The Hidden Witch by Molly Ostertag

Series: The Witch Boy, #2
# of Pages: 224
Publication: October 30th, 2018
Source: Library Copy
Genre: Paranormal Middle Grade Graphic Novel
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Aster and his family are adjusting to his unconventional talent for witchery; unlike the other boys in his family, he isn't a shapeshifter. He's taking classes with his grandmother and helping to keep an eye on his great-uncle whose corrupted magic wreaked havoc on the family. Meanwhile, Aster's friend from the non-magical part of town, Charlie, is having problems of her own -- a curse has tried to attach itself to her. She runs to Aster and escapes it, but now the friends must find the source of the curse before more people -- normal and magical alike -- get hurt.

So let me be clear. My review may not really be true to the quality of the book because I actually read the books out of order. I didn’t realize that this was the second book in the series so some aspects of the book didn’t exactly make sense which is completely my fault. This story follows the story of Aster who is learning witchery with a group of girls in his family. He is the only boy in his family that is learning witchery as opposed to shape shifting. While this second book doesn’t focus on the relationship between his family and how he is learning witchery, it does deal with a deal that he has to make with his grandmother to learn witchery. What I enjoyed most about this graphic novel is that it touched on some really important topics such as friendship, foster families, and anger/resentment. 

While Aster is making a deal with his grandmother to learn witchery and help save his Uncle, he finds that his friend Charlie is being followed by an evil spirit. This ultimately means that someone in their town is practicing evil witchcraft. When Ariel comes to town, it is quite obvious the role that she will play; however, I loved that her anger was explored. As a foster child she’s moved around a lot and has a hard time making friends. She’s very cautious of people and is frequently bullied. It’s natural that when she starts at Charlie’s school she has a hard time making friends and is thrilled when Charlie wants to be her friend; however, because she doesn’t have experience with friendship she quickly assumes that Charlie should only be her friend and gets jealous very quickly. This creates tension and leads to more mystery and adventure. I loved that Charlie was so supportive of Ariel. It would have been easier to stop talking to her when she got possessive but Charlie attempted to maintain the friendship because she wanted to teach Ariel what friendship really meant. Meanwhile, Aster learned how damaging anger could be and how someone who is hurt is likely to hurt other people. This is a major theme of the book and helps the characters resolve a lot of conflict. 

I enjoyed the story; however, for a decent length of a graphic novel I still do not feel as though much happened. I wanted to know more about Ariel and her experiences as a foster child and what happened at her other schools. I hope that information is explored in the next volume. The entire volume just left me wanting more. In contrast, I found the artwork to be phenomenal. So many rich colors were used and I really appreciated how the artwork communicated the story. Check it out below. I’m hoping that I have a great experience with the first and third volumes.