Review by Frank Plowright

Valentina was named after her Valentine’s Day conception, and has always enjoyed the day, annually preparing cards for her classmates until a disappointing incident in her teens. It’s very shortly followed by a visit from the grandmother she’s not seen in years, and a life-changing revelation. Now a couple of years on from that she’s sixteen and sets herself a year to break what’s considered a family curse of being unlucky in love.

Gene Luen Yang introduces a big dose of mystical realism from the start as Val’s closest confidant is a ghostly representation of St Valentine, first as a cheerful cherub, and then as a dark, cloaked old man more accurately representing his statue. The spiritualism extends to an American Vietnamese family attending a Christian church. Val’s family are convincingly real from the start, with her bustling grandmother not standing on ceremony, but stubborn and wily, and Val’s father still experiencing loss after almost a decade, while Val herself is instantly likeable.

Much of that is due to their sympathetic, expressive and, where appropriate, attractive presentation by LeUyen Pham. Her considerable experience illustrating over a hundred books for children transfers immediately to storytelling as comics, and while the style is deceptively straightforward and simple, it disguises a lot of technique, not least muted colours reflecting mood. It’s art that’s really alive.

The title’s not snappy, but it is representative. Val makes a deal with St Valentine that if she can’t find love in a year, she’ll give up looking. It seems harsh, but Yang builds to it convincingly. Almost immediately she meets a pair of cousins. Leslie is outgoing and friendly, while Jae’s awkwardness can border on hostility, and Yang supplies convincing people around them. Leslie’s father has only a few appearances, largely to prod aspects of the plot, yet the dialogue during his introduction instantly characterises him.

Older readers will quickly figure out where the plot is heading, but teenagers may not. Yang doesn’t keep that aspect on the boil for too long, as everyone remains true to how they are when introduced, and the way one predictable aspect comes to pass is a real heartbreaking scene, brilliantly set-up and brilliantly written. Also great throughout is Val’s father making the wrong decisions for the right reasons. Colour is provided by surrounding the possible relationship with the background of costumed lion dancing. It’s a feature of celebrations across South-East Asia, and far more an art than most realise. Here it personifies freedom while St Valentine eventually comes to personify self-doubt.

Lunar New Year Love Story is a long read, yet there’s no padding to reach almost 350 pages as Yang follows the romcom formula, gradually disclosing the family backstory along the way and working toward an impossible dilemma to finish. There’s clever variety with metaphors, especially about being soft in the middle, and he pulls all the threads together masterfully by the end. Working with his own concepts Yang has long been a creator of note, and despite being aimed at young adults, this might be his best graphic novel to date.