ParaNorthern: And the Chaos Bunny A-hop-calypse by Stephanie Cooke

It’s fall break in the supernatural town of North Haven, and young witch Abby’s plans include pitching in at her mom’s magical coffee shop, practicing her potion making, and playing board games with her best friends—a pumpkinhead, a wolf-girl, and a ghost. But when Abby finds her younger sister being picked on by some speed demons, she lets out a burst of magic so strong, it opens a portal to a realm of chaos bunnies. And while these bunnies may look cute, they’re about to bring the a-hop-ocalypse  (and get Abby in a cauldronful of trouble) unless she figures out a way to reverse the powerful magic she unwittingly released. What’s a witch to do?

In this deliciously humorous, cozy, and bewitching graphic novel, sometimes the most of powerful magic comes from our connections to family and friends (but kicking bunny butt is great, too).

ParaNorthern centers around a group of friends trying to find a way of getting some truly dangerous chaos bunnies back into the portal they came from. A portal that Abby, a young witch, unleashed accidentally after she tried to comfort her upset sister. Although the initial event which created the portal happened rather quickly (I would have liked more time to get to know Abby) I enjoyed how Abby grows into her powers. She is very resistant in receiving help from her friends but they support her no matter what. Her friends Gita, Hannah, and Silas are fun to follow along with. Gita, the were-girl, has a crush on Abby. She also has parents who are therapists which comes to play in the story. Hannah is sort of a ghost and has a backstory of being an immigrant in this world. She was always forgetting to put on a charm that would make her solid. I thought her and Silas were the funniest ones out of the group. I loved Silas', the Pumpkin Head, entrance. He's of course against anyone eating or drinking anything with pumpkin in it and isn't treated all that nice by others. I would absolutely love to see a story with him as a main lead and another one with Hannah. 

The art was really fun. There were times where Silas' head would be bigger than usual or someone else's features would get exaggerated. Overall, I thought ParaNorthern was really fun and lighthearted. Each character seemed to be dealing with something serious but it didn't overshadow the lightheartedness of this graphic novel. I did think the portal opening was very fast and the thing about Abby's ancestry wasn't needed. However, I would read more of these characters' story. I am hoping there is a sequel. I would recommend this if you are looking for a Halloween vibe or if you liked The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner.

Thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin for providing me with a copy of ParaNorthern in exchange for an honest review!