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ebullientbunny's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Chronic illness and Car accident
mossgoblins's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Medical content
ckbarnard_0317's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I don't think a book has ever managed to make me laugh this hard before. The fact that it also delves unflinchingly into uncomfortable things (mental illness, grief, divorce) is frankly amazing. Allie Brosh is a gift to humanity.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Chronic illness, Death, and Suicide
alyssasaurus's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Chronic illness, Grief, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
nmcannon's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
After witnessing the scrapped raw humor of Hyperbole and a Half, I was curious where Brosh would go with this sequel memoir. Also: a library shelf was left unattended in my vicinity.
Like its predecessor, Solutions and Other Problems is a collection of comics. The memoir has no plot per se: only a journey. It took me a bit to figure out where Brosh was going. Hyperbole’s intense exposure and authorial vulnerability carries over this sequel. At first, these stories seemed like lone fragments with little connection. Then came the chapter where Brosh discusses her younger sister’s sudden, violent death and I went oh.
I have a brother. He is not dead. But, my God, I cannot imagine any greater, utter shattering of the self than the loss of him. I cannot imagine ever again feeling the earth’s spin the same way. Each of Brosh’s chapters were spokes on the crushing wheel of grief, and the central hub was the gaping wound of her sister’s absence. Stack that on top of Brosh’s own health problems, the pandemic, the 2016 USA Election, and damn. It’s a wonder Brosh can get out of bed.
Solutions and Other Problems is funny—but the humor is bleak. Nihilism threads itself through each piece. Brosh’s “nothing matters, life’s not fair, and everything’s absurd, so we might as well have fun” philosophy seems to get her through the day, so kudos to her. Thankfully, the book ends on a hopeful note and urges the reader to befriend oneself in all one’s weird glory.
Overall, I’d recommend this comic to adults who need someone to be with them in a dark place. Check the content warnings, and best of luck out there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Chronic illness, Excrement, Stalking, Grief, Mental illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Death, Vomit, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Car accident
The level and description of triggering content in Solutions and Other Problems is either similar or one notch above the previous memoir, Hyperbole and a Half.for_esme_with_love's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
For lovers of Hyperbole and a Half, all things funny, and a long cathartic cry!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, Medical content, and Suicide
Moderate: Car accident and Death
Brosh talks about their grief processing the death of their sisterkloughlin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, and Chronic illness
ratxheart's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Car accident, Grief, Drug use, Alcohol, Death, Excrement, Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Animal death, and Suicide
Moderate: Body horror and Cursing
djinnandtea's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Reading this book was an experience, especially as a long-time fan of Allie Brosh. If you’re also a long-time reader, then you know the wait for this book was a long one, especially for how long we were aware of its existence and eventual release. Learning of its legit release in September was thus a lovely surprise.
I don’t know if I can say the wait was worth it. I think it was, but I also almost wish it’d never come out. I’m not sure of how to express my feelings here, so bear with me. Hyperbole and a Half was such a ride back in the day. I don’t know that any book or blog has given me the same amount of serotonin for such an extended period of time before, and her first book just continued the experience. Following Allie’s struggles with depression also felt very special and relatable, like we readers were growing alongside her. The first book felt like a culmination of that relationship, like the ultimate success after everything else we’d collectively been through, and as her blog was seemingly defunct, like a nice high to end on. That’s how it felt to me, at least. No new posts, but this great book with the classic comics and some new stories. She’d laughed at corn under the fridge and so had I, life was gonna be okay.
During the eight year wait for the follow up, Allie Brosh kind of disappeared from my thoughts. I wondered about her every now and then (hard not too—the memes she left in her wake are still kicking) but I figured we were never really going to get Solutions and Other Problems, and that was okay for me because Hyperbole and a Half was so satisfying. Then, suddenly, the release. Then suddenly, it was in my hands. Another set of stories by Allie Brosh; I never thought I’d see this day.
Reading the stories certainly had a familiar feel, I’ll start there. But it also became clear very quickly this was not the same Allie Brosh telling the stories. The art’s a little different. Duncan’s largely MIA. The dogs we used to love are almost entirely absent. This doesn’t mean the book is bad. This doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. Of course things are going to be different—Allie Brosh has lived her life in the eight years since we last saw her, and so have I. We’re both different people now. But reading a new work from an author I have such a nostalgic love for meant I couldn’t stop missing what used to be, even as I appreciated what she was giving to me now.
Trust, I still laughed a lot. I still cried harder than I have in a while. She’s still a very good story teller. But Solutions and Other Problems is so much sadder than I thought it would be. It’s real. I admit it’s been a long time since I read Hyperbole and a Half (the book or the blog), so maybe I’m misremembering the tone. But there’s a lot less lightheartedness in this book. I didn’t inhale it like I expected I would. I spaced it out, read it only when I knew I wouldn’t need to be functional right after. Never before work, never before bed. Because there’s an existential reality in the pages I couldn’t always handle in the dark, or before I had to log on Zoom to teach second graders.
