A review by knkoch
Perfect Hair by Tommi Parrish
challenging
emotional
mysterious
3.75
Fascinating and frustrating. I’m glad I picked this up, as it’s a good complement to The Lie and How We Told It. I loved the squishy clay quality of the bodies Parrish draws, and the way the same character can change shape and size from panel to panel. Different shading, depth, and color in faces and bodies makes it seem as if the light is shifting or the wind blowing. Change is continuous, even though these are technically static images.
I also love the way Parrish tends to draw bodies as amply large and round. Typically larger bodies are disdained, coded as disgusting or humorous, and thus best minimized or erased in media or art. But here, large is the default, and made lovely.
I was disappointed that the various storylines didn’t unite or deepen a little more by the end, and it felt like it ended too quickly. This lack of conclusion, coupled with the same vagueness and subtlety as in The Lie, frustrated me. But I will probably l read it again in a few days and see if that helps a little.
I also love the way Parrish tends to draw bodies as amply large and round. Typically larger bodies are disdained, coded as disgusting or humorous, and thus best minimized or erased in media or art. But here, large is the default, and made lovely.
I was disappointed that the various storylines didn’t unite or deepen a little more by the end, and it felt like it ended too quickly. This lack of conclusion, coupled with the same vagueness and subtlety as in The Lie, frustrated me. But I will probably l read it again in a few days and see if that helps a little.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content