Blue Is the Warmest Color
The original graphic novel adapted into the film Blue Is the Warmest Color, winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival
In this tender, bittersweet, full-color graphic novel, a young woman named Clementine discovers herself and the elusive magic of love when she meets a confident blue-haired girl named Emma: a lesbian love story for the ages that bristles with the energy of youth and rebellion and the eternal light of desire.
First published in France by Glénat, the book has won several awards, including the Audience Prize at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, Europe's largest.
The live-action, French-language film version of the book, entitled Blue Is the Warmest Color, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2013. Directed by director Abdellatif Kechiche and starring Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos, the film generated both wide praise and controversy. It will be released in the US through Sundance Selects/IFC Films.
Julie Maroh is an author and illustrator originally from northern France.
"Julie Maroh, who was just 19 when she started the comic, manages to convey the excitement, terror, and obsession of young love—and to show how wildly teenagers swing from one extreme emotion to the next ... Ultimately, Blue Is the Warmest Color is a sad story about loss and heartbreak, but while Emma and Clementine’s love lasts, it’s exhilarating and sustaining." — Slate.com
"A beautiful, moving graphic novel." — Wall Street Journal
" Blue Is the Warmest Color captures the entire life of a relationship in affecting and honest style." — Comics Worth Reading
"Delicate linework conveys wordless longing in this graphic novel about a lesbian relationship." — New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)
"A tragic yet beautifully wrought graphic novel." — Salon.com
"Love is a beautiful punishment in Maroh’s paean to confusion, passion, and discovery ... An elegantly impassioned love story." — Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)
"A lovely and wholehearted coming-out story ... the illustrations are infused with genuine, raw feeling. Wide-eyed Clementine wears every emotion on her sleeve, and teens will understand her journey perfectly." — Kirkus Reviews
"The electric emotions of falling in love and the difficult process of self-acceptance will resonate with all readers ... Maroh’s use of color is deliberate enough to be eye-catching in a world of grey tones, with Emma’s bright blue hair capturing Clementine’s imagination, but is used sparingly enough that it supports and blends naturally with the story." — Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)
"It's not just the French who have a better handle on sexy material than Americans -- Canadians do, too ... Who's publishing it? Not an American publishing house but by Arsenal Pulp Press, a Canadian independent." — Los Angeles Times
Reviews (209)
Hate to be the snob, but this is way better than the movie...
After watching the movie and after feeling highly dissatisfied, I took the plunge of ordering the book anyway. This fulfilled everything. I felt a strong connection with the characters here and their actions actually made sense for the first time. The movie, with poor editing, left a lot of scenes unexplained and dragged on, leaving characters underdeveloped and viewers distracted. I didn't like the art style at first, but the graphic novel has better pacing and the plot swallows you whole, so you wouldn't care about the drawings by the time you're fully engaged with the scenes. Character wise, I love Lea Seydoux as an actress but I actually preferred the character of Emma within the graphic novel: chill, gentle and thoughtful. Not assertive and cocky. I didn't care about Adele (Clem) in the movie, but the graphic novel made me felt for them. If you enjoyed the movie and wouldn't mind reading a graphic novel, I say give this a try. Highly recommended.
All the Colors of Love are Painted Within
Julie Maroh wrote and drew a masterpiece of literature, storytelling, romance, comics, and graphic novels. I feel so satisfied with Blue Is the Warmest Color. Julie Maroh crafts a beautiful romance love stories about modern lesbians in France growing up trying to understand themselves, each other, and the world they live in. It's so real and down to Earth that the story just flew by. I read the whole thing in a couple of hours! The illustrations are very emotive and detailed. Maroh really has her own style. Her use of blue is very well placed and thought out. It feels very indie, but relatable and heartfelt. Julie Maroh really captures adolescence into maturity and the confusion a young girl might feel as she falls in love. Blue Is the Warmest Color is so thoughtful on love, LGBT issues, and works as both a coming of age graphic novel and a romance novel. I highly recommend it to all readers especially teenagers on up. If you like this, also read The Fault in Our Stars or This One Summer.
A tragic and passionate look at a misunderstood love
I thought Blue was one of the best books I've read in years. Pretty recently I saw a trailer for the film version at my local arthouse theater and was intrigued. A week or so later I discovered that it was actually a graphic novel at first and that it was available on my Kindle. The art style depicted on the cover also pulled me in and so I decided to drop the money and buy it. It's been a long time since I felt so moved by a story. Half the time I was reading it (especially during the beginning and the end) I was left in tears. It's amazing to see Clementine's constantly conflicting emotions and mentalities about what is right and what is wrong and the passion of her relationship with Emma...but it's equally painful to see the consequences of such a relationship. The movie hits my local theater next week and I've rarely ever been so excited to go see a movie because the book was simply spectacular. Some minor nitpicks about this version, though: while the story is an instant 5-star in my book, the kindle version deserves probably a 3-star rating...maybe 3.5 to be a little generous. I've read other graphic novels on the Kindle before and never really had issues. However the text style plus the way they frame some of the panels makes it difficult to read at times. Likewise, there's times in it where it jumps around in panel order. Like for example, rather than starting from the first panel to the last, there's one page that opens with the last panel and then goes back to the top. This marred the experience just a tiny bit for me. That said, though, the art itself still shows itself beautifully and the story is still as good as ever.
