I liked the premise of a fantasy graphic novel about a young witch grappling with her mental health, but I think the book itself just wasn't for me. The story got so bogged down in its (admittedly interesting) magical take on therapy that I found it really hard to get through. Any time I find myself skipping pages on a graphic novel just to get back to the narrative isn't a good thing. The art was lovely and there was a lot to admire here, I just wish I could've enjoyed it as much as I wanted to.

Not only is this book visually beautiful, but it hit me right in the feels. I Feel Awful, Thanks is the kind of graphic novel that you just know will make people feel seen.

I got this on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

This was a really good graphic novel, filled with many relevant themes like friendship, mental health, feelings, self-love, work harassment, creating boundaries (and more!) I really enjoy how well we see Joanna's state of mind by the illustrations and the way the edges of the comic strips break and start shattering. It is serious but also very fun, really shows how growing up and being a young adult can mean so many positive things and growth, but also puts us into uncomfortable situations that we might not have the tools to be able to handle! LOVE the therapist in this and how Joanna works on herself to handle the hard parts of her life!

Recommend it a LOT!

A beautifully illustrated magical graphic novel that takes you on a journey of self-acceptance, self love and therapy. Joanna struggles with an annoying roommate, disrespect at her new job and lots of explosive emotions inside herself. I loved the magical world Lara Pickle created and the connection between seeking help from a therapist being a dragon trainer who helps with understanding your emotions. I’m glad for the representation about mental health and I’m sure this can be very helpful for certain readers.

Oh this gorgeous graphic novel takes us through Joannas life while she goes on a self discovery, and it was such a delight to read. The artwork was splendid, the message the book wanted to put out was sublime and the colors, I just loved the energy of this book.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC and congrats to the author for a stunning book

thank you to netgalley and the publishers for an e-arc of this extremely insightful graphic novel. all thoughts are my own and not influenced in any way.

omg this was a beautifully illustrated graphic novel. the theme of this is something ive always held very close to my heart. ive been exposed to psychology and therapy from a very young age and the belief that it is completely okay to not be okay has been ingrained into my brain for a long, long time. it saddens me to see that a lot of people still struggle with believing that and want to go through life always being positive and gleeful. this graphic novel beautifully depicts the different primary emotions and their uses in our lives and how they are all complementary and that there are no real "negative" emotions and all emotions are very essential for our mental balance. i loved seeing joana's journey of self love, acceptance and growth. her friends were extremely supportive and delightful side characters. james is also a brilliant character with his own journey of self awareness and growth. i loved the cute little romance between james and joana. this book is adorable and explores themes that I definitely do think need to be more present in books especially in the recent times considering everything that the world has been through and is going through. this would make a very insightful and influential read for young adults and children as well. it would also make for a great resource for therapists imo.

a beautifully crafted read with strong themes explored brilliantly and absolutely gorgeous illustrations. i recommend this to everyone who's struggling even a little mentally and just needs to feel validated and accepted.

Well, buckle up for a magical ride because I Feel Awful, Thanks by Lara Pickle is here to whisk you away on a journey of self-acceptance with a generous sprinkle of enchantment!

Joana, our young witch protagonist, lands her dream job in the vibrant city of London. A place where she can whip up potions, her absolute favorite pastime! But, surprise surprise, city life isn't all rainbows and unicorn glitter. Finding a flat turns into a mission, her dream job becomes a bit of a stress-fest, and loneliness sets in. Yet, as the saying goes, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going."

Joana starts finding her groove, but oh boy, fatigue, sadness, and doubt come knocking on her door. Enter a wise professional who drops some truth bombs - self-care starts with self-awareness.

Now, let me gush about the illustrations. Stunning is an understatement! Lara Pickle, take a bow! The graphic novel weaves the heavy topic of mental health into a tale of magic and self-discovery. Joana's journey through the chaos of a new job, annoying roommates, and the daunting city life is oh-so-relatable.

The characters, especially Joana's supportive squad, bring depth and warmth to the narrative. It's a charming read that hits the sweet spot, especially for those sailing through the stormy seas of mental health. Trust me, even if you're just dealing with a tiny wave of emotions, this one's for you!

Big shoutout to NetGalley and OniPress for the ARC! All my thoughts about this graphic novel are as authentic as Joana's magical potions.

