Such an amazing graphic novel!

I love how this was an honest, yet personable view into open-heart surgery.

It was raw, real, informational, and sad (because... of course).

I wasn’t a fan of the style of it just because it was pretty 70’s-ish, which makes sense, because his story started in the 70’s and I am an 80’s baby... 😂

I think it also caught me off guard how even though he was going through what he did, he just ... didn't change his ways.

The cartoonish art contrasted nicely with the serious subject matter. I liked the dark humor, fear, and hope in the story.

was surprised how much I enjoyed this, which is really WAY outside the realm of books I normally read: an autobiographical graphic novel about a man's journey through open-heart surgery due to a congenital birth defect. The author writes it with honesty, good humor and a lot of warmth, which made it pretty appealing!

Open-Hearted by Nicolas Keramidas is a wonderful story of his journey from birth and his first open heart surgery to his second and third much later in life. Well scripted and amazingly drawn, this story of that journey draws one in and takes one in for a wild ride of hospitals and surgery.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All of the opinions are my own and this did not affect my review in any way.

I received a free copy of this book and I was very excited to read and review it. As a medical student, reading a book about Tetralogy of Fallot from the view point of the patient is very intriguing to me, and after reading this I felt like I knew more about this condition as well as the emotional toll it has on its patients.

In Open-Hearted we follow Nicolas Keramidas, he was also born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a rare combination of four heart defects that in 1973 made him one of the youngest children ever to undergo open-heart surgery. A saga he details in this moving, humorous, and above all, very human memoir.

Throughout this graphic novel we follow the author as he is diagnosed, treated, how he receives bad news and also good ones. This book packs a punch, especially because you know that it is based on a true story. I loved that we got personal, emotions, feelings, situations plus, we also got information about this condition and it was extremely interesting.

The art style in this graphic novel was okay. When I heard the author used to animate for Disney I was so excited, but his art style was not what I expected. Don’t get me wrong, it is not bad by any means, however this specific art style is just fine for me. However, I do have to give the author props for being able to add comedy and a light tone when discussing such serious topics.

The characters are great, I really appreciated that the author included his wife and his parents in the story, adding their feelings and even their journals about the whole thing. The author accurately captures the fears, pains, people, time frame, thoughts, physical & mental aspects of all the people involved in his journey to recovery.

Overall, this was an excellent graphic novel that depicts what it is like to live with this chronic condition. I really enjoyed reading this, it was heartbreaking, hopeful and overall very well written and researched.

*I received a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review*

I chose to read this because my nephew was born with a critical CHD — hypoplastic right heart syndrome. Quite literally, half a heart. Learning about his condition and the procedures necessary for him to live has been fascinating & at times, overwhelming. When I saw this graphic novel related the story of an artist dealing with his own (different) CHD, I sprang at the chance to read it. It was intriguing to hear about his experience as an adult.

It feels somewhat awkward to rate a book like this because I'm essentially rating someone's experience, & their ability to relate it in story form. I chose to leave 3 stars because I would have appreciated more depth in what his condition & experience meant to him, not just recitations of his doctors' reports interspersed through a long narrative bemoaning how boring a hospital stay can be. Liked, didn't love, but worth the read if someone you know is dealing with a CHD of their own.

Open-Hearted was an emotional journey through the life of a unique and heart-felt character. I enjoyed the illustration style and the unique characterization.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this, which is really WAY outside the realm of books I normally read: an autobiographical graphic novel about a man's journey through open-heart surgery due to a congenital birth defect. The author writes it with honesty, good humor and a lot of warmth, which made it pretty appealing!

Nicolas is a French comic artist who was born with a heart condition, a Tetralogy of Fallot. He had open-heart surgery as a baby, which left him a visible scar on his chest, but no apparent trauma. For four decades, he feels perfectly healthy and leads a fulfilling life, until one day his heart starts acting up. That's when the doctors tell him he needs open-heart surgery, again, and urgently.

The author speaks to us directly, with humour but never hiding his fears or even some questionable choices he's made along the way. The story is touching, enlightening, it feels raw. It's funny when it needs to and sad when the moment calls for it. Keramidas has a knack for story-telling and makes even the dense medical jargon and procedures seem approachable.

