THE WITCHES OF SILVERLAKE

Reeling from a recent family trauma, a teen finds a chosen family in a coven of witches.

Freshman Elliot and his mother, the new vice principal at his Catholic high school, are recent transplants to Los Angeles. Before the move, Elliot’s father died by suicide, an event that was followed by Elliot’s own suicide attempt. On Elliot’s first day at school, a group of students sees evidence of his inherent ability with magic and asks him to join their coven. At an initiation ritual that night, the coven members identify their goals, apparently bringing them about through magical means. For example, sweet Rachel becomes a popular kid after wishing to be cool, and Elliot becomes clairvoyant after wishing to never be taken by surprise again. Meanwhile, an unidentified hooded figure occasionally appears and commands a demonic creature to kill people. This facet of the book’s worldbuilding is unexplained, and these extremely violent scenes feel misplaced in a story that’s otherwise light on horror. The full-color illustrations are cinematic in scope. Most members of the coven are queer, and the group is ethnically diverse; Elliot is white. Delightful queer chosen-family themes aside, the descriptions and portrayals of sexuality, gender identity, and gender expression are in many cases stereotypical or inaccurate.

Inconsistent in tone, with lackluster worldbuilding.