Brilliant Love Story
This graphic novel by Julie Maroh brings to life Clementine, a teenager who grew up in the 1990s. She quarrels with her parents, questions her sexuality, and has a few great friends and some nasty enemies among her peers. Maroh takes this commonplace subject matter and elevates it through her words and pictures to a very high plane of tenderness and thoughtfulness. The story is told through the eyes of Clementine’s lover Emma who has come into possession of Clementine’s diary following her death. In mostly black and white flashback Emma reads the story of her life as she has a first, tentative and unfulfilling relationship with a boy she meets at school, followed by a sexually charged encounter with a female student. Then there is her fateful meeting with Emma, an Art student with blue hair. What follows is an exciting, charged love affair not acceptable to everyone in Clementine’s life, not even at first accepted by her. Their relationship ripens into something of the utmost importance to both of them though it is not without conflict. Everything is portrayed in a romantically tinged realistic light. Maroh skillfully sketches out relationships, events, and emotions using minimal text and simple drawings. Much of the book uses no colours but blue in order to mark off the events of the past in black and white The blue of Emma’s hair and Clementine’s journal clearly highlights the person and thing that were most important to Clementine. The artwork is adept at portraying everything from the joyous fun of teenaged parties to the awkwardness and beauty of sexual encounters, both happy and unhappy. Short passages quickly bring into sharp focus Clementine’s troubled relationship with her parents. There is a message subtly put forth here that we do not choose those we fall in love with and there are many types of love. But Clementine’s coming of age story depicted through her explorations of sexuality and social development doesn’t feel like a vehicle for that idea. She is a fully realized character with longings and psychology heartbreakingly portrayed by the words and art in this book. With an autumnal tone of nostalgia and deep humanity Clementine’s story is here made both fascinating and universal.
C'est la vie
I was intrigued by this story after hearing so much about it at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie received both accolades and criticisms for its take on a lesbian couple's relationship and graphic sex scenes, respectively. While I haven't seen the movie, I read the reviews for the graphic novel and ordered it on Amazon. After a week of waiting, I managed to finish it in a couple of hours. One of the fun things about reading books and comics from other countries is that you get insight into that land's culture. I used to read a lot of manga from Japan and developed an appreciation for the country, its people, and its values. BITWC is the first French graphic novel I've ever read and while its certainly not visually stunning, the artwork is smooth, pleasing, and erotic, especially in the love-making scenes (of which there aren't that many). The story follows teenager Clementine who gradually comes to understand herself and who she is over the course of her relationship with an older girl, Emma, who has blue hair. Through conflicts with her friends and family, to her budding love for Emma, to questioning her every feeling and desire, we see Clementine develop. This is not to say that everything turns up rosy for her. "Coming out" forces Clem to lose many of her former friends and when her parents find out about her relationship...well, just because one country has more liberal views on sex doesn't mean that everyone who lives there is open-minded. Emma and Clem face numerous hardships that test their love, none more so than from each other. The love-making scenes were passionate, not at all pornographic, and beautiful to read. I was moved by Clem's outpouring of emotion to Emma, preceded by her understandable hesitancy, as not everyone would understand her decisions. It was a human story filled with introspection. I've read up on the movie online and I have to say that the ending to the graphic novel, while heart-wrenching, is far better. A 4 out of 5.
AMAZING!
Filled with emotions, pain, happiness, and love this book gives you a story of a woman that goes through the motions of battling her sexuality when she finds a liking to someone of the same gender. I think you can learn a lot from this book because everyone fights psychology with what "love" actually is, but one things for sure even though you can't see it, taste, or hold it love is a conscious act and love is concocted from within. In Blue is the Warmest Color you will see that love has no labels or gender. THIS IS A MUST READ!
