Bloom

Oh, my gosh. This book was adorable with just the right amount of angst to keep me invested right through the end. Ari has been told his whole life that some day he will take over his family bakery. This is not the life he wants. Enter Hector, the cute boy who bake like there’s no tomorrow. This book is such a slow burn and I am so here for it. I wanted them together the first glance on the page and yet there’s so much going on here. Hector loves to bake, Ari wants to get away from it. These boys are so soft and I am here for it. I adored the art in this book. The line work is so clean and the monochrome blue just presents beautifully. Expressions come across clearly and the art enhances and tells much of the story. Also I spent this whole book hungry and immediately wanted to make the recipe in the back of the book. Dang not having starter!

I absolutely loved Bloom! It was such a heartfelt graphic novel about love, self-discovery, and figuring out where you belong. The story follows Ari, a teenager stuck between chasing his dream of making music in the city and staying home to help his family run their bakery. Things change when Hector, a new hire, comes into his life, and their sweet connection starts to grow. The art is so expressive and perfectly captures the emotions of the characters and the warm, cozy vibe of the bakery. This story really hit home for me—it’s such a beautiful reminder of how messy but meaningful growing up can be. If you love stories about love, family, and finding your way, you’ll adore Bloom.

I bought this book last year but started reading it this week. I wished I read it earlier because it's pure cuteness. The art style is BEAUTIFUL and to me, the strongest element of this book. I love the color palette and the character designs; those blues are amazing. If this was a show, it would be the most gorgeous show on television, hands down. As for the story, I really liked it but was slightly disappointed towards the end. Something happens and there is a long period of time that we don't get to see. I would have loved to see the fallout of that situation for Ari and Hector before reuniting and ending the story. I felt like it ended a little too soon. Also, I really like when stories allow the couple to spend time together and have issues within the relationship; it wasn't here but oh, well. As for the good, it was an adorable love story that made queer love feel natural and not the focus of the story. There wasn't homophobia or coming out angst; it really was just pure and sweet. I highly recommend it.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: First Second publishes great graphic novels. I consistently adore their titles (Check, Please! Shattered Warrior! The Prince and the Dressmaker!), so it’s no surprise that I was looking forward to Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau’s Bloom as soon as I heard about it. Umm, also, it ticks several of my “favorite things” boxes?? A of all, it’s a book about cute boys working in a bakery, and B of all, it is a sweet LGBTQ+ romance with lots of heart. Oh gosh, I loved it a lot. Ari has just finished high school and is looking forward to moving to the big city with his band. Meanwhile, he’s trying to manage his family’s expectation that he’ll keep working at the family bakery. To assuage his guilt, he settles on the idea of hiring a replacement for himself, and that’s how he meets Hector Gallea, in town from Birmingham to close up his grandmother’s house. Hector’s steady presence and love of baking draws Ari in bit by bit… but will it be enough to keep him in tiny East Beach, or will his big city dreams take precedence? Ari will find out this and more over one fateful Maryland summer… You know how there are stories that just feel like food for the soul? They may make you cry a little, but they mostly fill you up with that bubbly, content feeling of that-was-just-what-I-needed? Bloom is one of those stories. Panetta and Ganucheau have collaborated to create a beautiful book, and luckily it’s a *good* one too. Things I liked (get ready, there are many): Ari’s family is part of the story. Young adult and children’s lit gets dinged a lot for having absent parents to build plot, so it’s absolutely wonderful to see whole family and realistic parent-kid relationships in books. Conflict in Bloom builds out of differing expectations for Ari’s future: his dad wants him to help out in the struggling family bakery, and he wants to follow his friends out into the unknown. To add to that, Ari’s family is solidly working class, and not sure if their business will survive. There’s no college-bound future here, and I can’t think of the last YA book I read that included a family like Ari’s, where economic uncertainty is part of the story. I also really loved how Ari’s relationship with his high school/band friends played out. It was authentic in a little-tough-to-watch kind of way. Those moments when you realize you’ve outgrown your friends, or they’ve outgrown you, or maybe you were never really friends to begin with? Super poignant. The title of the book really points out what’s happening here: not only a sweet love story, but a real growing up and turning your face to the sunshine kind of maturing. And it’s illustrated to match! I adored that certain panels (no spoilers!) had flowers creeping over the edges. Speaking of illustration, Ganucheau really hit it out of the park. I mean, gosh, it’s a gorgeous book. And the two-toned illustrations in shades of teal really worked in a way I wasn’t expecting. And the baking collages! *heart eyes* What can I say, I am a sucker for cute boys + baked goods. On the note of baked goods, there’s a recipe at the end! If you can finish this book without wanting to go whip something up in the kitchen, you can safely say you have a will of iron! So it’s very convenient that there’s one just at the end, how nice and thank you v. much to the authors. Also p.s. I adored the nods to Hector’s Samoan and the Kyrkos family’s Greek backgrounds with the food they made. Ugh, I loved all of it. I think you will too. So if you’ve ever swooned over a fictional boy throwing bags of flour over his shoulder (and I know you all have – don’t lie to me! Peeta from The Hunger Games happened, we all remember that right??), and/or just want to read an adorable slow-burn romance with lots of flirting and blushing, this is the book for you. Recommended for: fans of Check, Please! and Heartstopper, and anyone who likes comics about finding yourself and finding your way, with a little romance baked in.

