A review by ellornaslibrary
Total Suplex of the Heart by Joanne Starer

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw both the cover and premise of this graphic novel, I was so excited and I'll start by saying that I wasn't totally disappointed I requested the arc. The art was beautiful and the story was interesting. It was also a quick read. While the FMC, and a lot of the side characters, weren't exactly likeable characters at all times that didn't necessarily make them all bad. It made them human and showed some truth into how close-minded that industry could be, and still can be, at times. However, it wasn't until the end that I realized. . . I was a bit disappointed. Now, I know that while the story is fiction the author states that it has basis off her own personal experience and I took that into account, but I still couldn't overlook the choices made if the story was still altered to be more fictional than memoir. Reading beyond here includes a little bit of material that could be considered spoilers to some and if I could adequately review this without including it I would except that isn't possible.

So these were my issues:
Every other character that was a woman was awful in comparison to the FMC including the one who was supposed to be her friend. The DV that happened was horrible yet it felt like it was being suggested that the guy was doing it cause of her mental illness/disability and having such issues does not make one an abuser. At the end, the only other woman character we're supposed to like - that isn't presented as being awful the entire time - is then turned into someone we're supposed to frown at again, but that isn't my issue. No, my issue is this character who was the FMC's friend gets with the guy who committed DV against the FMC and the FMC doesn't tell her at all. Like it never comes up even though they used to be friends and even if they weren't anymore like that just rubbed me the wrong way.


So, in the end, those things really just ruined the read for me.
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