**Special thanks to Chronicle Books and Netgalley for providing me with a digital advanced reader's copy, in exchange for my honest review.

Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith

The premise:
In a gorgeous slice of life comic, four black women are united by two sacred things: friendship and wash day.

Rating: 5 🌟

Topics/Themes:
Wash Day Diaries follows each of the four women throughout their day, grounded in the ritual of a wash day. The story also tackles big topics like depression, harassment, and workplace racism in a way that is uniquely hopeful. They are not glossed over, sanded down and polished, or wrapped in a neat little bow that is pleasing to the audience. They are messy, and raw and real, but there is a distinct overtone of hope and the power of a good support network.

Plot:
The book is decidedly a slice of life story, which is a part of what makes it so wonderful. Every single action, interaction between characters, and event, feels real and genuine. Each of the primary characters is featured in their own segment of the book participating in the ritual of self-love that is washing their hair, and the book is closed by a segment that highlights the love they have for each other, and ties the story up in a warm and comforting bow, hazy with kindness, love, and friendship.

Characters:
From a visual angle, each character is clearly designed with care, and the collaboration between the authors on the story and the art is obvious, each character aligned with their story and full of life. Each character is unique and has their own clear voice, and each segment explores the featured character’s relationship with themselves and their relationship with the other characters. I value well developed characters, and Wash Day Diaries is carefully crafted with some of the most full-of-life characters I have ever had the privilege of interacting with.

Conclusions:
Wash Day Diaries is stunning in so many ways. From gorgeous, lively characters, to a careful, deliberate, and overwhelmingly heartwarming plot, I have decidedly fallen in love with Wash Day Diaries, and I am confident you will too. It is a celebration of black women, their hair, and their love for each other. If you want a story that makes you remember the value of ordinary days, and renews a sense of hope you may have lost, you need to read Wash Day Diaries.


HEA/HFN (Happily Ever After/Happy For Now)?
[It’s a slice of life story, and is happy for now in the way that real life tends to be. ]

Content Warnings:
[Mild warnings for: Depression/mental illness workplace discrimination (on the basis of natural hair); and a toxic ex ]

Notes: This review has been drafted, and I have given the book a star rating on Goodreads and Storygraph, but I will not be publishing the full review until late May/early June, 2022 (closer to pub date). I will review the book then on Goodreads, Storygraph, and Amazon, and promote the reviews on Twitter, possibly posting a review to twitter as well.

Wash Day Diaries felt like a peek into my own life as a woman and even more so as a Black woman when it came to seeing the panels of these ladies dealing with hair. I loved the details of the illustrations as well as the storylines. My favorite story was Bright Side but at the same time, the only letdown in Bright Side was how Davene’s mental health was addressed. Although Cook’s responses were pretty realistic in how people/friends sometimes respond to someone with depression, I still would’ve liked to see a better wrap up of Davene’s story. Other than that, I would love to see MORE from all their storylines so I hope this becomes a series.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this wonderful comic!

I am so here for "Wash Day Diaries"! To see The Bronx represented...to see Castle Hill represented...to see the struggles of living on the 5 train represented...to see the ritual of self-care on wash day represented...I can't even begin to verbalize how much this means to me! You'll hear it again and again but representation does matter.

Wash Day Diaries is a glimpse into a day in the life of each of these 4 friends. Wash day ties into each of their stories. If you don't know what wash day means pick up this graphic novel.

Wash day diaries is a short graphic novel about friendship, love, depression & the importance of self care & sisterhood in the African American community. I loved each character and how they each contributed to their friend group. Although I would have loved for it to be longer, I think it was a great representation of black culture.

I don’t normally read slice of life stories but I loved this one. It was a truly lovely story of female friendship centered around taking care of their hair. It was beautiful to see these stories revolving around various forms and stages of self-care and community. I would definitely read more. I also can’t speak enough about how much I truly love the friendship of these four women and the last chapter especially made me feel warm inside. Everyone should be lucky enough to know friendship like that.

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.

This is a slice of life graphic novel about four different best friends! The theme connecting theme of the stories, hair care, is woven into each story. The art style is both cozy and expressive, with each woman having her own color scheme. These stories take place mostly during the summer, and it really feels like a summery story! Unfortunately over the course of the story, one friend tells another that she shouldn’t get antidepressants and gives her a crystal instead, and we see the depressed friend simply crawl back into bed afterwards. While this story is slice of life and we don’t really follow up on any of their individual stories, this was the least cozy story that I wish had a better ending, and knocks the rating down a quarter star. 4.75 stars.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

An amazing view into the hair care rituals and friendship between a beautiful and diverse group of women. We journey with them through life events, dating and dealing with depression. This would make an amazing televised series or movie. Can't wait for part 2.