The art is stunning. Each panel takes as much space as it needs to, the colours are vibrant, and the way the procedures are carried out or how they look inside the body really helps understand the intricacies of the illness and the pain he went through.

Memoirs, be them in book form or graphic novels, are tricky. If the author is not self-aware, if they haven't had time to mull over that part of their life, the stories can backfire terribly. There's few authors I've read who have been succesful at it, either with autofiction or actual non-fiction: Yiyun Li, Edward St. Aubyn, or Craig Thompson. Keramidas is definitely part of that group.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review!

This was an insightful read, looking at someone's experience with open heart surgery. I loved the art style and that the author used medical terminology, so there was a bit of an educational aspect as well. It was honest, moving, and memorable!

Open Heart surgery is a scary subject, but this graphic novelist has a way of displaying this journey with a strong sense of entertainment and humanity, (he does not shy away from his flaws or feelings.) I was impressed with the way he even kept the extensive amount of complex medical jargon light-hearted, (no pun intended.) I would definitely recommend this to anyone working in the medical field, (especially hospitals,), people who have undergone open-heart surgery, as well as their loved ones.

This was an interesting memoir about Nicolas’s rare heart defect. We see him cruising through life with ease despite his condition -- that is until his condition stops him short. As Nicolas walks us through his journey of surgery and recovery, he is able to capture feelings of anxiety, fear, and uncertainty while also providing comedic relief. I liked that this book was informational and Nicolas even took notes from his wife’s journal as well as those from doctors. I wouldn’t say this is my favourite book but it does provide insight on the experience of surgery and gives off a feeling of hope (plus the layout and illustrations were fun).

Title: Open-Hearted
Author: Nicolas Keramidas
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 24
Available Now.

Open-Hearted is a unique graphic novel that focuses on the patient experience. Nicolas was born with a congenital heart disease called Tetralogy of Fallot and was one of the first children to undergo open-heart surgery. Nicolas is now happily married with a family and must undergo another open-heart surgery.

What I liked:
•The writing and experience felt so real, and the author shared some of his genuine emotions through this experience. I really love the graphic novel format for memoirs – they are so unique.
•As a healthcare worker, I thought this graphic novel was SO important. It really illustrated all the fears and frustrations someone has during a serious procedure. I think it is easy for us to become numb to the realities of the hospital and forgot what it feels like for a patient.
•I loved that the graphic novel used several panels to explain some of the key medical concepts. It fit with the novel in terms of graphic style and tone. I like that he didn’t shy away from showing graphic medical drawings.
•The illustrations are attractive, easy to understand and use vibrant colors. The author did a good job of balancing the amount of text to illustrations.
•I liked the variety of panels used throughout the novel to express different ideas throughout the novel.

I’d highly recommend this graphic novel to fellow healthcare workers to better under the patient perspective. I’d also recommend this to anyone who wants to read a different format of memoir.

ARC provided to me by Europe Comics, via Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.

#EuropeComics #NetGalley

One of my personal values is open-heartedness so I enjoyed reading this with its double meaning. Loved the writing and illustration. Would recommend this to others who enjoy graphic memoirs.

A beautiful true story of one man's journey through his second heart surgery, wrapped up in a little ball with a ton of cute art and silly little things along the way. Something I've never really known anything about, I was intrigued to find this book, and couldn't wait to start it. After all, it's unlike anything I've read before. What I should have expected was how emotional it was, and it really taught me how hard it is on not only the person getting the surgery, but also on their friends and family. I'm really glad I got to check it out.

Nicolas Keramidas was just a man working at Disney, living his best life, until one day everything turned on its head. Born with four separate heart defects he had to have surgery as a baby, but he didn't really think anything of it aside from his every two years check up. Even then, though, he never thought something would happen. And then something happened. He needed another surgery, and it was unlike anything he, or I, could have imagined. This book is a very detailed journal of the journey he took to fix his heart.

If you like true stories about real people with real problems, and you like comics and cute artwork, than this book may be perfect for you. It's informative, detailed, and exactly what I needed to break up my usual reading. I highly recommend checking it out if you get the chance! It was a pretty quick read, and I finished it in under a couple hours with a break in the middle.

