all odds and be a real hero, and then maybe he's going to *start* getting acceptance. There are all those people who claim to love him, but no one's really trying to understand him, and a new friend from the outside world is quickly able to offer him more support about the things that actually matter than all the people who are supposed to care for him combined. That's all so sad, really, and so familiar in certain ways.

Anyway, this is a really good graphic novel, and I feel like those who would benefit most from reading it are, first and foremost, not those who are growing up different but those who surround them.