It is such a delightful book and everything is lovely and wonderful. Ari and Hector are just likeable. Actually, that is simplifying it a bit. Everyone is likable and unlikable in their own ways, but there is a kind of closeness, a kind of togetherness that permeates the entire cast. More than the main romance, I totally bought everyone's friendship the most. They hung out and they banter, they clash and they made up. The way this comic depicts friendship is just so good and dynamic. And then of course we are getting the main romance too. Which is really nice and wholesome and I appreciate the somewhat slow burn angle they are using in this book. It does take a couple bit of shortcuts in solving the main conflict, but I promise it does not matyer much in the longer term. Art is beautiful and detailed, with the occasional splash pages that are just beautifully flowing.

All is well done. Highly recommend it for anyone who wants to enjoy a little story of love and bravery.

Beautiful book, I love everything about it . Storyline, characters, friendship and family dynamics.

Closer to a 2.5/5, actually. I really dug the muted colors— all blends of blue/blue-grays/blue-greens/black & white. Oftentimes, simple coloring is necessary, and it worked well here. The art itself wasn’t overly-detailed. I noticed some of the production sketches in the back of the book, and they were full of little details, and I sort of wished we had more of that and not just the vague strokes of the finished product. The story was also more on the simplistic side with your typical Summer ‘meet-cute’. It was very frequently too cute for me, though. My moods are more in line with angst, brooding, and longing, not so much shy smiles, hand-holding, and blushing romance. There were also a dozen or so awkward time-jumps. You’ll be reading one page, and expecting the next page to continue the same panel, but it’s completely skipped forward in time to something different. I frequently felt like there were pages/panels missing— the graphic novel version of plot holes! It was a nice read, but I’m not blown away.

Llegó en perfecto estado y la calidad es excepcional. Una historia cálida sumada a una narrativa muy cómoda y un estilo muy agradable. Me encantó.

Estoy en una época de bloqueo lector, pero también me apetecía volver a leer en inglés, y ésta ha sido la novela gráfica perfecta. Ver el desarrollo de la historia entre Ari y Hector, compartir la historia del amor por la pastelería y la lucha por los sueños... Además de que Hector se ha ganado un huequito en mi corazón. La ilustración y el tintado en azul le han dado un carácter a la historia que la hace destacar. Leería más sobre ellos.

Pretty sweet graphic novel with tons of delicious food that made me hungry at every page I turned. Young love, great food, some disaster, realization, mistakes, misunderstandings, life. Just life. And I liked all of it. From beginning to end. I can’t get into details because this is a short graphic novel, things happen fast and end fast. You’ll just have to trust me and read it because it’s pretty cute and it deserves some love.

Trust me it's really good. If you're looking to buy it then surely buy it because it's the worth the prize. I'm happy that I found this book. The story is good and the art is good too💖

Ari wants out of his familys bakery but has to find a replacement. Along comes Hector and his prayers are answered but is this really what he wants. He's been having fun with Hector maybe his path lies in a different direction. Aww what a cute story. I love these sort of books. Cute stories, easy reading and incredible graphics. The plot is well written and draws you in. I loved both Hector and Ari, they balance each other well. The ending was perfect for the story. The images are so beautiful.