I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So incredibly funny and spot on. Its laugh out loud good.

This book had me laughing out loud many times- from the damaged but in a creepy way candy heart in the movie theater, to the training to date them candy heart, to the please God not in this chipotle marriage proposal (yikes!) and more. This was such a cute book, albeit a little too true about the dating world at times, even including social distancing to demonstrate the world we currently live in. The date with the cat- yeah, that's totally me right now- who knows maybe May 2021 I'll be ready. Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest reivew.

I feel like I've seen over half of these already. I also think it's too soon to be making jokes about covid. Kinda mediocre. Glad it wasn't too long or else the themes would have become repetitive.

Do you know those sugar candies in the form of a heart?
Well, they're the main characters in this comic book's art
On their front you can read what they think, but do not say
Even if théy don't feel good, they'll surely brighten up your day 😄


Sweet or not?

For those who don't know this kind of candy: apparently they're called 'sweethearts' and this heart-shaped candy is sold around Valentine's Day. Every heart has a text printed on it, like 'Be mine', 'Kiss me', 'Miss You', …

Although the candy hearts in Tommy Siegel's book look sweet, they're anything but.
Because instead of mellow love messages, you can read what these little characters really think of each other.
Dating, married, straight, gay, … a whole range of possible relationships is adressed in 114 pages of single-panel cartoons.
As the sharp humorous observations are often recognizable, there's certainly something to everyone's taste.


The start of a new career

Tommy Siegel's comics began as doodles in the back of a van as a touring rock musician of the band Jukebox the Ghost.
He set himself the challenge of drawing a comic every day for 500 days.
This project garnered him more than 300.000 followers on social media with shout-outs from cultural heavyweights ranging from Ringo Starr to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
At the end of this project he bundled several of his comics and in September 2020 his debut book collection 'I hope this helps' was published. This illustrated guide to the absurdities of our phone-obsessed modern life includes 200+ pages of comics, essays, extremely helpful guides to coping with 21st-century panic and tales from surviving 500 days of comics.

Apparently he'd got the taste of comic drawing, because when he was quarantined with his parents in Richmond (Virginia) in the early stages of the pandemic, he made a lot of Candy Hearts-cartoons.
And another period of living in a quarantaine pod in the woods with several close friends in Maine delivered also a lot of inspiration.
Although these strange corona-periods affected (and still affect) everyone's life, in Siegel's case they appeared to be very fruitful and even resulted in his next book Candy Hearts, which will be released on 2 February 2021.

If you want to know more about Tommy Siegel, you can head over to his website: https://tommysiegel.net/
At the bottom you'll find links to his social media-accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook where you can discover lots of his drawings and get a good idea of his sense of humour.


*Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun, quick read, exactly what I need it. The author did an incredible job with this, I loved that I didn't even have to see expressions to know what tone they meant, it just worked quite well.

I didn't know the author but after reading this, I'll keep my eyes open for his future releases.

Always a joy when it comes to Siegel material. These candy hearts are genius, relatable and 100% hilarious. Follow this guy on social media to put a pep in your step each day. Thanks Netgalley for the copy!

Super relatable humor, super relatable scenario, all hilarious illustrated with candy hearts as stand-ins. A great read that imagine would be even better in February, around Valentine's Day.

I got this book from NetGalley like Siegel's other book, and his other book is better. Well, maybe they're both funny, but this one is short. I like the idea and a comics page that I read online, but a book of these just doesn't hit the same.
Its cute, would be good for a waiting room or somewhere people can read a little before putting the book down and not worrying about the end.

This was, in a lot of ways, very relatable, even if in some cases it showcased a harsh reality or situation, like the one, for example, portrayed on the cover. It's tragically true.
But seeing these situations and slices of life depicted in candy hearts made it funny and lighthearted to read. It's as if the candy hearts had facial expressions (even though they didn't) with what they were saying/expressing.
It's also quite current, as it even deals with situations in our current climated of covid-19 day-to-day life.
I liked the simplistic and yet to the point art style. Who doesn't enjoy candy hearts, right?


Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

#CandyHearts #NetGalley

If life had subtitles, this would be the comic book for it.
A series of events from everyday life, at work, at home, outside, among friends, alone.

Things we keep inside but mostly never share.
Really enjoyed reading this one, it had something to say for all.

Thank you Netgalley for this eArc copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's a pretty simple comic model that Tommy Siegel has created - anthropomorphized candy hearts set in some kind of very familiar relationship scenario, with their true feelings written loud and clearly on their bodies. It's literally nothing but this from start to end in this collection, and if you think that it would get old, you'd be justified with that rational assumption.

You would also be incorrect.

