Review: "Pillow Talk" by Stephanie Cooke and Mel Valentine

Pillow Talk by Stephanie Cooke, illustrated by Mel Valentine
Published April 2024 via HarperAlley
★★★

In Toronto, Grace is confident as a student, but not so much in the rest of her life...until she's introduced to the Pillow Fight Federation (PFF) and reincarnates herself as Cinderhella, a competitor to be reckoned with in the ring.

I love roller derby (watching, not playing), and I suspected that this would have a similar vibe—and indeed, the PFF of this graphic novel reads like a cross between roller derby and wrestling. Think all the drama of a wrestling match (and wrestling personas) mixed with the supportive environment of roller derby...and with the athleticism of both. (I learned from this book that professional pillow fighting is in fact a thing, and I'm ten percent disappointed that it's not a work of the writer's imagination but 90% delighted that, you know, it exists.)

Grace struggles with confidence and body image throughout the book, and I love love love that 1) while these things are matters of discussion, there's never a point at which anyone—including Grace—puts the focus on weight loss and 2) the answer to the riddle, so to speak, is not 'finding someone who's into you will solve your confidence problems'. Among other things, this keeps the book feeling fresh.

I'm not as sold on the artwork, which is competent but generally feels more 'comic book' than 'graphic novel' to me in style; partly that's the way the characters are drawn and partly it's how many of the backgrounds are either very simple line work or plain with a simple gradient. I'd also have loved to see a bit more of a journey for Grace as a pillow-fighting athlete—she's good from the very beginning, and as nice as it is to see her succeed, it also feels more relatable (and realistic) to see a character have more ups and downs with their new sports etc. But if you're a comics reader—or a roller derby enthusiast—this is worth the read.

Thanks to the authors and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.