Book Review
Title: Blue Is the Warmest Color
Author: Julie Maroh & Ivanka Hahnenberger (Translator)
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: *****
Review: I have seen the movie Blue is the warmest color and it is one of the best LGBT movies I have seen in a long time so when I got my hands on the graphic novel the movie is based off I couldn’t wait to read it. We are introduced to Emma, whose lover Clementine has died, and she is collecting her diaries and we jump back into Clementine’s life starting in her teen years. When Clementine is a sophomore she meets Thomas, a cute boy who her friends are pushing her to date, but she is already questioning her sexuality when she sees a girl with blue hair and begins having feelings she has never had before.
As we jump back between past and present we see Emma’s regrets about wasting her time with Clementine and how she never really fitted in anywhere. As we approach the ¼ mark in the story, I instantly connected to Clementine’s voice which was so real and heartfelt hiding nothing, while Emma’s seems withdrawn and scared.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the story, we see Clementine meets the girl with blue hair on a night out with her gay best friend Valentin, and it turns out her name is Emma and while Clementine might be in love with her she is still struggling with her sexuality especially after Valentin lets slip that they spent the night in a gay bar and she loses basically all of her friends. This isn’t helped by the fact that Emma has a girlfriend, but Emma still feels amazing with her. In the art style, we see the color blue bleeding into the frames especially after Emma and Clementine meet.
As we cross into the second half of the story, Clementine is finally accepting that she has feelings for Emma, but she can’t get past the shame that has been ingrained into her by society, but Valentin is a big help here and the girls have developed quite a strong friendship. When their relationship becomes sexually, they are technically having an affair and both girls are seriously flawed but the passion they share is beautiful and eventually, they find a way to be together.
As we cross into the final section of the story, we see how society affects the girls’ relationship and the consequences of this homophobia. We then fly through the years of the girls being together from 17 to 30 in Clementine’s case but then everything spirals out of control just like Emma predicted all those years ago. The ending of Blue is the Warmest Color is devastating but haunting beautiful filled with the kind of hope that can only appear after everything falls apart.
If you are looking for a realistic LGBT romance that deals with homophobia, coming to terms with your sexuality and coming out, the good and the bad then I highly recommend Blue is Warmest Color and the movie adaptation is beautiful as well although it is in French and you have to read subtitles.
Buy it here:
Paperback: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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