My thoughts 💭: I loved the friendship between the women and using hair care as a connecting between the different stories. It follows 4 black women who are friends that lives in the Bronx and it starts with each other either washing their hair or styling their hair and different stories about their current life situations, like mental health, dating and careers these are some they talked about. I definitely recommend this graphic novel

The illustrations in this novel are vibrant and real. We get to walk with these women through their lives as the face challenges, that make them stronger empowered women.


Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank You Netgalley for an arc, here is my honest review.

I love this book so much! The illustrations in this graphic novel are stunning!! The details for everyone’s hair are amazing. I loved how everyone had their own hairstyle!

The best thing about this book is the friendships between all four girls; it’s heartwarming and reminded me of my friend group. There’s even talks about mental health that I think were done mostly great, though one characters reaction slightly annoyed me, everything else great.

I can’t wait for this to come out so I can have a physical copy!

Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Roser & Robyn Smith
⭐️3.5
Stunning art & vibrant colors. I love the book's message by empowering young women to stay true to themselves. It tells the story about the friendship that four young women share about their wash day.

I just wish there was more text. Even with the artwork which is incredible, I still felt like I didn't know the characters. Like I missed some big secret.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

Typically with all anthology stories, I tend to have a problem where I really like certain stories and dislike others. I felt this way about Wash Day Diaries. I loved some of the girls' perspectives, while others needed a reality check. For example, I loved Cookie and Davene's portions. Davene's felt very relatable with her issues of depression and struggling with a career path that may not be right, and Cookie's heartfelt day with her estranged grandma was sweet. However, Kim and Tanisha just came off as annoying to me. They bothered me so much that I struggled reading the portions of the book where they were all together.

Overall, I would say give this book a read. I'm sure there will be portions you enjoy, and like me, you may have issues with a few parts as well.

Such a gorgeous, slice of life about a group of friends and the ways their lives unfold and intersect over the course of a couple days. The artwork is just stunning, the story is emotional and lovely, the friendships are real. I especially liked that the women didn't fight among themselves or have any frenemies crap going on, just real support and love. I loved the way real life issues were woven into the story, the keys between the fingers, cat callers, angry white people on the train, and the well meaning friend suggesting crystals to cure depression.

I would like to thank Chronicle books and Netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.
I loved the depiction of friendship, family and mental health in this book. Their relationships and characters felt so real and the art was gorgeous.

You will want to be friends with all of these women; at least I do!

The story tells you about four friends that are each dealing with their own struggles, however they are supporting each other. The topics that are raised range from domestic violence to a sassy love triangle. My favorite part of the book was the represention of different sizes, colors, and personalities. As a plus size women it is encouraging to see people like me in a graphic novel. The only complaint I have about this book is that I wish there was more. I really loved the characters and started to be invested in what was going to happen next.

As a graphic novel the illustrations were fun and easy to understand. I was able to learn a lot about the girls hair routines and their personalities. My favorite part was the group chat chapter. They use innovative ways to show the girls having a conversation together with flashbacks.

I plan to post this review on my bookstagram account where I have over 1,000 followers; it will be posted closer to the release date.

An amazing graphic novel depicting the beautiful intricacies of Black friendship. We see complex and dynamic characters whose vibrancy shines off the page. There’s a fierceness among them as they explore everything from mental illness to romantic relationships while supporting and loving one another.

I loved this graphic novel. The art style and color choices were great. I liked how in each section we followed a different character but they still all tied into each other. I would definitely read from this author again!

This was a beautiful graphic novel about everyday life, friendships, relationships and love. The is rep and mental illness in this book was well done. I related to all the characters and want to give them all great big hugs.

This graphic novel was sweet and endearing. The reader was taken on a journey of friendship and 4 different perspectives of wash day. These girls were loving, funny, and supportive. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy because the artwork is so whimsical. What I loved the most is that wash day was visually self-care, rather than an arduous task.

CN: street harassment, mental health concerns on page (depression), dementia, bi phobia, mention of hair discrimination (possibly teasing), ex with progressive threatening behavior (consider a restraining order), on page marijuana use