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This heartwarming book discusses medical history of a man and his struggles to deal with condition. The illustrations are not graphic and are somewhat comedic even when discussing unfortunate news. Documenting the author's emotions in both writing and illustration, the reader can feel empathy towards what the author went through, although the book felt slightly too comedic to take seriously sometimes.

I really enjoyed the artwork and the story flowed very well. I really appreciated the honesty he had when talking about how afraid he was. The best part was the ending and how he described looking towards the future as what keep him going even the little everyday things we take for guaranteed. It as a nice surprise to find out he worked on one of my favorite Disney movie.

3 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for this eARC.

Illness is one of the worst things you might have to face in your life. I'm not talking about getting sick with the flu or something like that, but getting ill with something that doesn't just go away with simple rest and medication; something that can change your life. I live with an incurable condition (currently, here's hoping the future changes that) and know what it's like to suddenly feel like your body has turned against you, and to live your life in a suddenly different state. As such, I was immediately drawn to Nick Kéramidas' graphic novel, 'Open-Hearted', which chronicles his experiences with open-heart surgery.

The book begins with Nick telling the audience about how he was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a rare heart condition that meant that he had to undergo surgery as a baby, one of the youngest people to ever do so. Despite this, he had a fairly happy childhood growing up, and even made up stories about how he got his scars to impress his friends. It was something that never really bothered him because it was from a time where he didn't remember things, it was a vague concept of something that happened to him a long time ago, so it never really changed who he was.

Cut to forty three years later, Nick has a good career as a comic book artist and animator, having worked on Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame. He's got loving wife, and two sons he adores. His life is good. But one day whilst playing football with his friends he gets a strange feeling in his chest. His heart doesn't feel right. Ignoring it and trying to carry on as usual, it gets worse, until he finally goes to see his doctor. When they discover that Nick has a serious condition it sets him on the road to open-heart surgery, months of recovery, and a change in his life that would go on for years as he goes in and out of hospital.

One of the things that makes Open-Hearted easy to read is how lighthearted Nick makes everything feel. It never feels like a detached narrator, leading us through this distressing and traumatic ordeal, or someone who's come out the other side yet still feels a ton of sadness and despair at recounting his tale. Instead, Nick manages to make the story feel strangely fun at times, giving events a certain degree of humour and whimsy I'm sure were needed at the time in order to get through it.

There are a lot of memoirs out in the world, and many of them cover uncomfortable experiences. Some of those books seem to always be in the shadow of their content, unable to escape the negative emotions that come with living through an ordeal such as this, but that never feels this way here. I think part of that is down to the art too. It's easy to see why Nick worked for Disney just from flicking through the book. It doesn't have a hyper real feel to it, instead embracing a very animated and child-friendly style. His characters feel like they've stepped out of a Saturday morning cartoon, they make you feel comfortable and at ease, yet are able to express the whole gamut of emotions that Nick would have been through.

I'm not sure I'd say this was a 'fun' book to read, as the subject matter isn't exactly light reading material, but it was an enjoyable experience. It showed me some of the things that people who're going through medical procedures face, how it can greatly change their lives, which was something I didn't know everything about before. But most of all, the book had a lot of hope inside it. It showed that even when things seem their darkest, when we're going through the worst, that they can get better and that you should never give up hoping for something wonderful to come.

“Write first...the draw second. Together, they’d be a lifeline to get me though all this.”
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This week has been rushing by, but I’m so glad I was able to finish this awesome #graphicnovel / #graphicmemoir that follows the author’s journey through open heart surgery and his recovery. I found his story open, honest, and raw, while at the same time demonstrating his insight and reflections on healthcare and patient care.
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In my work I often detect congenital disease and refer babies on for the next step in treatment. This book helped open my eyes to the journey that continues into adulthood, and what complications and life changes go on. Thank you to @netgalley and @europecomics for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

The art is gorgeous and the story is touching and meditative. The imagination and imagery the author uses in telling the story brings it all to life in telling, and while it is not the most exciting or unpredictable of tales, it asks and answers questions we all have about our own mortality.