In Was She Pretty? Canadian-Filipina Leanne Shapton takes her skill as both writer and visual artist into reimagining an oft portrayed object: the little black book.

Shapton explores her reckoning with jealousy by interviewing acquaintances about their ex-lovers.

The result is a book that reads like a diary, yet avoids the self-indulgences of diaries.

Each page features an ex captured by simple line drawings and short sentences.

Although Was She Pretty? suggests a preoccupation with physical appearances, Shapton delves deeper into the essence of each person portrayed, with traits so subtle, they express the irreplaceable qualities of exes.

Descriptions like “Eugenie could soft boil an egg, make fresh coffee, and toast a baguette all in the time it took her to roll a cigarette” leave out enough information for the reader to gnaw at that moment when one has to confront a partner’s past.

In her exploration of jealousy, Shapton successfully portrays its complexity. The traits of characters she highlights show the uncomfortable truths surrounding exes—insecurity, yet also, similarity.

The dark emotion of jealousy is reinforced by Shapton’s choice of medium. Despite her signature visual style being watercolor paintings, her drawings here are more candid; as if scribbled on a napkin, at a café, while eavesdropping on seat mates and their secrets.

Her distorted line drawings reinforce the fleeting nature of each person depicted. “To his friends, family, and girlfriend, Anton’s ex-girlfriend was known only as ‘The Ballerina.’”

The title Was She Pretty? is aptly open-ended.

Whether you’ve experienced jealousy among lovers, siblings, friends, or colleagues, this book confronts the unhealthy habit of comparison we are all privy to.