The Three Rooms in Valerie's Head

by David Gaffney, Dan Berry (Illustrator)

British comedy blended with universal regret, this darkly funny graphic novel uses surreal and beautiful visions to explore the ways we remain haunted by our ex-lovers.

Valerie has a rich interior life. Serially unlucky in love, to feel better she imagines that her previous boyfriends are dead and that their bodies are kept downstairs in the cellar in a strange, mummified state. Every day she brings them upstairs and speaks with them about what went wrong.

What follows is a series of peculiar and funny, and sometimes disturbing short tales about inept lovers, weird obsessions, and socially malfunctioning men who repeatedly fail to build a relationship with poor Valerie.

Apart from Stanley. Stanley was special.
Could he be the one to save her?

The Three Rooms in Valerie's Head is a dark comedy about relationships, memory, loneliness and obsession and is the first collaboration between ultra-short fiction writer David Gaffney and comic artist Dan Berry.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Relationships, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Graphic Novels Comics Manga, Humor

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 17, 2018

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Valerie spends all her time daydreaming about her exes playing together in a jazz band. As I dislike most jazz and hate dream sequences, I was pretty sure this book wasn't going to go well for me. As it progresses, Valeries reflects on her relationships with the men one by one, showing us that they were pretty uniformly stupid and/or awful and certainly not worth a second thought once dumped. As I reflected on Valerie, I realized she was no catch herself and certainly not worth much thought on my part.

So, so, so not for me.

[Sarah Luchins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book at the comic shop, laughing and snorting to myself, until the end when my mouth fell open and I made no sound. It is very bizarre (possibly too bizarre at times?) and manages to be very real, in a surreal way. I'm now going to check out the writer and artist's other work with high hopes.

[Moon Captain · Rating 4 out of 5]

a picture book for adults, done well. I think this story won't mean much to people who can't relate to the main character, but isn't that true of any story? we read fiction to learn to empathize. The art is kooky-cute and suits the imagery. A story of character development, a slice of life, a worthwhile way to spend half an hour.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am usually quite a fan of weird British humour, but this graphic novel seemed to miss the being wryly funny mark. It's certainly sad and has some good illustrations, but it doesn't really go anywhere with its premise. Go big or go home, one might say about this one.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valerie can't help revisiting the ghosts of old boyfriends past - they haunt her every room. Some were good and some were bad, but all of them are preventing her from moving forward with her life. It's difficult to understand exactly why she's so hung up on them until the end of the book, when we are introduced to the one she most regrets losing (and, somewhat understandably, blames herself for). The art is reminiscent of the fantastic Kate Beaton and works as a perfect counter to the somewhat bleak mood of the story itself.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a Goodreads giveaway.

I enjoyed Dan Berry's art & the concept was really interesting, but ultimately, the narrative didn't stick with me.

[Derek Royal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not familiar with either Gaffney's nor Berry's work, although I have heard of Berry and see reference to his output. We're reviewing this book on an upcoming episode of the podcast, and I find it interesting, but not stellar. I appreciate Berry's artwork, but I was looking for more to-the-point content regarding the story. I like the sporadic look at Valerie's life and her relationships, but by the time I got to the end of the text I wondered for what ends was this story told. Perhaps another rereading will have me appreciating this work more than I do now.

[orangerful · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up on a whim because of the art and the title, had no idea what I was going to end up reading. Odd little story about a woman going through her past relationships and learning to move on from them. Kinda bittersweet.

[Hikaoru · Rating 2 out of 5]

bored in class
decided to browse through the library's meagre comic collection.
I like the art, the story is bizarre.
i guess this is just someone using the "all my ex-gf is crazy" trope and reverse the gender

[Adriana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird story, cool art style

[Jessica Warren · Rating 2 out of 5]

This might be the weirdest book I’ve ever read.

[Simon Chadwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

What you don’t want from a book about relationships is the same old same-old. Something that promises to be a new take on love something but then just retreads familiar ground. Instead what’s needed is fresh perspective, and that’s exactly what you get from The Three Rooms In Valerie’s Head, a superbly dark and humorous exploration of failed romances.

Valerie hasn’t had much luck with her menfolk so she deals with this by imagining all her ex-boyfriends have died and are in her cellar where they exist in a semi-preserved state as a trad jazz band. She deals with the breakdown of each relationship by liberating them from their place of rest and bringing them upstairs to go over the nature of the failure. Uniquely therapeutic.

As we get to learn something about these past boyfriends we also get to learn a lot about Valerie as she strives to find happiness amongst the loneliness, and like all well told tales, see a little of ourselves during the telling.

