“Bloom”

In Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau’s foodie romance “Bloom,” recent high school graduate and new adult Ari has some big decisions ahead of him regarding his future. Ari lives at home and helps out with his parents’ struggling bakery, but dreams of living in the city with his friends and making music. Things begin to change, however, after Ari meets Hector, a culinary student with a passion for food.

Cover by Savanna Ganucheau

Written by Kevin Panetta
Illustrated, colored, and lettered by Savanna Ganucheau

Panetta and Ganucheau serve up a flawed but ultimately enjoyable young adult coming of age story, with a hint of LGBTQ+ romance, all wrapped in a clever title. While readers may expect an emphasis to be placed on the romance due to the loving gaze between two characters seen on the graphic novel’s cover, it is ultimately not the focus. The crux of the protagonists’ dilemma is not found in his romantic or sexual awakening. This is not a coming out story, no one seems surprised or unaware of Ari’s sexual orientation, and there is no shock value or suggestions of a first experience. At its core, “Bloom” is about discovering – and rediscovering – passions in the midst of life transitions.

In “Bloom”, the reader and Ari explore the concept of wanting to find your own passion and way through life, rather than accepting without question that your passion is determined by familiarity or family. This is a story that aims to acknowledge and pay homage to choice rather than path by proximity or compulsion. In this regard, Ari is a character that many adults will find relatable, regardless of where they are in their own post-high school journeys.

The story is also inclusive in a way that is subtle yet powerful. Rather than choosing to make the story about Ari being a gay young man, it includes this as a part of who he is without it completely defining him. Much more important to this story is how Ari sees himself fitting into the world at large and how his decisions will affect his ability to find happiness. Though Ari ultimately finds himself living the life he most hoped to avoid, it was a decision he came to by exploring and rejecting the path he thought he wanted to take.

Aside from the message that the story is sharing with regards to self-discovery and the inclusivity involved, the book is not without its flaws. The three issues that readers will face are intermittent aimlessness in scenes, the occasionally unclear transitions between minor arcs, and the anticlimactic resolution to conflict in the story.

For the first, some scenes – particularly those that aim to provide backstory through both Ari’s and Hector’s friend sets – would not be missed if they were shortened or altogether left out. One example of this is the unnecessary inclusion of Maria’s wedding. It does little to further the troubled dynamic between Ari and his father, and Maria virtually disappears from the story after the first few pages, only to resurface with an equally unnecessary appearance in the final few pages. The limited backstory they help provide might be better delivered through other means.

Regarding transitions, though sporadic, some full-stop ends to minor storylines can lead the reader to second guess whether or not they have accidentally skipped a page. While it is important to establish the growing connection between Ari and Hector, not all scenes effectively do so. Instead, these scenes – typically those that show the two learning how to work together in the bakery – seem to exist solely for the purpose of providing Ganucheau the opportunity to lovingly showcase the food of the story.

In terms of conflict resolution, the story is perhaps least believable in its depiction of Ari and Hector’s reconciliation. After most of the story is spent building this relationship, Ari’s betrayal of Hector is rather swiftly forgiven by Hector. This quick pardon doesn’t provide Ari with the chance to show either Hector or the reader that he recognizes how what he did was wrong, not in terms of how it made him feel but rather how it made Hector feel. Instead, we see Hector offering comfort to Ari.

Visually, the monochromatic teal color scheme, with varying degrees of saturation throughout, is effective in evoking the clear skies of a bright spring day and a time of new beginnings. Scenes that take place at night or in darkened spaces make particularly good use of halftone dots and high saturation to appear visually heavy while daytime scenes have significantly higher amounts of white space that is highlighted with teal shading.

Most pages are neatly structured, with three to six panels per page. Panel orientation and layout differ throughout to keep the book as a whole from growing too monotonous. However, there are a few instances of full page spreads (pages 98-99, 148-149, 168-169) which feature non-traditional paneling. These spreads includes diagonals and nonrectangular forms which take on the sensuous flow and appearance of flower petals. While they are largely read left to right, top to bottom as with a more traditional layout, the lines that serve as the panel borders sometimes blend in with the images or are otherwise difficult to discern. This makes it less clear where one panel ends and another begins. Thankfully, these are sparingly used. Adding to this thematic imagery and filling in some of the page space are illustrations of smaller scale flowers in full bloom.

Although the flaws are undesirable, the story overall is worth diving into. The love of food that shines through the artwork, the character exploration, and the well-drawn and artistically expressive character imagery provide a solid read to those wanting an emotional connection that focuses on discovery and growth.

Back matter includes a recipe for sour dough rolls, an in-story playlist, pitch pages and production art.