Granted, I say this as a millennial who has had a decent share of dates and relationships - so, in other words, I probably couldn't be more in the target audience. Which is why these comics continued to hit again and again and again with a severe relatability that had me wincing in remembrance while making me burst out laughing with both delight and a sense of relief. Siegel once again reveals himself to be one of the comic greats when it comes to calling out the many absurdities that make up our present-day reality.

*ARC kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

oh my god!! this was hilarious!!!

i finished this so fast and i wish i hadn’t!! it was simply too funny and accurate!

the drawing style and colors were brilliant and so amusing to the eye!

Books like this can either flop or they can slay and this one is definitely the latter. It's so relatable and so funny and shows us the ridiculousness of our own society and our own selves without being too deprecating. Helps you appreciate the way the world has changed in a really funny enjoyable way. Well written, well drawn. I can't help but wish I had thought of this myself. How many times I've wanted to walk around with a sign that said exactly what I was thinking just to see what would happen. This book puts you in that scenario. If you liked heart and brain comics or hyperbole and a half, you will love this. 🤣❤️ #candyhearts #netgalley

I don't know that any person can make me laugh as hard as Tommy Siegel and his demented, wonderful cartoons. This collection is just as good as his first, and may even be better, which is saying something because I really loved I Hope This Helps.

I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe at one cartoon, only to have the next one hit like a gut punch. He is honest and the cartoons aren't only funny but also show a vulnerable side to relationships, which are always oddly relatable.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC of Candy Hearts! Can confidently say this might be one of the only books that I have whole heartedly enjoyed every single page. Tommy Siegel’s comic book collection has come about during a perfect time in history: during a global pandemic. I think I laughed at every single page, or as he would draw: me on my phone with a smirk on my face. He perfectly illustrates scenarios of early 21st century life in a way that makes me think if there’s ever an apocalypse where we lose most of the literature and art from our generation, this one would need to survive to explain what modern life was like. Light-hearted with a cynical tone, a very enjoyable read for any and all ages.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was reading this during class while I had nothing to listen to and do however that was a bad idea because I kept laughing out loud because this was simply just so funny! I didn't read too much into this comic and went into this comic with no expectations. I ended up absolutely loving this!

It was so funny how you absolutely needed no backstory or context in order to know what the comic was on about and all the different scenarios shown, I thought it was so funny and I could relate to many of them which is always a good thing.

I also loved the art, it's simple but yet so extravagant and fun to look at. Especially the legs to me looked hilarious.

I definitely recommend this one.

A simple concept paired with witty remarks in a breezy, fast read. Tommy's Candy Hearts had me laughing out loud! I particularly enjoyed his Tinder profile illustration series.

Thanks to NetGalley, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and Tommy Siegel for the ARC!

Candy Hearts is a real and honest book about love in this modern world. It is so relatable and hilarious, the kind of book you would laugh out loud and be like "Hey, this is so me!" Its the kind of book you can read in one sitting and actually enjoy it. Its so unique how the author took the concept of the candy from Valentine's Day to actually use as characters. I love all the details as well as the illustrations in this short book and had a fun time getting curled up with Tommy Siegel's book about love, relationships and the whole package.

This book is full of humor in a cute and colorful art style. I liked the contents of this book that mostly hits close to home, but will still make you laugh. I would like to read more from the author and candy hearts someday.

Tommy Siegel's Candy Hearts started out as a single idea for a comic during a project. Siegel was drawing a comic a day for 500 days, and dashed one off. In the introduction to this book of comics, Siegel writes "I started to realize that candy hearts made for a pretty convenient setup to illustrate inner monologues . . . on the outside. A way to cut through to the truth and bluntly show what people are feeling but not expressing to their loved ones." The idea is a fun, novel one, and really captured a lot of attention when Siegel posted it, on Valentine's day in 2018. Now, a whole book of candy heart comics await anyone who wants to read something earnest and short.

While obviously anthropomorphic candy hearts have different physiology to human beings, they really come across in Siegel's comics as bizarrely human. Their faces are expressionless, but their body language expresses almost as much as the lettering on the hearts. The collection is humorous, blunt, and raw, full of jokes that hit hard and sometimes come a little too close to the truth. While it is a fast read, it is a joy to revisit, and well worth a place on your shelf. Some of my favorite bits include the tiny baby hearts, and the dogs, which are both cute while the latter are adorably derpy. There is just something so sweet about a little candy heart playing with a truck, and a dog with one of its eyes hovering out of focus. Word to the wise, I did find myself reading the funnier ones aloud to my significant other, so if you do buy this book for a loved one, prepare to listen to it as they chortle over the more amusing tableaux.