Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'
It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood
131 reviews
juju_onthat_beet's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
crothe77's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
5.0
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood is a non-fiction graphic novel about depression, dealing with being known, and the struggle of making connections. When Zoe’s precious graphic novel gets popular, she's invited to a convention that gets post-poned due to COVID and starts to consider her own depression and suicidal ideation.
I don't think I've ever seen someone communicate their depression in a way that hit this close to home. When Zoe says that she's had a lot of luck and maybe she's selfish and evil and deserves the bad things but that her younger self didn't, I cried. It was a very cathartic moment for me and I still tear up thinking about it. It's a brief moment, but that idea that the adult you isn't worth anything but the younger you deserved the world and trying to reconcile those two parts of yourself is so hard to articulate. I thank Zoe Thorogood for putting in in the graphic novel because it made communicating my own feelings a little bit easier.
Zoe Thorogood plays a lot with form throughout, often breaking the fourth wall, showing different parts of herself depicting others as people with animal heads or basic faces while injecting bits of color. You have no idea what to expect as you turn each page and it really works to the story’s benefit because mental illness is exactly like that. It can be unpredictable and bits of color can seep through or maybe you have a monster following you wherever you go.
One thing I really liked was how the graphic novel tackles relatability. The term gets thrown around all the time, creators are encouraged to be relatable, exposing parts of yourself makes people see themselves in you. But how do you deal with that when you feel like you can't connect to anyone and it feels like everyone is leaving you? When people draw connections to your characters and your life and you don't really want to admit that you made an idealized version of yourself? Or when the person that should understand you the most is the person you can't ever seem to see eye-to-eye with?
I love this graphic novel because the only answer it provides is to try to see the good in the world and to try to not let the depression consume you, but it doesn't give easy answers. It's not a self-help books, it's not a feel good story; it's a story of someone dealing with their own brain trying to escape as nothing in their life seems to be working out. We need things like this, too, even if they are a bit uncomfortable.
I would recommend this to readers looking for stories about depression and suicidal ideation, fans of non-fiction graphic novels that deal with difficult topics, and those looking for graphic novel that plays a lot with the medium.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
snapeygan's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
WOW. That graphic novel was simply great. I loved all of it. I won’t say it was relatable cause I think the author heard that enough, but it helped me put words on feelings I have since forever. Thank you for your art, thank you for being you.
That graphic novel is about being human, simply. I recommend it to everyone. It has great illustrations, it’s funny, inspiring, it makes us think about life, it’s short and yet I would have took more.
I will definitely be reading everything she ever did and everything she ever will make.
That graphic novel is about being human, simply. I recommend it to everyone. It has great illustrations, it’s funny, inspiring, it makes us think about life, it’s short and yet I would have took more.
I will definitely be reading everything she ever did and everything she ever will make.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Drug use, and Mental illness
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Blood, Bullying, and Confinement
reedmorebooks's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
The art is very good, highly stylized, and gets across the feelings trying to be conveyed very well. The narrative is a bit of a mess. As self reflective auto-bio pieces on mental health go, it takes a lot to even do, much less to really open up about the less than flattering parts of ourselves. However, it's a very delicate tight rope to walk between self reflection, and wallowing, between constructive analysis and trauma dumping, and it's particularly difficult not to come off like a pretentious art snob who wants everyone else to know how much you suffer so.
Sadly, for all it's artistic merit, It's Lonely seems too often to be an echo chamber of misery the author allowed herself to wallow in, unchecked, all while reassuring us of what a great artist she is. While the latter is true, pretention isn't a virtue, and putting a hat on it, drawing attention to it and making a joke about it, doesn't change that, and it loses the element that makes it easy to connect with the author more often than it should.
It COULD in some ways be a modern No Longer Human (one hopes with a different outcome of course), what with the very personal exploration of depression, it just becomes swallowed by the author's intense focus on herself pulling back only for a brief clarity about those around her.
*ARC provided by NetGalley & Image Comics*
Sadly, for all it's artistic merit, It's Lonely seems too often to be an echo chamber of misery the author allowed herself to wallow in, unchecked, all while reassuring us of what a great artist she is. While the latter is true, pretention isn't a virtue, and putting a hat on it, drawing attention to it and making a joke about it, doesn't change that, and it loses the element that makes it easy to connect with the author more often than it should.
It COULD in some ways be a modern No Longer Human (one hopes with a different outcome of course), what with the very personal exploration of depression, it just becomes swallowed by the author's intense focus on herself pulling back only for a brief clarity about those around her.
*ARC provided by NetGalley & Image Comics*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
alphabetseeds's review
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
5.0
What do you even say about an autobiographical comic about suicidal depression without telling on yourself?
Love the mix of art styles, Zoe's writing is witty and ironic. Her depiction of her depression monster is darkly humorous - this grinning Nier Automata face lurking around. This is a book to relate to, but it's not groundbreaking. I think anyone who has ever felt this way will Get It.
Love the mix of art styles, Zoe's writing is witty and ironic. Her depiction of her depression monster is darkly humorous - this grinning Nier Automata face lurking around. This is a book to relate to, but it's not groundbreaking. I think anyone who has ever felt this way will Get It.
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt
booksanna's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Very trippy and well-written. This helped me understand how it feels to be in a poor mental state. I hope I can connect and understand people’s struggles with this new perspective. The art in the book is chaotic, emotional and bone-chilling. Truly a roller coaster ride that I would go onto again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Mental illness
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, and Drug use
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Vomit
mabellene's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
Within the first two pages, I was hooked. This is such a dark, emotional, real graphic novel. This definitely isn’t a feel good read, but I loved that about it. It dark times, I don’t want to read something where everything magically works out and everything gets better at the end. I want something heavy and gritty, and that’s exactly what this book gives you. The potato scene in particular was so painfully relatable.
I’m not sure enjoyed is the right word to use, but I am really glad to have read this and that it exists.
I’m not sure enjoyed is the right word to use, but I am really glad to have read this and that it exists.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Blood, Animal death, Drug use, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Alcohol
Minor: Vomit
zozo624's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I really like this artist work. Having multiple versions of Zoe in the situations she’s in. Sometimes our young version start speaking when we don’t mean for them to
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, and Suicide
illtakethenightshiftx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I wasn't sure what I was expecting from this graphic novel, and I'm left feeling a bit empty, but fulfilled. I liked the mixed media elements and illustration style in the novel and the asides enriched the story as it progressed. I related to some of what Thorogood discussed about loneliness and it felt comforting to know that I wasn't alone. This graphic novel is heavy (very heavy), but there are glimmers of hope and small pockets of joy sprinkled throughout. Overall, I enjoyed this graphic novel and I'm definitely interested in reading more from this author!
(I had some issues reading this on the NetGalley Shelf app, so if you're a NG reader who wants to request this, be warned it might be difficult to access.)
I wasn't sure what I was expecting from this graphic novel, and I'm left feeling a bit empty, but fulfilled. I liked the mixed media elements and illustration style in the novel and the asides enriched the story as it progressed. I related to some of what Thorogood discussed about loneliness and it felt comforting to know that I wasn't alone. This graphic novel is heavy (very heavy), but there are glimmers of hope and small pockets of joy sprinkled throughout. Overall, I enjoyed this graphic novel and I'm definitely interested in reading more from this author!
(I had some issues reading this on the NetGalley Shelf app, so if you're a NG reader who wants to request this, be warned it might be difficult to access.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide attempt
Additional CW: depression, loneliness (explicit)