brdsk
Written on Mar 30, 2021
- ISBN10 1551525143
- ISBN13 9781551525143
- Publish Date 12 September 2013 (first published 2 September 2013)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country CA
- Imprint Arsenal Pulp Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 162
- Language English
Reviews
cornerfolds
Written on Dec 17, 2018
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
*Review to come!*
Jo
Written on Apr 26, 2015
My best friend recommended Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh to me while he was reading it himself. He loved the movie, and so wanted to read the book, and found the book to be just as amazing. Although I'm not a huge fan of graphic novels, I trusted his opinion and bought it for myself. Having now read it, I can say this is a seriously beautiful love story.
This is a really wonderful story of a young girl discovering her sexuality and finding love. Watching Clementine learn about herself is really sweet; from the first stirrings of attraction to Emma, her initial confusion, shock and disgust with her feelings and desires, and eventually coming to accept her sexuality and that there's nothing wrong with it. It's lovely watching Clem and Emma's relationship develop, Emma trying to help Clem accept her sexuality; the fragile, nervous beginnings; and plunging head first into their love affair.
Theirs isn't a relationship without it's problems. Clem does take some risks to be with Emma, but Emma doesn't seem to be fully committed at first. There is almost a selfishness to Emma, but also fragility and fear. As much as she helps and encourages Clem to discover her sexuality, she's also worried about being hurt. The actions of both characters, at some point, really caused problems for me, I had a hard time dealing with the lack of respect shown, but it's very realistic. Everyone makes mistakes, and I could sympathise with their reasons for the things they do. Although they get past their issues, they still have to put up with the disgust of others, and their lives are far from easy.
Blue is quite sexually explicit, but it's not gratuitous. It's not sexy, it's more sweet, with Clem finally allowing herself to feel and do what she wants, and just give in to it, discovering and falling in love. It's quite beautiful really.
A wonderful graphic novel with a beautiful story.
Michael @ Knowledge Lost
Written on Dec 6, 2014
Blue is the Warmest Color takes place in 2008 following the death of Emma’s partner Clémentine. At the request of Clémentine, Emma has been granted access to her dairies. The diaries start in 1995 when Clémentine was a fifteen old girl, confused about her sexuality. It is within the diaries we discover her struggle with her sexuality as well as the relationships she had with Emma.
This graphic novel takes all the nuance of a relationship and plays it out within the pages and it does it in a way that is never cliché. This depiction plays on the highs and lows of the relationship between Clémentine and Emma, which allows it to explore the struggles as well as all the tender moments they share. However before the relationship starts and even as it blossoms there is also the coming of age story where Clémentine is trying to find herself as well as understand her own sexuality.
I am not a lesbian so I could not speak to this struggle with sexuality, however it felt so raw and emotional. I could not help but think the struggle or the emotions experienced were all real and possibly autobiographical. Julie Maroh has a real way with capturing the emotions of this relationships and she allows the readers to experience them along with the characters. This makes for an intimate experience and I was able to empathise with both characters even when they were making silly mistakes.
Julie Maroh is also the artist for this graphic novel and the art is the highlight of this story. The line work Maroh has drawn on to each page captures both expression and details beautifully. Then with the added colours, the pictures in each frame just pop. I love the way Maroh draw this comic and the sparing use of colour, each frame felt breathtaking and I think I spent more time admiring the art work than actually reading the story. Blue is the Warmest Color was originally written in French so I have to compliment Ivanka Hahnenberger for the translation. It is a real skill of a translator to be able to present the text in a beautiful that allows the reader to forget that they are reading a work in translation, but Hahnenberger pulled it off.
I am not sure how autobiographical this graphic novel is, but it is hard to imagine anyone writing these emotions without first experiencing them for themselves. It is interesting to experience a life that is different to your own and I want to read a lot more graphic novels like this one. This is at times beautiful and at other times heartbreaking. Blue is the Warmest Color had plenty of tender moments and by the end I think I had a little dirt or something in my eye because they were leaking.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2014/12/20/blue-is-the-warmest-color-by-julie-maroh/