Reviews

Bloom by Kevin Panetta

scottieglot's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

gilmore25's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars.
This was cute. And the art style was FSNTASTIC! But I wish there were more depth to it I guess? There were just things left unsaid/unresolved I wish could have been presented. But still super cute!

novellenovels's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

kategallo's review against another edition

4.0

Oh, this was so cute. I loved Hector and his enthusiasm for baking and learning Ari's family's recipes! I wasn't the biggest fan of Ari but I understood his struggles and feeling of hopelessness. The illustrations were gorgeous and there was something so satisfying about the panels depicting bread and pastry being kneaded and cooked. Such a soft and sweet little queer story, and perfect for my first venture into graphic novels.

greenkangaroolibrarian's review against another edition

3.0

This graphic novel has potential but, at least for me, it is missing some things. I read it slow to make sure I was not misjudging it, but it still comes out lower in scale. The illustrations are nice and I enjoyed what the story was trying to portray, however, that is where it ends. There are limited transitions in this novel (at the end of one page you are having a conversation that does not feel completed and you turn the page only to find that we've jumped in time and the conversation is done) and everyone of them feels like a hard stop in the story. Our main character, Ari, has no true hardship in his life that makes him as disagreeable as he is, he feels like an angsty preteen at times and I wanted his parents to sit him down and tell him to grow up. There are wordless pages that show action (mostly baking scenes) but it is hard to follow the flow of them as they are not linear and instead done on angles, making it hard to know which panel is next.
Overall, I'd say, read the graphic novel because there are parts of it that are fun, but take it with a grain of salt.

Oh, and don't even get me started on Ari's friend Cameron and how terrible he is!

marthebok's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

4.0

aplecki2's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ekoopanik's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

befsk's review against another edition

3.0

My immediate feeling after finishing this was one of "ahhh that was so cute". The artwork was so adorable, and it was an LGBT story without a big coming out moment and barely any discrimination (except from the one minor character who's a toxic shit about literally everything). This book just made me so happy whilst I was reading it, because it was just so heart-warming and so so cute.

However, thinking about it a few days later and my enduring memory (other than that gorgeous artwork) is of Ari being a petulant, whiny moron to his lovely parents and to Hector. I understand not wanting to feel like you're being forced to spend the rest of your life running the family business, but constantly lashing out at everyone and acting like a brat is not the way to deal with something like an adult. It feels like if he just sat down with his parents and had a real conversation with them then at least half of the drama of this book could've been avoided.

felixik's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Just in general a sweet book with some bittersweet parts, just how life is.
Definitely reccomend checking out the last few pages. ;)