Big Mushy Happy Lump

Starred review from November 20, 2017
In this second collection of her popular Sarah’s Scribbles strips, Andersen treads familiar ground: the ravages of the menstrual cycle, the glee and comfort of love, the sting of social anxiety. But beneath the humor, there is heartfelt honesty about making one’s unsteady way through life. Succinct, easily disseminated odes to the quotidian struggles of millennial life are common in cartooning, but Andersen has perfected—and, in fact, elevated—this form. Andersen tempers her observations with silliness, but they are never less than astute; she is particularly sharp when skewering the absurd beauty standards modern women must navigate. Here is work that has been sharpened to a fine point: smart, warm, cutting, and clever. This volume is a witty comfort from beginning to end.