I was hesitant to start Lunar New Year Love Story for a few reasons: I am not a romance reader; I thought the use of Leuyen Pham as the illustrator was an odd choice; and as I like Gene Luen Yang, would I build this book up too much and it would not live up to my hype?
Well, I am still not a romance reader and the arc was not how I run my romance life, but it was fun and heartwarming. (Granted if not a smidgen cliché at times.) And Pham probably would not have been my first illustration choice but they were the perfect choice after all. Her work makes it all fall into place with the details and color used with the mixture of “obvious” Pham vs. a slightly different/not what I’m used to style. It just works in ways I was not expecting, but also of course it works! Why not? After all, Pham is as big of a genius as Yang is for me. And while I did build things up, it passed the reading test. In fact, it was better than expected.
The story is simple, but takes unexpected twists and turns in some places, but also is a bit predictable. This combination was pleasant. There was enough to be new, fresh and exciting while also being comfortable and familiar. Val is in love with love and Valentines Day. That is until the year her best friend puts a damper on her excitement, her high school freshman class doesn’t react as she had hoped to her homemade Valentines Day cards, one boy rips her heart up (the card, not literally) and the truth her father has been hiding about her mother comes out. There is a wonderfully crazy paternal grandmother; nuns, ghosts, bad spirits, lion dancing and new and old friends.
This graphic novel was as perfect as it could be. The love story is sweet, and the added parts of the Lunar New Years, the real stories behind St. Valentine and the differences between Asian cultures was neat (I didn’t realize that Korean and Chinese Lion Dances were so different). There were a few bumps (spoiler) such as with the mother arc, the convenience of the maternal grandmother, the trip to Italy, the obviousness of the actual person Val should find True Love with (end spoiler) but overall I enjoyed it.