A review by blackheartbooks
Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Wash Day Diaries tells the story of best friends Kim, Cookie, Tanisha, and Davene. Told in four mini comics, each with their own distinctive color palate and thematic overtones, Wash Day Diaries is a story of four friends caring for themselves, each other, and their hair. Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for an ARC.

This is one of the most beautiful graphic novels I've ever read. The way each character has a defined color palate, and seeing how those colors blend and merge when the women are on-page together, is really touching. Each woman is navigating her own story, and as friends, they seek solace together. Whether it be Cookie's fraught relationship with her grandmother & her exciting new relationship with crush Jordan, Kim's stalker ex-boyfriend & a flourishing music career, Nisha's dilemma on which of her boyfriends, if either, to committ to, and Davene's depression following hair-based discrimination at work, the lives of these women are portrayed with tender insight. The last vignette offers a glimpse into their life as a sisterhood, as confidants and best friends and fearless supporters of each other. This story poignantly chronicles the women as they care for themselves, each other, and their hair.

I was in love from the very first page.
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