Slothilda: Living the Sloth Life

As soon as I saw the cover for Slothilda, I wanted to read it immediately, because the title character is so adorable that I couldn't pass her by. I dove into this one as soon as my Netgalley approval came through, because, come on—a cute little sloth with her Corgi pup, lamenting the struggles of a lazy life? Yes, please.

Slothilda is absolutely just as precious as I expected it to be, and then some. The artwork is fun and light, and Slothilda's plight is totally relatable. A vicious cycle of working out, then eating junk food, and repeating ad nauseam? Using your workout equipment as something to hang clothes on? Being glued to your phone all day, hiding your clutter, and spending money on all the wrong things? I think a lot of us have been there, and I know I sure have those days, so it was kind of fun to see it taken out of its naturally less-than-ideal state and translated into this cutesy little character who you can't fault for her laziness, even if you wanted to, because it makes her so happy!

Not to get too deep or anything, but Slothilda also functioned as an unexpected moment of self-reflection for me. On the one hand, some of what we see in the little comics had me a little like, “Ouch, just tag me next time, huh?” and feeling self-conscious and like I need to make some changes in my life. On the other hand, some of the things shown are so harmless and make little Slothilda and her pup so happy that it drew an opposite reaction from me: How often do we force ourselves to fit a certain criteria just because it's what society says is “best” for us? Do we do more harm than good sometimes? I know, “it's not that deep, Destiny,” but it's food for thought.

Anyways, this book is adorable, Slothilda is a precious little character, and I loved it. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is because it's so over-simplified that it doesn't feel like it should be considered a full release. It would make a good coffee table book, but if I had paid full price, I can't help but think I'd feel a little bit let down, as most of the book is empty white page space.

Thank you so much to Skyhorse Publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!