Whether it’s called Chinese New Year, Tết, Seollal, Gongxi Raya, Imlek, or Lunar New Year, the holiday celebrated on January 29th this year is celebrated all over the world and in Gene Luen Yang and Leuyen Pham’s graphic novel Lunar New Year Love Story.
Valentina (Val) Trần has always loved Valentine’s Day, the holiday she was named after. Inspired by the anonymous Valentine’s Day cards she’s received for years, she and her imaginary friend St. Valentine have a tradition of writing valentine’s to all her classmates and one from heaven, from her mother to her father. But when her grandmother reappears in her life, she brings with her earth shattering news: her mother isn’t dead. Instead, when Val was 1, she left, going back to college to start a whole new life. Then when she watches someone rip up her valentine and realizes that her imaginary friend was a human saint and not a cupid with wings, Valentina stops believing in Valentine’s Day, and the true love she’s romanticized all her life.
With Bernice, a best friend who lives by the phrase ‘all the fun, none of the drama’ and jumps into new relationships faster than Valentina can keep up, and her ex-boyfriend Carson, Valentina’s renunciation of love becomes easier to stick by. But her grandma takes her to church and its Lunar New Year Festival, which introduces her to lion dancing and Leslie (Les) Liu. Les is rich, charming, and the cousin of the boy who ripped up her valentine in their freshman year, Jae. However, there’s more to Jae than meets the eye and he becomes another reason why Val continues to believe in love.
Through lion dancing, Val is able to connect to new people and when St. Valentine offers to ‘take her heart’—effectively shielding her from both love and heartbreak—and gives her a year to find love, the pressure to decide whether love exists or not rises.
Apart from the parts where St. Valentine speaks to her, Valentina’s story is filled with vivid, charming illustrations. The book leans heavily into color schemes and each ‘part’ of the book is divided by a monocolor page which often sets the tone and color scheme for the novel’s section. But the illustrations aren’t the only attractive things about Lunar New Year Love Story. It’s easy to get invested in Val and her story as she goes through her highs and lows.
Lunar New Year Love Story is a sweet but deep, plot-heavy story that touches on several themes such as grief and is built on complex, realistically messy relationships. As the Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day approaches, this graphic novel could be the perfect seasonal read.
