Read A F*cking Book GIVEAWAY: Win a Copy of “Blue Is The Warmest Color”

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Okay, queermos. You’ll notice we at Autostraddle LOVE comics. From Hansen’s webcomic discovery to Mey’s Drawn to Comics column to interviewing Erika Moen. All in all, we heart graphic storytelling big time. And we know y’all do too! So we want to hook two commenters up with copies of Julie Maroh’s graphic novel, Blue is the Warmest Color.

I’ll be discussing this book super soon — don’t you want to read along with me? Don’t you want to post the best, most knowing and informed comments on that discussion, thus elevating a simple review into a symphony of literary criticism and audience participation? Because I want that. I want that for you and I want that for me.

This graphic novel has been making quite the buzz lately, as it’s been recently adapted into a movie (en français, “La Vie d’Adèle”) — a movie that’s totally now playing in select theatres after doing super well at Cannes (won the Palme d’Or), and you probs want to go see that, too. (Kate will be reviewing the film soon!) The story is about Adèle, “a passionate young woman who has a yearning she doesn’t quite understand until a chance encounter with the blue-haired Emma ignites a flame and brings her to life.” And let me tell you, I am REALLY PUMPED TO READ IT/SEE IT.

via Blue is the Warmest Color

Look at how gorgeous this art is! via Blue is the Warmest Color

So how do you win this thang? Simply leave a comment on this post by midnight on Halloween (that’s tomorrow, and also technically 12 am November 1st) and we’ll throw the number of comments into a random number picker. We’ll then email you (don’t worry, we can see your email, you don’t have to put that in the comment) to let you know if you’re one of the two lovely humans selected and get your mailing address. You can comment re: anything, but you’ll win bonus points in my heart if you link to a picture of yourself with blue hair.

Eeeeeeeeee! via The Daily Beast

Eeeeeeeeee! via The Daily Beast

On the off chance you don’t win, you can grab a copy of Blue Is The Warmest Color right here. And go see the movie!

Update: the winners of the books are Commenter #94, Theresa, and Commenter #161, Ariel! You’ll be seeing us in your inbox soon to get your deets! Congrats!

Giveaways are not open to employees of Autostraddle.com or their immediate family/kittens.

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A.E. Osworth

A.E. Osworth is part-time Faculty at The New School, where they teach undergraduates the art of digital storytelling. Their novel, We Are Watching Eliza Bright, about a game developer dealing with harassment (and narrated collectively by a fictional subreddit), is forthcoming from Grand Central Publishing (April 2021) and is available for pre-order now. They have an eight-year freelancing career and you can find their work on Autostraddle (where they used to be the Geekery Editor), Guernica, Quartz, Electric Lit, Paper Darts, Mashable, and drDoctor, among others.

A.E. has written 543 articles for us.

278 Comments

  13. I do not have blue hair or a blue wig but when I went to see it there were two people at the theater with blue wigs, and I thought that was just marvelous.

    Dear lesbian jesus, would like to win book very much, plz n thx.

    Reply to This Comment

  21. So I’ve read the book AND seen the movie (my friend’s wife plays Emma’s ex girlfriend). To be honest the book’s story is better than the movie (there’s more to it), but despite all the bad press surrounding the movie, I loved it. Having an inside line on what went down on set makes it a bit more interesting, also troubling, but there’s no denying that Lea and Adele’s performances are nothing short of amazing, even if they weren’t so much acting as being pushed to the brink of emotional hysteria by the director Abdellatif Kechiche.

    Reply to This Comment

  22. I saw the movie last night and had to take a walk through the deserted streets of lower-west Manhattan afterwards. Just me and my feelings, going for a stroll. Within the three-hour run time there was not one false moment. Amazing acting and intimate scenes — and I’m not just referring to the well-publicized sex. (It’s integral to the story and conveys the discovery, excitement, and need felt by the main character in her first real relationship.)

    I agree with the reviewer who wrote that “If you don’t see yourself in its depiction of intense emotion I both envy and pity you.” It’s an achingly real depiction of lust, loss, and longing.

    Reply to This Comment

  39. Alright, alright. I’ll finally sign up for an account because YOU BEST BELIEVE I HAD BLUE HAIR! (not to mention I really want to read this!)

