FROM PANEL TO PANEL • Be What You Love (Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau)

[quote]Now that high school is over, Ari is dying to move to the big city with his ultra-hip band―if he can just persuade his dad to let him quit his job at their struggling family bakery. Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easygoing guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom . . . that is, if Ari doesn’t ruin everything.[/quote]

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from First Second (Macmillan) for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

What else can find in the kitchen besides baked goods and baking? For Ari, love.

Love for an easygoing Samoan baker who is in Ari’s beach town to take care of family stuff, and revitalizing his love for his Greek family’s bakery.

Ari wants bigger things.

He has big aspirations; he wants to go out into the world and make music with his band, not be stuck at his family’s struggling bakery. Because of this, he and his father argue constantly about what wants and expectations. It’s not that he doesn’t love his family or doesn’t want to see the bakery do well. He just graduated from high school; it’s just not something he wants to do for the rest of his life. Everybody can relate to family expectation and their family wanting to maintain a legacy.

Be prepared to salivate over the baked goods these boys make.

Streusel, sourdough loaves, Pani Popo (Samoan coconut sweet rolls), and fa’apapa (like a coconut bread). Nom nom nom.

The illustrated montages will make you want to pull these baked goodies out of the pages. You can feel the passion and the love radiating off of these pages. That’s how fantastic Savanna Ganucheau’s art is. You’ll want to hug all these delicious breads and these characters into your arms and tell them how wonderful they are.

You’re gonna fall in love with these boys.

It’s so darn sweet that these two teenager boys falling in love due to baking. Baking is like a metaphor for falling in love. You have all these ingredients that somehow works together when you put it all together and bake it for a certain amount of time to make delicious baked goodies. These boys spend a lot of time putting these ingredients together and in the process, bonding and eventually falling in love.

It felt like it wrapped up quickly in a neat little bow even though there was so much more story to tell.

Addison’s story was wrapped up quickly in a neat little bow. She has her ending and her sister, living happily ever after without the Zone looming over them. However, The Broken Vows teased us about the reality these creatures live in. Where’s that story? You can’t just tell me this huge thing about them and pull the rug from under me! There’s still so much to be told.

The art is so perfect.

Savanna Ganucheau portrays these characters and these scenes so beautifully. It’s woven together so naturally. The book may only use shades of blue, black, and white, but those three colors accentuates the illustrations. The baking scenes are gorgeously detailed; it’s a whirlwind of scenes mixing with each other.

Who will love this graphic novel? People who enjoy cute romances. Baked goods lovers. Anybody who loved The Prince and the Dressmaker.

Why you should read Bloom? Because why wouldn’t you want to read a cute romance involving boys and baking?

[note note_color=”#ec8015″ text_color=”#ffffff”]Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau
January 29, 2019 • First Second (Macmillan)

Add to your TBR on Goodreads. Go buy Bloom from your local comic book store, or these online retailers: Amazon · Barnes & Noble · The Book Depository · Indigo. Or borrow it from your library.