Shitty Horoscopes

by Amrit Brar

A 190-page illustrated anthology of the Shitty Horoscopes zine series! Hilarious, horrifying, and always absurd.

Genres: Art, Poetry, Graphic Novels, Horror

190 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[A.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Painfully beautiful art accompanied by snarky, biting, and strangely insightful "horoscopes." Such a pleasure to have these all collected in one place, and I hope to see more art books from Amrit Brar!

[Jasper mokus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this, so many beautiful illustrations.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short review for a short book: Shitty Horoscopes is a collection of illustrator Amrit Brar's arch takes on newspaper horoscopes. And while there's a bit of a story can be gleaned through the chapter headings - running October to September seems to be a tale of love and loss - I can't help but feel the contents would be better ingested piecemeal rather than one after the other.

That's not to say the pieces aren't worthwhile - they are, and the illustrations accompanying each dark rendering of the future are suitably grim - but they do run together after a point. Regardless of whether one believes in horoscopes or not, I imagine it's impossible to read the book without placing your own star-sign as the ringleader. In that way it's kind of clever - your interpretation will change based on whether you view the Pisces or the Sagittarius or the ? as the focus or not - but I must admit my reading sped up as the end approached because it seemed to be more of the same, only different.

The end of the book contains a telling phrase, also the title of the blog where these pieces first appeared: the stars are in no one's favour. I suspect it's a better title - more truthful to the spirit of the text - than Shitty Horoscopes. I certainly viewed the writing as more arch when filtered through the phrase.

Again, I really like the intent of the work, and appreciated the artwork. It's just that this is the sort of thing that hits hardest when discovered in surprising isolation, like a broadcast of the Shipping News. When gathered so closely, the impact diminishes.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

i reserve five-star ratings for books that have literally changed my life. i've thought about these illustrations for years and finally bought the anthology book because they've stuck in my brain this long. (shockingly, i'm a cancer.)

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations with 13 witty quips for each of the signs spanning the course of the year on a month to month basis.

[voiceofmadness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review coming in June.

notes: I was able to read this alongside of my friend! After a plague, social distancing, and overall anxiety, this was a huge deal.

Great artwork along with creepy horoscopes. I want to own a physical copy myself.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful combination of fantastic art, dry humor, and spot-on observations. I am so happy that Brar has collected her works into book form, and look forward to introducing more of my friends to her wonderful work.

[flinch · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of 2016.

[Lea Dokter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Supercreative, creepy, hilarious and poetic. One of my favourite things, ever.

[Noura · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is so much that I loved about this and I am so glad I read it when I did.

[iimpavid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find that obscure, tongue-in-cheek poetry makes for the best advice, truly. The art is stunning. Amrit Brar is a gift.