“We must accept and defend our worth.
At the same time, we need to improve and grow, and receive constructive criticism.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Title: I feel awful, thanks
Author: Lara Pickle
Pages: 216
Genre: Fantasy

⚠️TW: anxiety,depression, eating disorder and workplace harassment.

❤️‍🩹This graphic novel felt like going to therapy with the protagonist and I appreciate it very much, many people can identify with Joana and this book would help them feel accompanied.

❤️‍🩹One of the things I liked the most was the way the author represented the evolution of Joana's emotions through the illustrations, it is what gives greater meaning and impact to the story.

❤️‍🩹I liked the world in which the novel takes place, how magic is an everyday aspect in the life of each character, and how this detail gives life to the story. Calling what we would call a psychologist a dragon trainer is a good way to handle the topic of therapy, that those emotions that later get out of control are represented as colored dragons, it was very interesting and appropriate to me.

❤️‍🩹Overall I really recommend this graphic novel to whoever who needs to feel understood about their mental health through a magical realistic witchy story.

Thanks to NetGalley, Oni Press and the author for this ARC in exchange of a honest review.

3.5 stars. This graphic novel started out with such promise! I thought the art was beautiful- gorgeous illustrations with vibrant colors. The premise felt fun as young witch Joana moves to a new town to start a job. She makes new friends (who are great!), rents an apartment (too good to be true), finds love, and embarks on a work task to create a potion that enables communication with animals. Joana butts heads with the team lead when she sticks to her ethical principles follows the school rules. From there the book takes a downward spiral… living up to the title, Joana starts to feel awful and brought me right down with her. The bulk of the story wallows in negativity and processing emotions. There’s a lot of therapy and cognitive gymnastics, which felt like a big meditation in feelings rather than plot advancement. I appreciate the representation, and this book may work for the right reader, but it just wasn’t what I was looking for in the end. Nonetheless, I am grateful to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance digital copy.

"I Feel Awful, Thanks" follows a young witch named Joana as she moves to London and settles into her new job. Joana faces a lot of hardships leading to the decline of her mental health. While the book takes place in a fantasy London where witches are real, the magical elements are lacking. "I Feel Awful, Thanks" is very much a modern and contemporary story that swaps out mundane items for things like potions instead. The most magical/fantastical element to the story is Joana's dragons, which are a metaphor for her emotions. This isn't bad, but it is something to be aware if your hope as a reader is to be immersed into a magical world.

The story is very good, and I appreciate the conversation that it is trying to have with its audience. Whether your someone who struggles with mental health or you're someone who is going through a major life change, there are elements in this book that you can relate too. I personally enjoyed the storylines with Joana's boss and roommate, but wasn't too wild about love story (it just seemed like Joana's partner switched from empathetic to not empathetic to empathetic again at a whim).

In addition to the solid story, the art is beautiful. What you see on the cover is what you get in the book, albeit with less background details in certain panels (but that's common in comics).

An enjoyable story, and I can already think of a few friends who I could recommend it to.

Thank you to the publisher and the author for providing me a copy through Netgalley!

This graphic novel explores Mental Health, and how to overcome your personal "dragons" (struggles, anxiety, fears, etc), and exploring our emotions and learning to allow them to exist. The illustrations were vivid and beautiful, and paired well with the message of becoming comfortable with yourself, emotions, fears, and continuously growing. Emotions are not bad, and fears are not bad- one must feel them and create boundaries so as not to be overcome by them.
The author did a phenomenal job at her research on Mental Health, as well as creating a magical wizarding world where Johanna's story takes place. I also admire how this story was born out of the author herself creating personal comic strips to help her process her own emotions, and work through her therapy. Art is truly a transformative experience!
Readers will be delighted by the vivid illustrations, and moved by Johanna's story, and learning to coexist with her emotions. Whether or not they have experienced struggles with mental health, I believe readers will be able to take something away from this story, and learn about themselves in the process.

A lushly illustrated debut graphic novel that explores the hard-fought journey of self-acceptance in a complex world of swirling emotions and powerful potions.

Wonderfully written and illustrated, I identified heavily with the protagonist. Highly recommended!

This enchanting graphic novel captivated me with its stunning illustrations. Delving into the heavy topic of mental health with a magical twist, the narrative follows Joana's journey as she navigates her new job in London, the stress she feels coping with her new life in a big and strange city while juggling also new job, new friends, an awful boss and her passive-aggressive roommate. She goes through a journey where she hits the realization that it's acceptable to experience a range of emotions and that you just need to tame your dragons.