I said earlier I sort of wish it’d never come out, and I mean that for very selfish reasons. I sort of wish I still had the sweet nostalgia of her earlier works as the last taste in my mouth, rather than the bittersweet truths of this one. On the other hand, I am immensely grateful Allie Brosh is still here. That she’s still creating. That’s she’s still storytelling. I’ll buy anything she publishes, even if it hurts, because the journey with her has been a special one. I really don’t know how this book will read for people just coming to Allie Brosh’s work. I don’t know if it’ll feel stilted and underdeveloped. I certainly think readers familiar with her style will benefit the most. There are stories in the book that feel particularly abrupt and out of order, and I haven’t decided if that fits the structure or is just a poor editing choice yet.
As with DuMaurier's Rebecca, it’s evident I don’t know how to talk about this book without talking about my emotional attachment to it. Allie’s comics have been part of my life for a decade. At the end of the day, I think it’s a worthwhile read. But beware: it’s not always the easy read you might be looking for.
I don’t know if I can say the wait was worth it. I think it was, but I also almost wish it’d never come out. I’m not sure of how to express my feelings here, so bear with me. Hyperbole and a Half was such a ride back in the day. I don’t know that any book or blog has given me the same amount of serotonin for such an extended period of time before, and her first book just continued the experience. Following Allie’s struggles with depression also felt very special and relatable, like we readers were growing alongside her. The first book felt like a culmination of that relationship, like the ultimate success after everything else we’d collectively been through, and as her blog was seemingly defunct, like a nice high to end on. That’s how it felt to me, at least. No new posts, but this great book with the classic comics and some new stories. She’d laughed at corn under the fridge and so had I, life was gonna be okay.
During the eight year wait for the follow up, Allie Brosh kind of disappeared from my thoughts. I wondered about her every now and then (hard not too—the memes she left in her wake are still kicking) but I figured we were never really going to get Solutions and Other Problems, and that was okay for me because Hyperbole and a Half was so satisfying. Then, suddenly, the release. Then suddenly, it was in my hands. Another set of stories by Allie Brosh; I never thought I’d see this day.
Reading the stories certainly had a familiar feel, I’ll start there. But it also became clear very quickly this was not the same Allie Brosh telling the stories. The art’s a little different. Duncan’s largely MIA. The dogs we used to love are almost entirely absent. This doesn’t mean the book is bad. This doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. Of course things are going to be different—Allie Brosh has lived her life in the eight years since we last saw her, and so have I. We’re both different people now. But reading a new work from an author I have such a nostalgic love for meant I couldn’t stop missing what used to be, even as I appreciated what she was giving to me now.
Trust, I still laughed a lot. I still cried harder than I have in a while. She’s still a very good story teller. But Solutions and Other Problems is so much sadder than I thought it would be. It’s real. I admit it’s been a long time since I read Hyperbole and a Half (the book or the blog), so maybe I’m misremembering the tone. But there’s a lot less lightheartedness in this book. I didn’t inhale it like I expected I would. I spaced it out, read it only when I knew I wouldn’t need to be functional right after. Never before work, never before bed. Because there’s an existential reality in the pages I couldn’t always handle in the dark, or before I had to log on Zoom to teach second graders.
I said earlier I sort of wish it’d never come out, and I mean that for very selfish reasons. I sort of wish I still had the sweet nostalgia of her earlier works as the last taste in my mouth, rather than the bittersweet truths of this one. On the other hand, I am immensely grateful Allie Brosh is still here. That she’s still creating. That’s she’s still storytelling. I’ll buy anything she publishes, even if it hurts, because the journey with her has been a special one. I really don’t know how this book will read for people just coming to Allie Brosh’s work. I don’t know if it’ll feel stilted and underdeveloped. I certainly think readers familiar with her style will benefit the most. There are stories in the book that feel particularly abrupt and out of order, and I haven’t decided if that fits the structure or is just a poor editing choice yet.
As with DuMaurier's Rebecca, it’s evident I don’t know how to talk about this book without talking about my emotional attachment to it. Allie’s comics have been part of my life for a decade. At the end of the day, I think it’s a worthwhile read. But beware: it’s not always the easy read you might be looking for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, Medical trauma, and Suicide
Minor: Animal death
madmilliner's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
5.0
This is a book about immense tragedy, and it's hilarious. It made me really uncomfortable while being an absolute vacation. No idea how Allie does it, and she does it well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Body horror, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence