Wash Day Diaries is a graphic novel about four best friends and their everyday lives, encompassing their hair care rituals.

It was an amazing and relatable graphic novel about the black experience, especially the all-day taxing task of one's hair care routine. In the media today, we typically see the token black friend and no real representation of black friendships, especially black women's friendships. These stories focused on true black women's friendship with the common denominator of hair care. It's a visual representation of what shows like "Harlem" and "Run the World" bring to the table surrounding womanhood, black self-love, relationships, and friendships.

The one problem I faced with this graphic novel was its representation of mental health. I am appreciative that it brought to light that women of color, specifically black women, experience mental illness. I, however, did not agree with how Cookie went about dismissing Davena's experience when she was explaining what she was going through. Telling her she needs to think positively, look on the bright side, and giving her a crystal to fight negative thoughts does not help. That was invalidating her experience and diminishing her feelings. Yes, Cookie listened to Davena, but she did not hear her. It showed slight understanding when she gave her the out to go home early, which I appreciated because it shows there is hope for her to finally hear and understand Davena and help her realize she is not alone. But there is still a long way to go in understanding mental health and how one approaches the topic, providing support to loved ones, and finding support for themselves.

Thank you Netgalley for providing an early copy of this book.

This graphic novel is about four friends and their hair wash days, each dealing with something, with their friends there to support each other for whatever they’re going through. Even though this was a shorter read about four different characters. I felt like you really got to know all of them. All of their stories were unique and beautiful.

I loved that the four different characters got their own color pallet. The art and illustrations were stunning in this book.

I definitely recommend it!

I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This book is one of the rare instances of pure Fluff, I have come across, outside of Fan Fiction and I am here for it.

While Rowser and Smith do brush up on some heavier topics, depression and stalking specifically. This book is at it's core is a feel good, girl power book. With women supporting women. At the end of the day it did genuinely feel like a warm hug from a friend.

this graphic novel is about friend ship and so much more. It touch on some tough topics and shows the characters of color having each other's back as well as being strong women of their own right as well as having self doubt. but all four of our main characters are strong beautiful independent women. Now i will say this book probably isn't for younger readers because of nudity and language, but with that said i love this book and hope everyone pick it up

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!!!

I LOVED THIS!!!!!

Things I loved:

- The friendship between Kimana, Cookie, Nisha, and Davene was beautiful. I loved how they all loved and supported one another.

-The illustration was gorgeous and the use of color in every page magnificent.

- I thought the story was well-paced and I didn’t want it to end

- The humor was great.

- I enjoyed each of the girls’ individual arcs and how the ending tied them up all nicely.

This was such a beautiful portrayal of friendship. It's up to date and so refreshing to read. I truly loved each character and I hope there's more to come.

I loved absolutely everything about this. The art was gorgeous. The colors were beautifully matched to the characters’ personalities and struggles. The stories ranged from light and funny to painfully real. These characters felt so alive to me. Their individual voices were unique and when they came together, I felt the love within their friend group.

I recommend this to anyone who likes a good story about friendship and love.

Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4645033042

In these interconnected short comics, four best friends support each other through highs and lows while going through intimate moments in haircare routines. With a gorgeous illustration style, memorable characters, and a seamless blend of humor and heart, it's a completely lovable graphic novel in every way. It's so cleverly written and conceived, and I love the peek behind the creative curtain at the end. I can't wait to recommend this book far and wide!

Wash Day Diaries follows four friends on each of their wash days while exploring their relationships with each other and the people around them.

The friendship between the four main characters was my absolute FAVORITE THING!! They were so supportive of each other and cared so much about one another and it just made me so happy. I adore stories with strong, loving, female friendships and this book did SUCH a good job of showing it.

Even though we had a short time exploring each characters story, it felt like we truly got to know each of them. Their stories were so well fleshed out and I loved getting to know Kim, Tanisha, Davene, and Cookie!

I would also like to talk about how much I loved the artwork!! LIKE OH MY GOSH!!!! It was stunning! The aesthetic was just gorgeous, the character design was gorgeous and the colors were so pretty!!!! I also really loved how the characters interacted with the panels and background- that was such a fun detail!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was a refreshing and enjoyable read! The illustrations, sense of humor and timely subject matter kept me interested and invested.