The characters, particularly Joana's supportive friends, added depth and warmth to the story. The book is charming and I think it would be perfect for everyone to read who is struggling with mental health (even if it's just a little bit).

I would like to give my thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher and also to the author for creating such a captive and beautifully illustrated story.

A really cute, sweet but also deep graphic novel about self discovery, acceptance and understanding of oneselfs feelings.
The world this is set in is a magical version of ours where witches exists, witches that work for big brewing companies.
The protagonist Jo has to go through a lot while also drowning in her own feelings (mostly negative) and lets those overwhelm her constantly. I have to say, I saw myself a few times in these scenarios myself.
Then something really big happens, that triggers her to shut down and everyone out until she starts her journey of self discovery and understanding the purpose of her feelings.

I really loved this even though some parts where a bit too wordy for a graphic novel, especially towards the end whenever Jo visists the dragon tamer.
But overall I enjoyed it and it let me understand some things better myself.

I Feel Awful, Thanks is a fantasy veiled dive in to deep conversations of mental health. Anxiety, depression, anger and so much more compacted in to our MC who is struggling to find her footing in the dream life shes trying to build herself. Many things and people seem to be against her and her struggles are extremely relatable by wide audience who will find this book. There is a lot of healthy and strong advice written in to this and we see our MC overcome what she can and learn to live with and adapt to what she cant. This graphic novel was very empowering for those dealing with their own mental health struggles and also has a magical plot of witches, potions and more.

What a relatable and empowering graphic novel, this was such a good character journey and I loved the backdrop of this magical world. I didn’t know this was originally in Spanish and now I’ll have to find it to read that version as well but I feel the translation was well done I felt so much for the character and related to her as probably so many of us will. It’s a story about overcoming our emotions and working to better your inner dialogue and it was so well done. I think using the medium of graphic novels for this story was a great idea as it added beautiful art to graphically convey emotions in a fun way. What a good read this was, highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for my English ARC of this graphic novel. I loved the art style and colours, it really added to the story. The book delves into mental health, toxic positivity, negative work space and good friendships. It does it in a supportive yet inventive manner through magic and dragons. I really rate this and would recommend it.

I want to say thank yiu to netgalley and the publishing company for letting me read an advanced ARC of this graphic novel.

* Beautiful Art
* Lovely Written story
* Reference To Mental Health
- Stress
- Depression
- Learning to handle emotions
* Female Main Character
* Learning to know ones self

Story.
Joana has dragons inside her bag she tame them before they burn her life down?

Joana is a young witch who secured her dream job with a coven in London, her favorite city, where she can dedicate herself to creating potions. However, she will soon discover the reality of city life is not so idyllic.

Review.

While reading this book I highly enjoyed the art and as it goes though the changes in colour show how she is feeling but also the atmosphere she is in, while Joana comes to a new town she is fearful of everything - not doing well on her first day, making friends, finding somewhere to live more permanently if she does keep the Job etc & going though this she tries to hide her emotions and act like she is all happy and fun. As the book continues we see that though trying to hold in the negative she has become controlling on situations and also trying to put a fake smile up for the world to see, with this having her feel more alone and feeling misunderstood.... this story is showing that even though Joana has everything she could ever want she feels incomplete and this is because she has not gotten to know herself and how to deal with emotions when they arise and we see her journey when she feels she has nothing left to give to others and hits her own rock bottom. Seeing this growth and also having the emotions talked about in the Graphic novel will help children understand their own emotions more and see that it's normal to feel lost, confused or even misunderstood sometimes. Showing them ways to deal and learn not only about emotions but themselves along the way

I loved this book and the journey we go on which so many children and adults can relate to but also learn from.

I Fell Awful, Thanks is an interesting exploration of mental health in a fantasy setting. The main character experiences a lot of changes, some good, some bad. They destabilize her mental health until she is forced to make major changes and deal with it.

4.5/5

What a delightful read this was. I have to say it's been a while since I read a very good graphic novel.
First of all, I loved the art in it. It felt so colorful and pretty to look at.
Then of course, kudos to the story.
I think it has a super duper important topic and everyone should read about it. This journey of self discovery was beautiful and how the author decided to put it into drawings was very well played.

It's a journey of feelings, how some of them are new and how some of them are undiscovered or unknown to us, of friendship, hard work and justice.