Hi, book lovers! What have you been reading? Well, this month, Iโve done two books. The first is a collection of poems and the second is this one that I came here to talk about.
Iโve been reading graphic novels this year, and Iโm loving it, honestly. If youโre not into graphic novels, gather here! You have to read ๐๐พ๐ท๐ช๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ช๐ป ๐๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฝ๐ธ๐ป๐ by Gene Luen Yang. And if youโre into graphic novels but havenโt heard about this one. Here you go!
๐๐พ๐ท๐ช๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ช๐ป ๐๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฝ๐ธ๐ป๐ was published in 2024. Itโs 354 pages, but believe me when I say that youโll fly through those pages before you know it.
Itโs YA magical realism and also a romance. Although love is at the centre, it also a story about family and forgiveness.
๐ฆ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ
Now, letโs talk about the storyline. The story starts en media res (in the middle), where teenage Velantina (our protagonist) goes back to her childhood to tell us how she became the way she is in order for us to understand her present predicament. As a little girl, Valentina was a sweet girl who believed in the power of love and expressed it loudly. In fact, Valentineโs Day was her favourite day of the year. She had an imaginary friend who happened to be St Valentine (AKA Saint V), and he always appeared in the form of a cute Cupid. Every Valentineโs Day, as was her tradition, sheโd handcraft paper cards with positive notes for friends and family, and even random classmates. Then one day when she was fourteen, she discovered the truth about her family and everything changed โ she lost faith in the idea of love and disconnected from her childhood Valentine-loving self. The idea of love having been tainted, cute Cupid Saint V changed to the fearsome Saint Valentine sheโd seen in church. From then on, the ghost began to haunt her.
At sixteen, Valentina learns that her family is โunlucky in love.โ Theyโre fated to have heart breaks and never a happy ending in their love lives. This makes her lose all hope of finding love, and she almost loses her heart as well. But then, sheโs given one year to try. And thatโs when Jae comes in. Heโs a classmate whoโs in a similar situation. Heโs haunted by a ghost from his past. How do their lives intersect? Does Valentina find love? Youโll have to read the book to find out.
๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ช
One thing I took away from this book is how we should never let generational patterns dictate how we live our lives. Never accept a pattern even when it has been seen time and time again in your family. Your story is different.
๐๐พ๐ท๐ช๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ช๐ป ๐๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฝ๐ธ๐ป๐ is such a funny and heartwarming book. Itโs evident that we can choose whatever form to tell our stories โ be it a graphic novel like this one. And I say this because it is a non-traditional form of storytelling that is still dismissed. The story is well told and it is undeniable. The drawing style and characterization made for such a compelling read.
My favourite character has to be Valentinaโs grandmother. Donโt we all just need grandmas like her? She was such a dramatic and funny character that made me laugh so many times with her funny comments. And sometimes, what she said or did wasnโt exactly funny. It was just the way her glasses sat wonky on her face, or the combination of that and her facial expression. Asides from finding her funny, I loved her actions as well. I loved how she gave Valentina and her father their space but was also there for them. And when it was time to encroach, she made sure to and did that well. She played such an important part in the development of the story and was such a lovable characte that I have ro give the writer (Gene Luen Yang) and the illustrator (Leuyen Pham) their flowers. It was a job well done.
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ? ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ!
