Jenn St-Onge

A challenge to this graphic novel in the teen section at the Swansea Public Library led me to read it. It's delightful. A young girl whose parents kick her out for being gay runs to her grandmother, who understands: when she was a girl, Hazel and her new classmate and best friend, Mari, fell in love, but their families threatened to disown them and quickly married them off to men. The women discovered each other several decades later at church bingo and reconnected. When they realize they show more still feel the same way, Hazel takes the major step of leaving her husband and marrying Mari; their grown children have realistic reactions to this but eventually come around. show less

Pretty much the perfect Valentine's Day read!

(Full disclosure: I receive a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss.)

Hazel and Mari met at a church bingo game in 1963. The girls became fast friends and, four years later, their friendship blossomed into something more. Before they'd had a chance to exchange even a handful of kisses, though, their secret was discovered, and the girls were forcibly separated by their families. Mari was sent to live down South, and both girls were forced to marry show more men chosen for them by their relatives.

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Forty-eight years, eight children, and many grandchildren later, another chance meeting reunites the star-crossed lovers, giving each of them a second shot at happiness.

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Bingo Love is such an achingly sweet and beautiful story, and I kind of love that its major imprint release is on Valentine's Day. It made me laugh and cry - sometimes at the same time - and I'm not ashamed to say that the ending had me ugly crying onto my cat. The conclusion loops back into the beginning in a way that's pure magic. (I actually had an a-hah! lightbulb moment when I realized what Franklin had done.)

The art is fantastically gorgeous, too: the colors, the outfits, the different styles of the times. Hazel and Mari are both fabulous AF: Hazel, with her oversized Iris Apfel glasses; Mari, with that bitchin', DGAF white streak in her hair. This book oozes style, and it's only fitting that Hazel takes the fashion world by storm for her second act.

Really my only complaint is that the dialogue sometimes feels stilted; unnatural, even ... but don't let this stop you from falling in love with the world Franklin and St-Onge built here. Bingo Love is a story that's positively brimming with heart. Not to mention compassion and diversity. More, please.

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I read the original edition of Bingo Love, and stand by my assessment of that: a bittersweet - though heavy on the sweet - romance that succeeds in spite of some odd and unnecessary sci-fi elements...

The story was worth a re-read, and I was glad to see the side stories frustratingly mentioned but not included in the original edition. They don't add a lot, but their presence still makes this is a better package.

If you're looking for a FF romance that's maybe a little deeper than your average YA romance, this is for you. This story follows Mari and Elle as they become friends, start to develop into something more and are torn apart. The two women marry men, start families and grow older before they're reunited. It's a lot to cover in one graphic novel and I do wish it was a bit longer, because I enjoyed the characters and I wanted to know them better. There's a lot to unpack here, as this deals with show more how being gay (or anything other than straight) in the 60s was looked on as a sin and an abomination and it also takes a look at some of the sacrifices women make in order to conform to societal norms.

I think if this was a longer volume, it would have been a higher rating for me. Everything was simplified, including the dialogue and I understand that comes with the format. I liked the characters, I liked the message and the bittersweet ending. I definitely need more comics/graphic novels like this in my life! show less