    Prepare your eyes for a horrible webcam photo from years gone by…

    Reply to This Comment

  45. no blue hair to show here, but this is the first i’ve heard of the book and i’d love to win a copy. as someone who had a hard time understanding that “yearning” at first, i think it probably is an awesome story.

    Reply to This Comment

  52. OMG comics! Queers! Free comics about queers!

    I have not had blue hair, sadly, but did do a teal underlayer thing a few months back, and green streaks back in high school, which I’m convinced made me lose a Rotary Club scholarship competition (close minded conservative suburbanites…grrrrr….).

    Reply to This Comment

  60. I follow someone on Tumblr who continuously posts about Lea Seydoux and the movie, and now Autostraddle… soooo I suppose I should see it! I also didn’t know it was based on a graphic novel, which increases my interest by about 50x.

    Reply to This Comment

  65. The book and the film are different stories with a few similarities. The book has more of an emotional impact and I think the story is a lot better.

    I feel really uncomfortable about the film after learning about the verbal abuse that took place on the film set on the part of the director. It sounded like the director traumatized those women. There’s a reason that the acting was so ‘real’ — it’s because the actors were suffering in real life. The physical scenes, the crying — all of that was because the actors were in actual pain, whether physical or emotional. It sounds like a truly hostile work environment.

    Reply to This Comment

  82. ahhh I’d love to have the graphic novel!

    I never had my hair painted, but in high school I toyed with the idea of painting it blue, and even had the trouble of (trying to) photoshop it.

    So I give you fake blue haired me from 7 years ago:

    Reply to This Comment

  86. Saw the trailer and I just have to see this film. Soon. Yesterday. Book is even better.

    Oh, and for this I made my very first selfie. I hate selfies. Never know where to look. But the blue hair kind of takes away my awkwardness. Or at least part of it. Oh, right, link.

    Blue and red. But blue beats red. Always <3

    Reply to This Comment

  87. I had blue-ish hair forever ago, but it faded super fast because curly hair is butts when it comes to dyeing. Anyway, I’m super into graphic novels and queer stuff so a graphic novel with queer stuff is so far up my alley it’s crazy.

    Reply to This Comment

  97. I saw the film last night (for International Meet Up Week in NYC) and cannot stop thinking about it! The intimacy of the film went far beyond the sex scenes. And it was just so real and raw! I felt like I had LIVED the whole relationship.

    I would love to read the graphic novel and get even more out of the story.

    Reply to This Comment

  107. Oh I really hope I can win this because I tried to see Blue is the Gayest Color on Saturday but they were having a problem with the lenses and couldn’t pick one that wouldn’t cut off the subtitles, so I sat in the theatre for an hour watching the same three minutes over and over again, trying to use my one year of French to determine what they were saying, while the guys in the booth fiddled with the projector.

    I never got to see the movie. So I am seriously lacking in blue haired lesbians right now.

    Reply to This Comment

  108. I read about the movie but I didn’t know that it was based off a book. So this is really cool. I’ve been wanting to start reading(books) again. So winning these books would be a nice way to kick that off. I have a little fear that if I win it will go into my spam and I’ll never find it.

    Reply to This Comment

  119. I had blue streaks in my hair as one of the witches in Macbeth, but my aversion to cameras means I have zero photographic evidence. Alas.
    I’m dying to see the movie, but it doesn’t seem to be coming near the crushing heteronormativity of Jacksonville, FL. Thanks, patriarchy. Reading the graphic novel would add a very welcome dose of queer to my daily life. Also, Autostraddle kicks ass. Thanks for creating a corner of the Internet for us to be aggressively ourselves.

    Reply to This Comment

  140. I’ve been contemplating buying the graphic novel for a while now, but just haven’t had the chance. The film is going to be showing where I live sometime next month. I’m definitely planning on going to see it.

    I wish I had blue hair. I’ve actually been thinking quite a bit recently about dyeing my hair blue.

    I’ve wanted blue hair since I was a kid, but my mom would never let me dye it. I originally wanted rainbow hair, but I figured if I chose just one color, I would have a better chance of actually getting to dye it. So of course I chose blue, since it’s my favorite color.

    Next time I get a haircut though, I am dyeing my hair blue.

