Aria of the beech forest vol 1 by Yugiri Aika

Aria is a young witch who lives all alone in a secluded forest, protected by a magical barrier put in place by her dearly departed grandmother. She has to keep to herself to keep the existence of magic and witches safe. One day, a talking white wolf wanders into her sphere, cold and alone, and the two become friends due to their want of companionship. Aria names the wolf Gwyn and offers to let him stay with her. Gwyn begins to notice a few off things, like Aria seems to never do magic, and he wonders about the barrier that seems to have let him and other humans into Aria’s space… there’s more to this world than Aria may know or has been told about!

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What started out as a somewhat carefree, kind of slice-of-life buddy adventure ended as a bit of a mystery with some twists along the way. There’s a dash of food-manga for posterity, highlighting traditional Irish dishes Aria cooks for herself and Gwyn, and some beautiful illustrations to round it all out. There's enough intrigue here to pique readers' interest, but it's also very cute and full of heart. Everything so far is sweet and rather innocent, though it's hard to say if it will get darker later based on the small crumbs of mystery we have so far.  Aika mixes beautiful scenery illustrations, delicious-looking food, and some cutesy reactions every so often for Gwyn and Aria. 

Yen Press rates this for Teen, so the series could become something darker later. In one of Aria's recipes, she does use wine to simmer her vegetables, but she does not drink it herself. Otherwise, there was nothing in volume 1 that would make this inappropriate for upper elementary audiences.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-10

Publisher: Yen Press
Publication Date: July 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781975380144 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Elementary School, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Magic, Fantasy, Animals, Slice Of Life, ​Yen Press