Genre: Non-fiction Graphic Novel
Year Release: 2020
Source: Borrowed from Friends

Content warning: suicide, cancer (human and dog), hospitalization, mental illness, divorce, chronic illness.

I read the first book and immediately started the second. I genuinely feel a bit bad for people who waited seven years between volumes.

This book is equal parts humor and emotional devastation, as Brosh recounts what had transpired in her life between the time of the first book’s publishing. There’s a lot about mortality and the strangeness of children and their relationship with each other. Oh, and quite a bit of nihilism.

Still charming with a very noticeable improvement in the art, this collection of stories and essays touches on much heavier topics with the same quirkiness that endeared readers to Brosh’s work to begin with.

This book continues to be relatable with a specificity to the experience that provides enough of a gap between the reader and the artist. The stories here do connect a bit to the first volume, but this certainly isn’t a sequel.

The difference in detail work between volumes is phenomenal. There’s shading and composition, showing an art improvement that could have come from study, but also from not having an aggressive blogging schedule. It’s wonderful to behold, and there are more bits that are told in comics form than in a combination of paragraphs and images.

As with the previous volume, there is no prescriptive advice to be found here. Brosh, once again, uses humor and illustration to talk about her experiences and the way she makes sense of the world. It’s told in a delightful anecdotal style that’s easy to follow and allows for room to breathe between laughs and soft tears. This volume is heavy, with Brosh’s sister dying by suicide and her own medical misadventures, it’s best to be prepared for some gentle self-care at the end.