Bloom

Bloom est un roman graphique tout récent, puisqu'il a été publié fin janvier 2019 par First Second. Il est signé Kevin Panetta au scénario et Savanna Ganucheau au dessin. Je ne sais plus exactement dans quelles circonstances j'en ai entendu parler mais le résumé m'avait tout de suite donné envie de le lire et je n'ai pas résisté longtemps avant de l'acheter :

Now that high school is over, Ari is dying to move to the big city with his ultra-hip band—if he can just persuade his dad to let him quit his job at their struggling family bakery. Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easygoing guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom . . . that is, if Ari doesn't ruin everything.Writer Kevin Panetta and artist Savanna Ganucheau concoct a delicious recipe of intricately illustrated baking scenes and blushing young love, in which the choices we make can have terrible consequences, but the people who love us can help us grow.

This graphic novel sadly just wasn't for me :(

There were so many issues being shown, whether that was Ari's toxic friend group, his somewhat unhealthy relationship with his father, or Ari being dismissive of Hector's feelings, but none of these issues get resolved properly, or resolved at all. If that's the case, then what was the point of showing them to us in the first place?

There were many inconsistencies with the characters as well. For example, we see how Ari's father strongly encourages Ari, almost forcibly so, to remain at their family bakery to help with the business,

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In general, I found all the characters to be inconsistent, bland, and at times outright insufferable without good reason. There was barely any chemistry between Ari and Hector. I found the plot boring and directionless. This story just seemed so... pointless.

The art style and color scheme is beautiful. But the story did not work for me. I found the gravity of the MC's main situation too heavy for it to be expressed/handled properly in a graphic novel because the parents are horrible and I wished there was more time on that for it to be more clearly shown that the parents weren't in the right to expect so much from him.

I think I've read maybe one or two graphic novels before... but this one was gay and cuuuute! It definitely reads with a juvenile tone and isn't always the most realistic way of speaking–at least I don't think I talked like the kids do in this story, although maybe I did. Some cute, soft queer boys who just love and flirt with each other.

Great art. I love and dream of stargazing and cooking with a cute boy with the obvious flirting and making out. I think we all deserve that.

Read for Salt Lake City Gay Men's Book Club

The artwork and choice of a mono colour palette makes this look stunning.

However, the story and characters leave a lot to be desired. Most of them are 2 dimensional (no pun intended), including the main characters. The ending was particularly bad and the last few pages felt rushed.

It's a shame as it looks really great but lacks depth on the story side.

Que adorable todo por favor. Me encantan estas historias. Voy a estar esperando impacientemente el segundo volumen sin duda, quiero saber cómo evoluciona la relación entre Ari y Héctor. Eso sí, se me ha hecho muy cortito jo, ojalá unas 100-150 páginas más para poder desarrollar más la pareja y un poco más de angst.

Solo me cayó bien Héctor, pero no sé creo que Ari no tiene nada de crecimiento como personaje, como personaje no evoluciona, y siendo lo que muestran como su “evolución” algo apresurado, es tóxico con Héctor, después de todo porque te enojas si alguien se va y vive. Es un desconsiderado con su familia, que es hermosa (al menos su mamá).
Me tierno tramas que dejaron inconclusas, como ¿porque fue Héctor a la casa de su abuela? ¿Que paso para que Ari dejara de gustarle cocinar? ¿Andrew y Héctor?
Se llega a mencionar y ya, meten problemas que resuelven en menos de cinco diálogos.
Puedo entender a quienes les gusta el libro, porque pasa rápido y está bien para cuando se está en un bloque lector

What is going on?! First three books in 2022 have so far all been 5/5s. I can't believe it.

And this is a graphic novel too; I don't like graphic novels that much and still Bloom was just sweet and nice and I loved it.

I don't read graphic novels/manga/comic books (at all, pretty much) so I can't really review as I normally would but Bloom's story was just a warm blanket to get through before bed. I want more!

Also, another cutie soft gay boy named Aristotle? YES