“Lunar New Year Love Story” by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham. Macmillan Publishers. (New York, New York, 2024). 352 pp., $17.99. Publisher-suggested age range: 14-18.

In a world of broken marriages, unhappy relationships and false notions of love, is it even possible to believe in romantic love anymore? This is the question posed by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham’s “Lunar New Year Love Story.”

The graphic novel centers around the aptly-named Valentina, a Vietnamese American high schooler with a love for Valentine’s Day and a literal angel on her shoulder — “Saint V,” a cupid-like spirit who claims to be the embodiment of love. Val’s faith in love, however, undergoes a major crisis when she discovers that her parents’ idyllic relationship ended not with her mother’s death, as her father has always told her, but rather in abandonment and heartbreak.

With this revelation, the cherubic “Saint V” transforms into a ghoulish apparition in the form of a martyred St. Valentine, who insists that love leads only to suffering. He offers Val a deal: if she gives him her heart, he will ensure she never feels the pain her father felt. Val resists temptation, but only just — she says that the ghoul must give her a year to find true love, but if she does not, her heart is his.

With the bargain struck, Valentina embarks on her quest. But the world of high school romances is a thorny one, and time is ticking; a love triangle — thankfully devoid of the tired clichés readers might have come to expect — soon develops between Val and two of her fellow teenage lion dancers (an art form best known to most Western audiences from its performances at Lunar New Year celebrations). Luckily, Valentina is not alone. Flanked by her teammates, a cynical but well-meaning best friend, a pushy Catholic grandmother and fallen-away father, and possibly even St. Valentine himself, Val sets off to find answers to some of life’s toughest questions: What is love, really? And is it worth the risk?

With his usual deft touch, Yang weaves together a story that approaches this issue with both deep pathos and keen philosophical insight. Although the book has clearly impressed this reviewer, there is one matter to give the Catholic reader pause: It is revealed late in the story that a minor character is in a same-sex marriage. Said relationship is mentioned twice, and it’s unclear from the writing whether this relationship is meant to convey the author’s personal stamp of approval, or simply to realistically acknowledge the existence of such relationships in our world. This reviewer is inclined to give Yang the benefit of the doubt, and the detail is unlikely to cause any serious difficulties to adult Catholics who are strong in their faith. But parents will want to assess the spiritual maturity of their children before recommending the book to teenage readers.

Brilliantly told and beautifully illustrated, “Lunar New Year Love Story” is a worthwhile read for any Catholic lover of comics and graphic novels. Pham, known for her award-winning illustrations in the children’s book “Bear Came Along,” brings the exterior and interior worlds of young Val to life with her vibrant and dynamic style, and makes the book a work of visual as well as literary art. And readers will again find in Yang — author and illustrator of works such as “American Born Chinese,” “Boxers and Saints” and “Dragon Hoops” — a consummate storyteller with a talent for narratives both rooted in a particular identity and capable of speaking to a broad audience about important personal and fundamental truths.

Reichert is publications administrative coordinator at The Catholic Spirit. She can be reached at reichertm@archspm.org.