An Embarrassment of Witchesby Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 7 Rory's plans to follow a guy halfway around the world change abruptly, leaving her staying in her roommate Angela's closet, since her own room was already sublet to Guy. Cue Rory falling for Guy, snubbing Angela in the process, who is having her own problems working for Rory's mom.This slice-of-life story stands out because it's set in a world where everyone is a witch. You go to school in various magical fields. There are "mythical" animals like dragons, and plenty of crypto-flora, from mandrakes to geese and sheep plants. The "normal"-appearing animals all talk and think like humans, too. At first we only know of familiars, but Rory's familiar is an owl, and when the owl hunts a mouse to eat, we're shown that all animals are anthropomorphized in some ways. All of that provides some great humor and makes the setting more enjoyable, but since it is the everyday to these characters, that's all it is. This is not a story about being a witch. This is a story about a young woman struggling to find what she wants out of life, and making bad decisions. It's also a story of strained friendship. Rory may be the main character, but it's easier to identify with and empathize with Angela. Angela has known Rory for years, and has been a bit of a doormat in their relationship. There's built-up resentment on both sides, as it appears Rory's mom favors Angela over Rory (at least in Rory's perspective). Angela is constantly put in a tough spot by Rory, which includes lying for her and covering up for her to Rory's mom! Angela's mental health, personal relationships, and job are all strained because of her relationships with Rory and Rory's mom. It's painful to see. Thankfully, Angela finds her voice and starts to prioritize herself (including finding a boyfriend herself!), but it takes some serious mishaps and a trip to the hospital for all the pain to get aired and the friendship to move to a more positive place. It's clear from the onset that Rory makes poor decisions when it comes to men. The comic opens with her in the airport about to leave with her current boyfriend, who suddenly says she needs to accept being in an open relationship, and when she gets upset, he scorns her and leaves her. Even in the flashback scene to the "family" dinner before this, it was easy to tell this was not a healthy relationship. Enter Guy, who is charming and smart, but we readers can see he's not much better than the first man. By the end Guy is revealed to have serious life concerns of his own, but he also acknowledges (to Angela) that he strung Rory along; so he's not redeemed, but he is humanized a bit more. Rory is selfish, entitled, and flighty. Yes, some crappy life situations happen to her, but they're really of her own making. So the opening scene, which seems like it's meant to pull the readers to her side as being dumped suddenly and treated unfairly, actually makes me wonder how she got there in the first place. How or why did she ignore the signs and the advice from family and her best friend and her familiar? And then we see her repeat her steps pretty much exactly, making it hard to empathize with her, especially when she makes this time worse by asking her friend to lie and make sacrifices without offering anything in return. Basically, Rory isn't a very likable character, and that only gets worse as the story goes on -- at least until the big blow-up at the end and the mending of fences with her mom and Angela. Rory does, however, make for an interesting character to follow. The coloring for this comic is entirely done in blocks of blue, teal, purple, lavender, yellow, black, and white. This makes it visually interesting, while also keeping it rather neutral. Some things, like skin tone, do change for some characters (from white to purple) to create "shading" or a different emotion, while some background characters are always purple (which reads as race in some scenes). Other scenes color the characters quite wildly, but there are details in design to remind us that not all are human. Overall, the coloring works well with the somewhat cartoony art and the magical / fantasy setting. This is an enjoyable read if you like slice-of-life stories about struggles with relationships (family, friend, and romance). It's not something that wowed me or that I want to have in my library, but it's a solid exploration of the story it set out to tell. Honestly, I wanted more about the familiars and the cryptoflora. Written: June 20, 2020
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