Solutions and Other Problems

Probably better to read Hyperbole and a Half first, but you don't have to. We enjoy these books because they present anguish and weirdness so well, and it's not often that we also feel respect for someone who must also be more deranged than ourself. Note: while we wouldn't call them graphic novels or picture books, they are of a largely graphic/comic format.
Solutions seems sadder than Hyperbole, but also wiser... Makes sense that there's a time gap lived between them.
Fwiw we liked Hyperbole better because of the stupid dog, but that's almost irrelevant.
These books are not for everyone, either -- I gave one to someone I thought would like it, and she very much did not.
They are poignant and particular and probably not compatible with denial. They can be painful. But they're also funny.
If you liked Matt Groening's Life is Hell and Love is Hell, from the years before The Simpsons, you might like these.

I'm a big fan of Allie Brosh's graphic novel style blogs and her first book. This is more of the same style, continuing to tell a mix of stories both from her childhood and what she's been doing for the past few years.

I probably would actually give this 3.5 stars rather than 4. Unlike her first book, this is less outright funny, and feels a bit as if she's still caught in the middle of figuring out things and still going through a lot. It was hard to read this without worrying about the author and hoping she gets through whatever she's going through right now. It's more a biography than anything else but one that feels a bit as if the author hasn't quite worked out the final conclusions to draw from most of the stories. If you're already a fan of her writing then you'll probably want to read this book, but if you aren't already, I'd recommend her first book instead as a better starting point.

I have mixed feelings on Solutions and Other Problems. Of course I'm thrilled Allie Brosh has another book out, and that she seems to be doing okay. But this book didn't quite do it for me. It's not just that this it's much darker/sadder than Hyperbole and a Half is—that's to be expected, given what SAOP reveals about what's happened in Brosh's life since the first book's release. As readers, of course we're not "owed" anything by authors—their work is their work, and we can take it or leave it. I was hoping for more humor from Solutions and Other Problems, and that expectation is on me. I think it's that I can't quite subscribe to the idea that life ultimately doesn't have a meaning, which seems to be something Brosh is working thorough in many of her comics in this latest collection. Added to that, some of the comics just . . . fell flat for me.

It was still worth the read, and I'll revisit a few of the chapters. Brosh is a brilliant (if unconventional) comic artist), and there is so much good to be found in this collection. I hope she continues to heal, and continues to release stories if it's good for her to do so.