Bloom

Product Information

A sweet story today to offset the odd ones from earlier this week – a very cute romance set in a bakery! There is a tender and heartfelt scene toward the film’s climax where the young protagonist’s father lovingly confesses to his crestfallen son that he knows about his romance and envies the connection and love he feels.

This relationship could be the start of something special—if only Ari's impulsive behavior doesn't ruin everything. In any event, there is something undeniably powerful — and important — in having a father acknowledge his son’s homosexuality in such a loving and positive way. I found this to be a quick read, one that compels the reader to finish it in one sitting, and it is an easy enough read to do so. They want him to stay and help with the bakery, but he has his own musical dreams, and so this graphic novel is also about his journey to figure out who he is and what he wants to do.I would have liked some more examination into his isolation and sadness, maybe uncover the contributing factors to give the reader a full character arc. While this may come secondary to the love story, I believe Ganucheau and Panetta capture the struggle of identity formation among young adults. The romance between Ari and Hector builds slowly, focusing on cute interactions long before progressing to anything physical. Families may also find this book resourceful if they are wanted to normalize queer relationships within their family unit.

Ari (Aristotle) is not a person you would adore but he owns up to his mistakes and Hector happens in his life making things better. Discovering our passions and dreams amidst reality is also a messy and long journey, despite what society may tell us. As someone a little older than him who still only has the barest ideas of what I want out of life, I really, really related to the road to self-discovery he goes on throughout this graphic novel. Panetta and Ganucheau's graphic novel debut is as much a love story between people as it is with the act of baking. Not only is the titular character visually distinguished from other characters by his shading, hair, lips, and overall size, unfortunately neither Shakespeare nor the illustrator seem wholly prepared for a contemporary conversation regarding racial representation in one of literature’s most infamous depictions of othering.Aw, this one wasn't for me 😭 I felt that the plot meandered, was paced strangely, and that the relationships didn't grow in understandable ways. com, the longest-running independent review site online that covers all genres of comic books, graphic novels, and manga. Ganucheau and Panetta’s dreamy, cerulean palette retains its easy spirit, never conveying through any kind of shift that Ari and Hector’s love is anything but natural. Overall, I would still recommend this for readers and fans of cute soft boy graphic romances, however, I reserve the right to consider this a weaker recommendation until I read the second one. He has worked on books for properties like Steven Universe, Regular Show, Bravest Warriors, and WWE.

Not much happens except baking and touches and glances, in keeping with romance, for a very long time, but I especially like the food passion in it (there are some food manga series of which this reminded me, Antique Bakery, and so on). This book was definitely beautiful and had cute and meaningful moments, but I just feel like I've read it before. I do notice that there is a second volume which I hope will expand on their couple dynamic a bit more since I don't feel this book got the chance to really do so, hence it felt a bit rushed and out of nowhere despite the build-up. As Hector breathes new life into the bakery, he and Ari begin to develop a friendship, the intensity of which surprises both of them. There was one joke made about PTSD that rubbed me the wrong way, but I can't really fault it for anything else!

It’s never made clear whether Ari’s parents, neighbors, or best friends know — or even care — that he is gay. But in the midst of interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easy-going guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. I went into this fully expecting to fall head over heels for Bloom after having read dozens of glowing reviews, but unfortunately this was nowhere near the cute, well-written romance I was anticipating. And there’s something equally warm and filling about Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau’s 2019 graphic novel Bloom.

However, there are shortcomings: Where the original text may use parentheticals and asides to progress the story, the occasional appearance of parentheses in speech bubbles are a distracting reminder that comics utilize storytelling tools that haven’t been fully adopted here. com) by Geoff Whaley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.

Hector is tall and broad-shouldered, with hair thick and wavy on the top, shaved on the sides and in back. I think it’s pretty clear from the very beginning that Ari is attracted to Hector (same, my man, big same), and I was a big fan of that.