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706 reviews
Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang
emotional
hopeful
4.5
In Lunar New Year Love Story, a YA graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang & LeUyen Pham, Val believes she’s cursed. Every romantic relationship in her family has fallen apart and led to heartbreak, and she believes she will never find true love. One Lunar New Year festival changes everything, and the story follows Val over a series of Lunar New Years as she tries to find love.
This graphic novel is a well rounded story about family, friendship and romance. It explores familial and platonic relationships just as much as romantic ones, and readers learn about the experiences of Val’s parents, her best friend Bernice and other minor characters alongside Val.
Val is a kind and loving character, but her journey is full of grief. It isn’t explicitly stated, but it’s clear to me that the story touches on depression. I wish this had been explored more but acknowledge that this would have taken away from the magical realism aspect of the story. The magical realism aspect is not described in the synopsis, and I think it’s better to read this book without knowing too much information.
The best thing about this story is the way it discusses love and grief. Several characters experience different types of grief, and the story recognizes that grief is unavoidable. But this book is also about the ways love will find you again, even when it feels impossible. As much as this book is about grief, it’s also about finding joy and embracing new beginnings. It’s full of hope, and I love the way it includes small acts of kindness that end up having a big impact in the lives of these characters.
I love this book but I do have one issue with it—something happens in the middle of the story that is clearly not okay, and I wish it had been handled differently. This book is otherwise wonderful and includes important messages about family, love and taking chances.
Thank you First Second Books and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC to review.
Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit & Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction by Joshua Whitehead
4.5
“For, as we know, we have already survived the apocalypse—this, right here, right now, is a dystopian present. What better way to imagine survivability than to think about how we may flourish into being joyously animated rather than merely alive?” -Joshua Whitehead
LOVE AFTER THE END: AN ANTHOLOGY OF TWO-SPIRIT & INDIGIQUEER SPECULATIVE FICTION, edited by Joshua Whitehead, presents a series of utopian stories about love and survival. Featuring AI, cyborgs, floating cities and newly terraformed planets, the authors in this anthology imaginatively show us futures that center queer Indigenous communities while discussing topics like kinship, ethics and colonialism.
Most of these stories are set after an apocalyptic event, but the apocalypse is not the focus, neither are the speculative elements. The focus is connection. It’s about loving the land and respecting the earth. It’s about every type of love. It’s about connecting to ancestors and trusting their wisdom. It’s about staying true to yourself and what you believe in. Every single story is full of love and hope as the characters resist and survive, showing us that love and community will keep us together and help us move forward. LOVE AFTER THE END serves as a powerful reminder that a kinder future is possible.
This book reminded me a lot of River Solomon’s SORROWLAND—both books are so tender and quiet in the ways they resist colonialism. The revolutions in these books take place on a smaller scale, but they are no less mighty.
Earthdivers, Vol. 2: Ice Age by Stephen Graham Jones
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
3.75
In Earthdivers volume 1 (collecting issues 1-6), readers are introduced to an apocalyptic world and a group of Indigenous survivors trying to save it. They find a time traveling cave and send someone back to the “discovery” of America to stop Columbus with the hope that altering that moment in time will stop the apocalypse. Other survivors also travel back to different moments in time, and volume 2 reveals where one of these characters went.
Volume 2 (collecting issues 7-10) is a fast paced and action packed instalment. It follows Tawny, a mother searching for her missing children. When she enters the cave, she’s sent back to the Ice Age. This volume plays with archaeological theories about the peopling of the Americas as Tawny is confronted by a group of settlers who have arrived too early. Tawny is a smart character and her observations of the settlers makes for great commentary. She uses her knowledge of history to survive and thwart the colonizer’s efforts. Themes of motherhood, grief, and hope are touched on, but I wish they were given a bit more depth. The action and fast pace took away from the emotional moments and I think the story needed more room to breathe. That said, this series still feels bold and exciting and I look forward to reading more.
This graphic novel releases on February 27, but the single issues collected in this volume are available now wherever you buy your comics. My thanks to IDW Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC to review.