Reviews with content warning for Dementia - Bingo Love Volume 1: Jackpot Edition

I'm really, really glad I got the Jackpot Edition. Because I loved the main story and deeply appreciated the whole "it's never too late to turn your life around and be happy" theme, but at the same time, for a story covering several decades, it felt somewhat... rushed? Like, outside of several event sequences, most of the time the narrative just told me what happened, not how it happened. There were all those gaps that begged to be filled.

And then I got to the end of the book and there were all those neat little snippets by various authors that did fill all those gaps. Little slice-of-life bits focusing precisely on all the how's, fleshing out the characters and the relationships between them. All those bits truly made the book shine for me. I wish they could be spread out throughout the story.

Also, the art is so gorgeous and so vibrant, and the bittersweet ending was beautiful! <3

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penandpages's review against another edition

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emotional

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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manicfemme's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was everything I could have ever wanted and more. I full on ugly sobbed multiple times.

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toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

A charming, romantic, bittersweet graphic novel about two queer black women who start as friends in the 1960s and quickly learn that they are in love with each other. Faced with a world that won't approve of them, they are separated and are apart for 50 years....until they aren't.

This is such a beautiful and hopeful little book with really great art and a love story to tell that spans decades and persists in spite of everything. I devoured it. This edition also includes bonus content that you don't get in the original, so that's cool too.

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thereaderfriend's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Beautiful ode to queer black women. This book taught me that love wasn't meant to be hidden and shameful, but sacred, respected and shown. It doesn't have to be public, but the ones you love must know. The characters in this book knew, and the reader knows they're loved after reading this. Books like this make me so happy to be a part of the queer community and to know there's amazing black queer books. Next time anyone asks for such rep, this is what I'm giving them. Bingo Love is a vessel for healing. It embraces QTPOC bodies and joy. The illustrations and vignettes by guest writers were amazing. Gabby Rivera wisely said, "Bingo love demands that we live free in our truths and move forward in joy." She also said, "Queer love is the rebirth and reimaginating of connection to self, others, and the Divine." LOVE ❤️

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purplepenning's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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danajoy's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

I really wanted to love this book.
It was wonderful to see a second chance romance between two older WOC. Love is not only for the young!

The early sections when Elle and Mari fell in love were so cute but I felt like there wasn't much tension when the reunited.

Spoiler

They just kiss when they see eachother again - right in the middle of church. Where is the pining? The will they/won't they. It just felt like there were some important narrative beats missing.

I appreciated that some of the additional content added a bit of extra believability to the characters - particularly the one showing that things weren't just perfect the whole time.

The writing wasn't my favourite and I felt that there was a lot of development missing throughout. Not all of the additional content was written to the same calibre either.

I enjoyed the visuals but this was disappointing for me.

I am still very glad it exists.

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