Bingo Love

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 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.

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 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 show more 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.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2018/02/14/bingo-love-by-tee-franklin-and-jenn-st-onge... show less

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 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 show more 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

Soooo sweet! I was very excited to see this comic at the library after seeing it promoted online, and it fulfilled expectations.

Writer Tee Franklin delivers a tender story of two African-American women who are starcrossed childhood sweethearts and reunite 50 years later. She hits all the right notes when it comes to a sensitive, authentic portrayal of queer African-American characters and the bittersweet experience of finding love in the last chapter of life. There are moments where dialogue or storytelling are clunky—a frame story, for instance, that doesn't get resolved by the end—but overall it's an engaging story with plot twists that surprised me.

I adored the art, drawn by Jenn St-Onge and beautifully colored by Joy San. show more St-Onge's characters are so expressive, and she does a wonderful job portraying them through the different periods of their lives.

It should go without saying that the creators deserves all the accolades for helping expand the range of stories that comics can tell. More of this, please! show less

This is a delightful graphic novel, full of romance and reality. High school girl Hazel, who falls in love with a new girl, Mari, is from a conservative and traditional church background, and when their budding relationship is discovered, Mari is forced to move away. Both girls are pressured by their families to marry men. What happens when they meet up fifty years later? The illustrations are gorgeous, in vibrant color, and Hazel's narration is so smart and refreshing. Just a lovely read.

A textbook example of a beautiful idea and poor execution, this one deeply disappointed me. The art, though, is joyful and bright and expressive, so that’s where the extra star comes in.

Content warnings:
- homophobia
- cheating
- racism

Representation:
- almost every character is Black
- the two MCs are sapphic

Spanning over sixty years, Bingo Love tells the love story of Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray, two black women who first met at church bingo in 1963. Unfortunately, they are driven apart by their families, eventually marry men, have families, and never see each other until their mid sixties. That meeting again happens at church bingo, and they realize their love for each other had never died.

I wasn’t sure about the art style initially show more just by looking at the cover, but it’s adorable! Incredibly expressive and full of life and color, and probably the best thing about this little graphic novella.

Because oh, boy … the dialogue … the writing. I feel so bad, but Bingo Love is poorly written, with stiff and wooden lines mixed with some very cliche ones, such as, “love is love is love is love” and “if loving Mari was wrong I didn’t want to be right”. It almost feels like an educational video you’d watch at high school, the ones simultaneously stiff and over-the-top. Ones where they want to get in as many talking points about an issue as possible, because its purpose is to educate, rather than tell a story.

Characters also seem to change their minds in between panels. The MC’s husband goes from yelling at her to suddenly lying in her lap, saying, “I wanted a family. It was something that I needed to validate myself.” Had they gone to therapy in between the two panels?

What really bothered me, though, were the two instances of “if you want to know what happened/what they’re talking about, buy the bonus comics!” I’m all for supporting creators, but one of these is about something integral to the plot. Even though I can sort of piece things together, it certainly doesn’t make me any less annoyed. And after looking everywhere online, it seems the bonus comic that was important to the plot wasn’t actually made after all.

The book’s stance on cheating made me uncomfortable, too. I don’t want to spoil anything more than I have (if that’s considered spoiling), but even if that doesn’t necessarily make it an objectively Good or Bad book morally speaking or whatever … it’s not something I’m a big fan of. I’m also not actually sure if this is written for YA or adult readers (reviewers seem to have tagged it as both) … the idea itself seems more suited for an adult audience, and the way things are handled in the graphic novel seems more suited for a YA audience.

I think all in all the novella needed a lot more time to be edited and refined. Not to mention it’s probably a little short for this type of 60+yr storyline. show less

This starts in 2038, with Hazel comforting a woman (who I later realized was Mari) who'd been kicked out by her parents for being gay. She begins telling her story, which goes back to 1963. Mari transfers to her school, and the two of them immediately get along. They become friends and eventually realize they're attracted to each other. When their parents find out, they break the two of them up and find men for them to marry. In 2015, Hazel and Mari finally meet each other again during a Bingo game and realize they're still in love with each other. However, there are plenty of family complications - upset kids and grandkids, Hazel's husband, all of whom feel hurt and blindsided.

There's a lot going on here and not really a lot of room show more for it all to breathe - complicated emotional aspects, Hazel's husband's own secret, and more. You have to assume that there are a lot more heavy conversations than what's shown on-page, and there are footnotes that point readers to one or two side stories (such as one dealing with Hazel's husband's story). Hazel's husband and all mentions of him completely disappear after a certain point.

It's a reasonably well-told story considering the space limitations, and it has a nice mix of sweet and bittersweet. I did find, however, that I liked it a little less after a reread. The beginning was never clearly connected to the ending, even though the opportunity to bridge the two parts was there.

I loved the artwork. It was generally easy to follow and gorgeous.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less