Rating: 3/5
I only picked this up because of Bryan Lee O'Malley. For those that don't know, he wrote a little series known as Scott Pilgrim and if you haven't read it, go do so now.
Back to Snotgirl. This book is about a fashion blogger named Lottie Person with some serious allergy issues. It compares her public persona to her real life quite a bit and how there is a disconnect between them. She is friends with a lot of other fashion bloggers and is constantly comparing herself to them. There is an insecurity about the character that makes it seem that despite the title she does care.
This book has some really good elements that bring it to the verge of being great, but there is a quality to the writing that holds it back. The whole subplot about her ex's new girlfriend is a perfect example. There is clearly something going on there and yet the protagonist comes off as petty about the whole thing. Could her fears be real? Sure, but her attitude throws me off too much for it to matter. I do like the bits with "Cool Girl" and think that part of the story has the most potential to bring this book up a level in future volumes. I just need a reason to care about Lottie and it isn't there yet.
I did enjoy the art. The coloring is wonderful. The illustrations seem more fitting to a manga, which usually doesn't appeal to me much. It tends to be overly expressive and that pulls me out of the story. This book reigns that in to a degree. By the end of this volume I was enjoying the story and the small mystery. I'd like to see Lottie grow beyond the petty person in this volume but I'm not sure if I'm willing to come back for more.
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