I loved this graphic novel so much! It follows a group of four friends that have very different story lines, but all come together like sisters. I’m jealous of this friend group, it’s what all of us strive for.

This novel packs a punch in such a short amount of pages. It leaves you wanting more from each character. It deals with difficult family dynamics, an abusive (stalking) ex, mental health, queer relationships, & the importance of having people there for you through it all.

This novel is so important for all of the representation that it offers, all of the dynamics it delivers, and leaves you hoping that the author decides to break off and give us more of each of the characters’ stories. I loved this so much! Thank you to NetGalley for the e-book arc to review.

This was my first manga type of book that I’ve ever read! I loved reading/viewing pictures about how a black woman’s wash day can go! Wash days are just that, almost a whole day!! It’s messy, time consuming, but oh so worth it at the end. I like how the illustrator was able to show the frustration and joy of the day. I also like how the illustrator was also able to depict some hard topics, such as depression, unworthiness, and patriarchy. I’d read/view more from this author and illustrator in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest review.

New Obsession. I love how real and raw this book is like we get to see black women in their true form. Like we get to see how hair could effect each and every women in a good and bad way. How much it's not just about "hair" it means more to black women and it will forever be. I love this book so much it speaks so much to a younger version of myself I think this book isn't for young girls but its something that as you get older it really speaks to a older audience because it reminds you how much hair really connects women no matter what it looks like. I really love this book and probably one of my favorite graphic novels of this year. I highly recommend it and I'm glad I was able to have the opportunity to read it.

This was such a cute read. As a black woman, I know just how important hair is for a black women. I enjoyed the lingo and felt that the situations these woman found themselves in were all relatable experiences. I have never read a comic like this before (which is a good thing)! With that said, I'm glad to see that there are authors like Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith who are telling these kind of stories. This would be a great read for a teen book club.

This story was a cute short story collection of 4 black girls just living their life. I liked how they all had different hairstyle. I liked how the author incorporated that into the story but also having some other dialogue that didn't pertain to their hair. I enjoyed the ending when all of the ladies were together. The author showed how it is just a basic/normal thing for black women to have different hairstyle and each one has an unique way to get it done. I also like that she had dialogue that wasn't only about their hair. The illustrations were amazing and well done. Everything was so detailed and nice to look at which made it easy to read.

This book follows 4 different stories of young women, their lives, romances, and their hair. I loved how they intermingled the stories around the different ways you can style and do hair. The women have different relationships and lives but you can tell that they each have a heartwarming connection. I really enjoyed their stories and they felt authentic and real. The colors were vibrant and the style was consistent throughout each section. Would definitely recommend it for adults and mature young adult,

4/5 stars

This story follows 4 girls living in the Bronx on their wash day adventures and the friendships between them.

This book is a perfect quick read. The stories of the 4 women in this book are each so unique and beautiful written it made my heart warm. There are heavy topics covered, so I would check trigger warings for that. But this is such a cute book that I would totally recommend, and did I mention the graphics are absolutely stunning!

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for providing a copy for review.

Wash Day Diaries follows a group of four friends through four stories of regular, everyday life. The cover alone was enough to entice me, but as I was reading I was constantly stopping to admire the artwork and the flow of each story. The pacing was phenomenal, which can be rare with one-off graphic novels, and all four characters had interesting perspectives that made me want more! I do hope Rowser and Smith decide to either continue this story, or work on another project together, as it's very clear that they know how to use the graphic novel medium to deliver a heartwarming, beautiful story.

A short slice of life graphic novel follows four best friends through five stories covering the ups and downs of their daily lives. Focusing mainly on the wash day experience shared by Black women everywhere, this comic is a love letter to Black sisterhood, their friendships, and their deeply personal relationships.

The only thing keeping me from adding this to my library collection is that it is more of an adult read than for teenagers. It handles some of the darker topics such as depression and relationship abuse beautifully. I could definitely see additional volumes being created for these characters.

I recommend this for any black girl! Such a real graphic novel following 4 friends just living and having hair struggles. It has mental health rep, a plus-size rep, you can't go wrong with reading it. Cutest friendship!