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A review by flowergrove
Bloom by Kevin Panetta
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was a cute book. I read it pretty quickly, and the art was beautiful! I mean I could totally re-read it just to look at the images again.
Disclaimer: Just because I did not like the main character, that doesn’t mean this is a bad book.
In case you have not already figured it out my big problem was that I absolutely did not like the main character, Ari. I thought he was SO annoying and the tone that he sets the story in kind of just put me in a bad mood. He seems like an asshole who you wouldn’t want to deal with. At least for me. But I also understand where he’s coming from. Finding non-toxic friends, and figuring out your life ambitions are hard things to do. But I also wish that I could’ve seen Ari develop more, instead of just the inserted time skips. Because By the end of the story I couldn’t see any character development and I still did not like him.
Disclaimer: Just because I did not like the main character, that doesn’t mean this is a bad book.
In case you have not already figured it out my big problem was that I absolutely did not like the main character, Ari. I thought he was SO annoying and the tone that he sets the story in kind of just put me in a bad mood. He seems like an asshole who you wouldn’t want to deal with. At least for me. But I also understand where he’s coming from. Finding non-toxic friends, and figuring out your life ambitions are hard things to do. But I also wish that I could’ve seen Ari develop more, instead of just the inserted time skips. Because By the end of the story I couldn’t see any character development and I still did not like him.
The family dynamic was super interesting, and not generic. The relationship that Ari had with his dad seemed totally relatable and imperfect. (Though, I didn’t like it when Ari occasionally decided that he liked his the dad. Because then the dad would have really ~inspiring~ dialogue, and it felt super forced and seemed unnatural.)
I like the comments about Hector, and how everyone ended up being clingy to him. But that was never explored, or further developed. They just left it at that, so I was a little confused. They also commented on how Hector “fixes” everyone, and how that’s a bad thing. But then that’s exactly what he does at the end of the book?? Why? It feels like his narrative was thrown away in order to make Ari feel better. Which is exactly what Hector hated doing. I don’t know if I am digging too deep into that. But it could be the author commenting on how you fall into old loops. Though, I hope not because that would just be very sad.
I think this was a nice easy read. But maybe not the best go-to for anyone looking for an incredibly in-depth plot.