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dulceflecha's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death, Grief, and Medical trauma
chelsaat's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
No one can make you laugh and sob simultaneously quite like Allie Brosh.
Her art style lends to a silly playfulness, and it's all a good time when its about how silly dogs and cats are, or how crazy children can be. But then the blobby pink persona starts talking about death, and loneliness, and heartbreak. And you just sit there and contemplate your own pointless little weirdo existence.
Anyway I love these books so much.
Her art style lends to a silly playfulness, and it's all a good time when its about how silly dogs and cats are, or how crazy children can be. But then the blobby pink persona starts talking about death, and loneliness, and heartbreak. And you just sit there and contemplate your own pointless little weirdo existence.
Anyway I love these books so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, and Mental illness
kayschwe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Drug use, Cancer, Car accident, and Medical trauma
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
emdcairou's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma and Medical content
Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
biblizo's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Suicide, Mental illness, and Medical trauma
marrowe's review
emotional
funny
sad
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Medical content
coffinfinite's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
5.0
I loved the original Hyperbole and a Half, so when I learned Brosh had a new book out buying it was a no-brainer. I recall laughing hysterically through most of HAAH, and went into Solutions and Other Problems expecting more of the same. What I encountered instead was something far more thoughtful and emotionally complex. Brosh perfectly captures the absurdity and tragedy of being alive, her illustrations (all 1,678 of them) each being worth a thousand words. Her tales of trying to befriend a sardine, of coping with a neighbour mysteriously hammering before 8am, and of experiencing profound loneliness, are all witty and poignant. Despite being eternally self deprecating, Brosh comes off as an incredibly likeable human being. She shares the stories of her life with an intimacy that makes it feel like she is confiding exclusively in you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Grief
babayagaofficial's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Mental illness, and Suicide
Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Medical trauma
There’s also a mention of people suspecting pedophilia in one situation, but no pedophilia is actually taking place.