(It’s exhausting sometimes, isn’t it?) So this May, I wanted to read something that I could identify with and that would allow me to further spotlight the importance of mental health discussions. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.May is Mental Health Awareness Month and I’m certainly no stranger to the trials and tribulations of keeping up with one’s own mental health, not to mention the mental health of my mother. I just hope we don’t have to wait another 7 years to see something published from Allie Brosh again. It is an entertaining read, you could get this completed in one sitting, or take your time as each story/chapter as it isn’t all that long, and you can choose where to stop and not worry as bout forgetting where you are, or what came before, because everything is fairly self-encapsulated. Hmmm maybe a better world would be chaos.

And it’s commonly crazy unexpected… emphasis on crazy (and just to be clear that is on a slur on mental illness, merely commentary at the randomness of it all. You just have to strap in for a ride and expect the unexpected. I seriously wondered if I needed to hit the gym so I could finish reading this thing.Īs this is a collection of essays in aspect, and a mix of topics, there is not really any storyline, or plot, so you can do little to predict what is going on. I got the hardback copy which has thick paper stock and the pages have a reflective satiny feel. It is a true testament to her strength, even if she never feels that strength on some days. In fact I’m immensely impressed that not only did she get out of bed in the morning, but that she managed to craft another illustrated memoir at all. But knowing what the author was going through in her personal life white creating this graphic novel, I’m not surprised.

It was highly entertaining… there was just something about the collation of everything that didn’t sell it for me like ‘ Hyperbole and a Half.’ There was something missing too – that intensity. So too are her talents to craft comic strips and tell story snippets. The artwork is splendidly artistic and simple at the same time as being hugely expressive to convey emotion and subtext. I didn’t really laugh that much, and while the more serious topics were sobering, they didn’t drag the emotion out of me like the debut… maybe I’m now dead inside? Where ‘ Hyperbole and a Half’ had me in tears of joy and sadness and brilliantly juxtaposed serious issues about mental health and loss with the random stupidity and innocence of youth ‘ Solutions and Other Problems’ tried to follow this roadmap, but just didn’t hit the turns right.

Hyperbole and a half goodreads