The witches of silverlake vol 1 by simon curtis

illustrated by Stephanie Son
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Elliot is starting his first day at a new high school in a new state, having moved from Ohio to California. His mom got a new job as a vice principal at a prestigious private school in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. Aside from the culture shock, Elliot has been having weird visions and dreams of a creepy skeleton-looking figure hunting him. Within hours of arriving at school, he becomes adopted by the self-proclaimed weirdos of the school: five witches looking to complete their coven with him as the sixth. He’s arrived just in time for the most powerful moon in centuries. But all of them get more than they signed up for when a vengeful demon starts coming after Elliot and hurting other classmates and teachers in the process. Elliot must juggle his need for acceptance, his past trauma, his new magical powers, and his romantic feelings, all while fighting off an evil cult and their savage demons.

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There are so many things about this story that remind me of the movie The Craft: a new kid moves to Los Angeles, obviously the witches, their innocent spells backfiring... There are some moments when the dialogue is pretty stiff and not quite authentic to today's teenagers, but if we take this as set in the same space as the movie, it works well as an homage to those intellectual outcasts. There is a very diverse cast of characters supporting the cis gay white male lead, and I appreciated that everyone’s sexuality and gender are features of them instead of foci of the story. While Elliot's romantic feelings does take a good amount of the story, it doesn't feel like tokenism or performative for the sake of having an LGBTQ+ story. All that being said, there are some problems with pacing the story and balancing how large this cast is.

son’s art and coloring is visually pleasing and really set me into this famous LA neighborhood. There are subtle scene elements in the backgrounds that remind me we’re in Silverlake - like the LA skyline or iconic roadways and staircases.

This story takes on some difficult high school issues, so would be best suited for that age group.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

This review was made possible with a digital reader copy from the publisher through Net Galley.

Publisher: Legendary Comics YA
Publication Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN:9781681160849 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 7/10, Suitability: High School, Graphic Fiction, Magic, School Life, LGBTQ+