    Reply to This Comment

  158. Enter meeeee! I saw a couple of pages of this excerpted in Diva, and oh my goodness I want to read the whole thing.

    Shitty webcam photo of blue hair:

    That’s from last time I dyed it blue, but I re-dyed it yesterday so its blue again. Blue hair feels more natural than my natural hair colour by this point.

    Reply to This Comment

  159. This is me with blue hair though the years…

    As an angsty 16 year old:

    About 2 years ago, while I was living at a Katimavik house and couldn’t afford to redye my formerly royal blue locks:

    Last year just before I shaved my head:

    Right now!

    Reply to This Comment

  193. I’m in!

    I’m kind of bummed that I don’t have any pictures of me back when I had blue hair. But I can’t stand pictures of myself. Or looking in the mirror. My body hatred is slightly dampened when I don’t actually look at it.

    But I miss my blue hair. That was the one thing I ever liked about myself.

    Reply to This Comment

  211. Alas, I do not have blue hair to show off, however I had the amazing opportunity to see the movie at a private screening for Sundance and it was phenomenal. I really wish I had known about the book before the film came out, but now I really want to read this great story.

    Reply to This Comment

  216. I always fantasized with having my hair blue, but I have been too much of a good catholic girl my whole life… Now it would be just too much: I am one of the few white people of the village I live in; I already stand out waaaaaaaay more than I would like to.

    Reply to This Comment

  217. I just came across another graphic novel with a lesbian story line called Dora, but I won’t let myself go back and buy it until I’ve finished the novel I just bought (TransAtlantic, highly recommended though not gay :P). Anyone read it?

    Reply to This Comment

  220. Pshyeah, free books are awesome. I used to have blue hair, among many other colours. I just finished reading a book featuring a badass heroine with blue hair (check out Daughter of Smoke and Bone if you haven’t already). I’m also re-dying a friend’s hair blue this Sunday.

    …aaaaaaand somehow I can’t figure out how to post the picture of my old dyejob. Failing :/

    Reply to This Comment

  227. This giveaway is eerily relevant to my life right now. Currently falling for a girl (for the first time!). Her name is Emma! She doesn’t have blue hair, but she has the bluest eyes. Think I’m gonna have to read this book either way :)

    Reply to This Comment

  241. Can’t wait to see it (hopefully by giveaway Autostraddle copy)! read so many incredible things about this film. And I’m beginning a serious hard copy collection of queer girl films to keep me company in heteronormative Delhi that this would be a serious contribution to.

    Reply to This Comment

  247. I’ve just done a bit of crazy mental calculation and yes! I think it’s still before midnight in the USA! All the parts of the USA. (because you guys have several time zones don’t you?)

    I don’t have blue hair, sadly. I’ve had a long and emotional relationship with the fact that I don’t have blue hair which I desperately wanted as a teenager. My hair is very, very dark and weirdly dye resistant. Even when I tried to get professional help with this my hairdresser’s response was ‘Eh.. maybe you could put a hint of red in it? The amount of bleach we’d need to turn it blue will actually turn you bald, sorry’. I still, many years later, have the bottle of blue dye in my bedroom (it probably would do worse than turn me bald after all these years actually). My dad went grey early (around the age I currently am) so I’m waiting for the grey (light and therefore dyable) hairs to appear in force and then, finally then, I will have the blue hair.

    I did base my hair cut on a comic book character though, Tatsuki Arisawa from Bleach. Decided the minute I first stumbled across the book at 14, though I was in first year of college before I had the courage (and money) to get it all cut off.

    The final part of my boring-non-blue-haired pitch for this book is that if you send it my way I hereby pledge to review it for the main queer ladies blog here in Ireland (Gaelick), as though we are all members of the same strange but wonderful transatlantic blog based queer book club. Just a thought!

    Reply to This Comment

  265. This a such a great motivator. I heard a little about the movie on NPR. Too busy to follow up. Then I see this on Autostraddle with two illustrations from the book. So very eye catching! And add the midnight Halloween deadline. It made me finally register and create a login, and will make me try to find a place to watch the movie this weekend. And hoping to read the lovely book too…. :)

    Reply to This Comment

  268. Yes yes yes yes, please please please! The movie was lovely, I didn’t find the sex scene unrealistic, and YO, Lea Seydoux is ridiculously gorgeous. I could die. I’d love to read the book as an actual book, as well, so if I win, I will love all y’all foreva.

    Reply to This Comment

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