Snot Girl
Written by: Bryan Lee O'Malley
Illustrated by: Leslie Hung
Publisher: Image
Number of Volumes: 2+
Lottie Pearson is a fashion blogger. She’s always impeccably dressed, stunningly beautiful, and a confident trendsetter, except when her allergies kick in. Then she’s just Snotgirl. Lottie’s gorgeous in public and around her other fashion blogger friends, and a snotty, gross, insecure mess on her own. This is not an unfamiliar concept in storytelling, with a female character being considered “ugly” until she puts on makeup, but this graphic novel quickly proves that it’s more than just a story of vanity and social constructs when there’s a MURDER! Or was there?
Snotgirlhas a choppy and unreliable storytelling style that makes it into a psychological thriller. You likely won’t be able to tell what’s real and what’s hallucinated or misremembered by the characters, but that’s all part of the fun. The graphics are a big part of the thrill. It’s as if the frame rate on a movie were drastically lowered, with panels inconsistently skipping ahead in time with little warning. This book also features bold colors, such as Lottie’s green hair, and sparsely detailed backgrounds to add to the surreal tone of the book. The characters are striking and cartoonish in opposition with the scenery to emphasize the (self-)importance of the characters and narrow the story’s perspective.
This book’s got bite and fashion to die for . . . And some characters might do just that. Who knows? I’m not telling. But if fashion, thrills, murder, and snot catch your interest, this graphic novel is for you.
