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laurscorze's review
emotional
funny
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Suicide
tidoublegarrr's review
5.0
Just finished the new book and it's heartbreaking and hilarious in only the way Allie Brosh can be. I had no idea about the personal struggles she was facing (in addition to depression) when she went off the radar years ago. The last chapter was so relatable and beautifully written it made me tear up.
erickabdz's review
4.0
"Sometimes all you can really do is keep moving and hope you end up somewhere that makes sense."
rtc
librarygoddess619's review against another edition
3.0
I was so looking forward to this book coming out but have been left with conflicted feelings. It starts off disjointed and not really making much sense. It seems kind of Frankensteined together. It also lacks the humor of Brosh's first book. I'm not even talking about in the serious parts, I'm talking about the parts that are supposed to be funny. The parts of this graphic novel that shine ARE the serious parts. It's where she's the most honest in the book. There rest of the book seems kind of guarded maybe that's the problem? ⭐⭐⭐1/2
linneamo's review
5.0
some chapters and stories better than others. but poignant, heartfelt, and vulnerable. glad to have her back. especially bc some chapters had me laughing out loud like a crazy person.
readingwithathena's review against another edition
4.0
When I was in high school, my sister was a student at a nearby university. One day, towards the end of the school year, my sister picked me up on my lunch break to hang out. We got smoothies from the Human Bean and read through a book, Hyperbole and a Half, that she'd recently got from the library. We parked at a local park, read through our favorite essays together, and took a stroll with our smoothies. It was a great afternoon that I still remember almost ten years later. I was unaware that a second book from the same author had long been in the works when I placed a hold on Solutions and Other Problems last October. And when it finally arrived this week, I had almost forgotten I'd requested it to begin with.
Solutions and Other Problems, much like its predecessor, is a collection of essays and cartoons all about Allie Brosh, including but not limited to her pets, her childhood strangeness, and her various struggles with mental illness. It starts with a simple childhood story where she tries to completely immerse herself in a bucket, repeatedly getting stuck inside, but determined to defeat the bucket. It's a hilarious story that had me crying with laughter. But around page 150, we are immersed in something deeper and sadder. The entire book follows this pattern; funny and outlandish stories that drop into the reality of sadness and grief.
I read this collection in the span of an afternoon, surprising considering its hefty 500+ pages. The stories were engaging and thoughtful, with just enough nonsense thrown in to keep me chuckling. Some of the longer pieces lost me along the way, particularly the one where she decides to confront all her fears at once by "watching a bunch of scary movies, taking a lot of drugs, and hiding out in the woods." But as a whole, this was a strong, mature follow-up to Hyperbole and a Half. Others have critiqued this collection for not being as funny as the first book, but I appreciate the severity sprinkled in. The last seven years have been hard for Brosh, and it's understandably reflected in her writing.
When I reread Hyperbole and a Half a few years ago, the jokes didn't land like they used to, and I owed it to misplaced nostalgia. Now, having read Solutions and Other Problems, I realized, much like Brosh's content, I had grown up beyond "clean all the things" and "The Alot". While there is still some nostalgia attached to Brosh and her work, it's blossomed into a mature appreciation, with a bit of wiggle room to also laugh at two adults arguing about who has the right to pick bananas.
Solutions and Other Problems, much like its predecessor, is a collection of essays and cartoons all about Allie Brosh, including but not limited to her pets, her childhood strangeness, and her various struggles with mental illness. It starts with a simple childhood story where she tries to completely immerse herself in a bucket, repeatedly getting stuck inside, but determined to defeat the bucket. It's a hilarious story that had me crying with laughter. But around page 150, we are immersed in something deeper and sadder. The entire book follows this pattern; funny and outlandish stories that drop into the reality of sadness and grief.
I read this collection in the span of an afternoon, surprising considering its hefty 500+ pages. The stories were engaging and thoughtful, with just enough nonsense thrown in to keep me chuckling. Some of the longer pieces lost me along the way, particularly the one where she decides to confront all her fears at once by "watching a bunch of scary movies, taking a lot of drugs, and hiding out in the woods." But as a whole, this was a strong, mature follow-up to Hyperbole and a Half. Others have critiqued this collection for not being as funny as the first book, but I appreciate the severity sprinkled in. The last seven years have been hard for Brosh, and it's understandably reflected in her writing.
When I reread Hyperbole and a Half a few years ago, the jokes didn't land like they used to, and I owed it to misplaced nostalgia. Now, having read Solutions and Other Problems, I realized, much like Brosh's content, I had grown up beyond "clean all the things" and "The Alot". While there is still some nostalgia attached to Brosh and her work, it's blossomed into a mature appreciation, with a bit of wiggle room to also laugh at two adults arguing about who has the right to pick bananas.