I’ve read some mixed reviews for this books, some people loving it, some not really getting to grips with it all. Personally I think it’s a wonderfully executed piece combining fine writing with some perfectly suited art, combining to make a book that is witty, reflective and melancholy. In short, one of my favourite books of the year.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Valerie visits with a bunch of exes in her head to review the relationships. At first, it's an amusing trifle. Then it gets weird and metaphorical and I was just lost. The art was fun - I think if David Gaffney had actually followed the romantic comedy route, this would have been far better.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Valerie has baggage in the form of several ex-boyfriends she keeps in the cellar of her mind and brings upstairs every day to talk to them about what went wrong. The first 4 are incredibly dysfunctional relationships, and you wonder why she's sticking around, then you meet the one who broke her.

The artwork is great, and the stories about each ex are good on their own, but I found the overall narrative lacking. I appreciate how the hyperbole of each scenario is applicable to the real world and things you'll find in relationships that are red flags (without being as crazy as the things she's encountering) but at the end of the book I feel no empathy for Valerie because we're not really given any reason to believe that any of these men were actually worth loving. Even "the one" comes off as incredibly immature with a complete lack of foresight. Just meh.

[Amory Blaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this book is interesting: an awkward woman drags up the ghosts of ex-partners to reflect on their shortlived relationships. I haven't dated much, and I found myself wondering whether the weird quirks of her boyfriends are typical. Then the oddities became more absurd, and the characters, narrative structure, and timeline all became more confused. Just as I started to feel really lost, Valerie's most recent relationship emerged and shattered my expectations.

I think there could be a lot to unpack in this increasingly sad, zany story. Valerie has a lot of neuroses, possibly stemming from her briefly mentioned upbringing. I think in another format, or handled slightly differently, this could have been a really effective and heartwrenching look at loneliness.

[Jamie Dacyczyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uhhhh....what did I just read? I'm not sure if this was supposed to be funny or sad or both or just weird....but for me it was the latter. Just weird. I'm not sure what the point was. Luckily, it was a quick graphic novel so I didn't waste too much of my time on it. I'm clearly not the intended audience because I just didn't get it.

[H. Givens · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's in the "slice of life"/"comic about nothing" genre, yet it feels like it's about something. It feels weighty, lightened by the art, and has a story with a beginning and end, if simple ones. It starts out as Valerie thinking about her exes and thinking no one will ever love her, but it turns out there's more backstory to that. Really liked it.

[Kaitlyn (ktxx22) Walker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m sure someone out there is going to read this and get soo much out of it. But for me and mine it’s a what in the hell did I just read??!! I mean what’s the purpose of this and am I meant to feel something other than feeling like I just read the strangest thing I’ve ever read. Feels a bit like a waste of time.

[David Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically a woman telling whimsical stories about her ex-boyfriends. I found it a bit too pretentious, and it didn't really grab me. Not the worst thing I've ever read but I doubt I'll remember it in a month.

[Stephanie Shallcross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this adult graphic novel so much! Valerie is unlucky in love. In her head, she keeps her lost loves in the cellar and drags them out to form a small band and discuss what went wrong. Heartfelt, funny, and thought provoking for those still navigating the tricky waters of dating.

[Drea Razer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone is haunted by past relationships, and I liked the idea of Valerie dragging the ghosts of her ex-boyfriends into her living room. It’s not a story that goes places, but a fascinating look into someone’s head. An easy read, but definitely kept my interest.

[Sandra Lopez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bringing ex-boyfriends out of the cellar? What was the deal with the flower pot?

These cartoons were weird and I didn’t get them. You try reading the text (if you’re lucky enough to enlarge it,) but it doesn’t make the “funny” clear. I didn’t get it.

[Dean Simons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic until about the last third when the narrative captions shifted from third person to first person without reason and killed the mood, despite Berry's brilliant visual storytelling.

[Grg · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Cleckheaton Accordion Shop was the centre of the world when it came to accordian-based master class dvds." For some reason, I find that line hilarious.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

It started clever, but became bleak. Just rubbed me the wrong way.

[Carla A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm, did not deliver but the art was pleasing.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting, funny and weird in a good way.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off with a unique and hilarious premise but quickly took a turn I didn’t enjoy.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is interesting. It wasn’t all I was hoping it would be but it’s still a relatively engaging read. It’s not a bad comic; it just isn’t totally my thing.

[Betsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huh. It wasn’t clear to me what the authors were trying to really say. It was clever at times and all that, but the big picture escaped me.