A Beautiful Story to Promote Understanding
I actually finished reading this a few days ago but... well... life happened and I haven't been on the internet much. Good things, friends, furniture acquisitions, etc. So now that things are settling down, I feel I can revisit this wonderful book. Let me start with what I didn't like. The font. Though I loved the cursive feel that reflected entries in the diary of this teen, the font was just too small to read in large chunks. I think if I could have read faster and more, I would have been much more emotionally invested. The story wins five stars plus. It introduces to us the way many of our youth discover their sexuality. The pain of being called names just for attempts at love. And this during the most vulnerable time of our lives: adolescence. Hopefully parents and teachers read it to see how they might help kids go through this as graceful as possible. Hopefully, the judgement will die as folks learn that people are people and love is just love. The illustrations were marvelously done. I loved the subtlety of color gradually introduced after the blue haired sweetie. This stays in my permanent collection as I know I will want to read it again and again, just to enjoy the drawings. Because I couldn't leave the story behind, I had to find the movie on Netflix streaming. It is in French with subtitles so I have taken my time watching/reading it. Actually, I have to say I am watching a bit before sleep every night as it is the quietest time so I can pay attention; fewer distractions for me at that time of night. The actresses are well selected and ... the French can make a better movie than we Americans with all our hang-ups. I feel this may be the movie to watch over and over and teach myself French--among other things. ;-)
Beautiful atwork and interesting story
"Le bleu est une couleur chaude" (Blue is a Warm Colour, funnily translated as Blue is the Warmest Colour) is the first major work by French graphic artist Julie Maroh. The book narrates the sexual awakening of Clementine, her coming to terms with being a lesbian, and her relationship with Emma. This is a posthumus story, as the book starts from the ending with a flashback narration of the love story as told by Clementine herself in her blue diary. The artwork is wonderful. The use of colour is just another character in the story, if that can be said, because it gives the book its melancholic mood. Sepia tones are used in the flashback, only highlighted by Clementine's blue diary and Emma's haircut. The story told in the present is painted in a mix of pastel blues, greens and ochres. Maroh has a great eye for detail and her depiction of the city's streets, parks and skyline, as well as the beach scenes, are truly beautiful. She uses a mix of watercolour, pencil and mixed media to create precious images. I found the narrative simple, realistic and believable, but also a bit over-melodramatic at times. I think the story reflects well the hurdles that gay people find when they discover they are gay, first, and when they come out of the closet, then, having to deal with their not-always-accepting friends and families. I think the book also succeeds at depicting gay people as individuals, not as bunch of people who act or think the same, or who reacts to their own sexuality in the same way. As the character says: "For Emma, her sexuality is something that draws her to others, a social end political thing. For me, it's the most intimate thing there is". I have gay friends, and all of them fall on Clem's side. On the other hand, the book is unbalanced, because most of the story focuses in Cleme's teens years, while her adult life with Emma is barely sketched. This being the case, the ending feels hurried as we don't know why Clementine is feeling alienated from Emma, what is going on in her head for her to be deluded and act the way she acts. The book has explicit sex scenes. I read the book in my Kindle, and if you tap twice, the vignettes zoom without problem. Not the best rendering for Kindle, but not bad either.
If you like the movie, almost certainly you will like this
I adored the movie, and it's really hard not to review this as a comparison between the two. I also love this, my only criticism is for it's brevity--I want more! I found this more affecting emotionally than the movie, as the resolution is more tragic (although a bit clichéd`). That tragedy is excellently laid out, in words and pictures. It is somewhat of a universal story, I don't think you need to be LBGT to appreciate this, and even Clementines struggles with her sexuality, I think can be appreciated by anyone. I love stories that have an established arc of time; I think the passage of time is the greatest tragedy of all, and one we all experience. What is lost, what might have been, what may have been different, and trying to appreciate what was, are universal tragedies we all experience. The movie seemed to postulate another kind of tragedy: the erosion and expiration of love, that theme is also explored here, but in a slighter and more oblique way. If you like love stories, I think this is an excellent one. If you don't like LGBT "culture" and think it is destroying the world, blah blah blah, don't even bother (I mean why would you anyways? Are you a masochist?)
A beautifully written heartbreaker
I never imagined I could become teary-eyed from a story that is basically told in cartoon format -- but this certainly did it. From the first frame, the readers knows this is going to be a heartbreaker at some point. And knowing that at the onset takes absolutely nothing away from the story to come. This was so beautifully written, a bittersweet coming of age / coming out story. The story starts out, and most of it takes place, when the characters are adolescents, a confusing enough period in life as one tries to come to terms with who they are, but a time that gets that much more tumultuous and complicated when sexual identity is questioned. The main character wages an internal battle between who she thinks she should be and what she feels, trying to make sense of it all, in the face of judgment by family and peers. But years later when the couple has settled into an adult relationship, they find that happily ever after isn't inevitable, and the effects of the past struggles can leave long-lasting scars. The message was crystal clear -- live YOUR life, without regret, without apology. I did not know when I purchased this that it was in graphic novel format, but I thought this actually enhanced the story. The writing was more sparse, more poetic, each word carefully chosen. The drawings brought the characters to life. As such, it moved quickly, and was a very fast read, and with no chapter separations, it just contributed to the emotional impact. Unlike some other reviewers, I personally didn't find it difficult to read on my Kindle Fire -- yes, the type is small, but if you click on the panel, it enlarges so that it's readable, and then just swipe to go to the next frames.
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