Bloom Hardcover – January 29, 2019

this book was incredibly well written and the art was amazing!! great read!

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.

This very lovely illustrated book is wonderful. The story in brief is about Ari who has a love to be a musician and want to move with his band to the big city but his mom and dad need his help to keep their floundering seaside bakery afloat and along comes a wonderful young baker named Hector. The story is so well paced and written, I was engrossed from start to finish. The drawings were perfect for this story. I loved the characters too. I highly recommend this book to all and to everyone. Very readable and nothing objectionable to anyone.

I bought two books and they arrived on time and in good conditions. I love the hard cover, it is a really great book to have yourself and to give to someone else. That’s why I bought the second one two give it to my cousin, she loves books with representation.

I hate how beautiful this book was, like this was such a beautiful story with a compelling storyline and delicious looking food. What more could anyone ask for?

Amazing story,with amazing characters.Also reminds one of my favorites graphic book,Heartstopper.

Ok I loved this book it’s so cute! It’s kinda confusing though in a sense that the characters don’t really build a relationship like they do but not really. Still a really good easy read! 10/10

The book cover was dirty when it arrived and the spine was indented on the top. The pages were in perfect condition though, I hope I didn’t get a used book since I bought it brand new. Overall I’m excited to start reading it.

Bloom is a beautiful story about a grumpy teenager, Ari, who wants to move away with his band and escape the family bakery. That is until Hector, his replacement, arrives and brings with him a calmness and a love for baking that makes Ari question his life choices.This book is tonally similar to Laura Dean in that they’re about soft people feeling big emotions and the writers decide to really sucker-punch you at the end of the second act. It is lovely and beautiful and honest.I love complex semi unlikeable prickly characters and Ari is definitely complicated!!! The art in this book is stunning, and blue toned and filled with sumptuous baking scenes.Panetta also wrote a comic book series I loved called Zodiac Starforce, illustrated by Paulina Ganuchea who is sister of Savanna, and I really look forward to more from all three of them.

Bloom is a graphic novel that follows two boys, working in a bakery. The boys, Ari who would rather be anywhere else, and Hector who loves baking, find themselves bonding over bread and romance ensues. I absolutely adored this book because it was just so damn adorable. It took me only a couple of hours to read the whole thing and I desperately wished that there was more. While it is a love story between Ari and Hector, it's not a coming-out story so all out the care and attention was on them and their relationship. While the majority of the book focuses on the two of them, we do get glimpses of the relationships between other characters. Although there glimpses are short they're so well written and illustrated that we learn so much. The scene between Ari's parents making dough is the perfect example. I really did adore Bloom and would love to see more from this team. It's the sort of book that I see myself gravitating towards as the perfect summery comfort read.

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.

If you are a fan of Heartstopper you will also love this sweet story.

Light and entertaining read with depth and so much heart. Would love to read more from the creators! The ending felt a bit rushed so a sequel or even an extra chapter would be a nice surprise.