Not really my vibe, but I appreciate the story it's telling and the artist creates some very interesting visuals. I think the book will reach its audience and speak to the crowd who needs to hear the words.

This is sort of a slice-of-life detailing of a sort period of time in the authors life and how they existed, and nearly didn't, through it. If you end up enjoying this I suggest reading their works Rain, and Hack/Slash: Back to School (basically an alt universe to the main series that doesn't require prior knowledge)

The phrase ‘tour de force’ could have been invented for Zoe Thorogood’s audacious autobiographical graphic novel. “It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth” is easily the rawest, most heart-rending depiction of clinical depression and suicidal ideation I’ve ever read.

Thorogood chronicles six tumultuous months in her life, when the demons in her head let loose, and her mental health and anxieties besieged her personal life and her burgeoning career as a cartoonist in the comic book industry. This isn’t a story of redemption or healing. Thorogood infuses realistic ambiguity into her tale. There is no ‘getting over’ depression, and there is no traditional narrative arc here. “It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth” is simply a snapshot of this one specific period, and almost grotesque in its depth and detail. It takes great courage to put yourself out there like this. It takes immense skill to do it so evocatively.

Thorogood’s cartooning is truly exquisite. She is a stylistic chameleon, flicking from lifelike to caricatured, crude to intricately detailed, often on the same page and sometimes in the same panel, and it’s all in service of demonstrating the messiness of her mental health. It’s a bruising but beautiful read, and if I’ve made it sound uniformly bleak, rest assured Thorogood leaves us with hope of life continuing a little less tortured and a little more fulfilled.

Zoe Thorogood isn’t even 30, but she’s a grandmaster of the comic book form.

Words cannot begin to adequately describe the genius, the heart and the baring of the soul that went into the creation of this graphic memoir. The creativity of the use of multiple forms, the loose time structure, varying art style just puts this above many visual stories I had read over the past couple of years. I have not seen anyone do something so raw and vast both emotionally but creatively. I was completely blown away by the book!

This book offers a moving journey through the author's life as an autobiographical comic. The artwork, though occasionally inconsistent in its appeal for me, cleverly changed for the nuances of each story. The decision to vary the art style according to the narrative added a lot of depth to this story.

One of my favorite things was that the narrator broke the fourth wall frequently and allowed readers to be part of intimate dialogue.

The comic really dives into how art can be a lifeline during tough times, regardless of if anyone else gets to see it. The one line that stuck with me the most was "Maybe I'd be dead if not for this. But instead I'm going to make something that didn't exist before and I think that's beautiful."

The narrator doesn't hold back on sharing their experiences with depression, imposter syndrome, or anxiety and consistently confronts the reader with raw honesty which often made it feel as if we were getting a glimpse into her diary or having a conversation with her. The line "I just have to make it through this month. I will be happy after this. I'll prove it. I will be happy" hit so close to home as someone who struggles with many of the same issues.

I struggled a bit with this one. This is an autobiographical novel told in a variety of artistic styles - and visually it is very interesting but also at times raw and ugly which I think is the point because we are witnessing the authors' experiences with depression and suicidal ideation. It deals with dark subject matter, and the author is very honest, so it's understandably a hard read. I think the messaging is clear and relatable - readers may appreciate knowing they aren't alone in their struggles, but readers also should be mindful of the trigger warnings.

I think the author says it best: "I'm going to make something that didn't exist before. And I think that's beautiful. And maybe that 'something' is a piece of my stupid little soul trapped in a book with very divisive ratings on GoodReads! And it'll beautiful." (p. 19 of the digital copy I read). The author has accomplished exactly this, and I do think we are better for having read it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Image Comics for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't finish "It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth" because there was too much talk of suicide for me. I appreciated the trigger warning, but I had already taken out the book. I made it about 30% of the way. Beautiful imaginative illustrations and creative portrayal of artists and mental illness, but too much for me.

I know this wasn’t published this year but I’m feeling really lucky in having read so many amazing graphic novels in the last few months.

I’ve sold loads of this in the Middlesbrough shop that I felt I had to read it and I’ve now eventually got round to it.

I was instantly enthralled by the depiction of the looming mass of depression always sitting around somewhere and the various voices that talk to your depths and worst fears, especially when the looming mass is extra close.

Loved the different art styles used throughout as expectations, energy, thought patterns changed and swirled constantly second guessing and denigrating the self but through the lens of different parts/ages of self.

A very raw and honest look at several months of Zoe’s life, her expectations, her thoughts, her multiple realisations, the ups and downs and ins and outs of examining life in its minutia and coming back with different answers each time but having to accept that that is the answer that is working (or not) at this point.

So well deserved of all the praise I had heard about it and now looking forward to discovering more of Zoe’s work.

I received this from NetGalley and Image comics in exchange for an honest review.

A look into a six month period of Zoe’s life living with sensitive but very real topics that she struggles with. It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth was a glimpse at the layers of depression, where they can lead our author, and her perspective of her future.

This graphic novel could be intense at times which was also emphasized with chaotic illustrations that really drove her point across. The emotions are there, and it was a graphic novel I couldn’t put down. She was accompanied by characters in this book ranging from her younger self all the way to the embodiment of her own depression. It’s hard to say favorite parts in this since it delves into some dark stuff but I really liked seeing these characters manifested in her story that helped show what parts of her stay with her. The ending is brighter and it was such a great book to get to read.

Thanks to Zoe, Image Comics and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A fascinating insight into the depressive plight of a creative. Told in shifting realities and perspectives from within the singular individual, I was taken on a journey through the mind and life of Zoe as she navigates the everyday and the successes of being a comics artist. I loved the art, the different ways she represented herself in her different moods and life stages. It was melancholy, silly and self aware.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I found this book to very beautiful and was surprised with how much I enjoyed it. It deals with heavy subjects incredibly sincerely and honestly. I related so much to the story and would heavily recommend this book to others. 4 Stars!

*** Thank you NetGalley and Image Comics for the arc in exchange for an honest review! I’m incredibly grateful! ***

Interesting. Shocking. Relatable. Dark. Funny. Brilliant!

Stylistically: this is one of the best graphic novels I’d had the pleasure of reading. Content-wise: I feel seen.

Reviewing this fully won’t even do it justice. Just read it!

TW: suicidal thoughts, depression, mental illness, drugs, alcohol, bullying, swearing, grief, vomit, toxic relationship

A very honest portrayal of fighting amongst and against your depression.

It was an interesting read and the breaking of the 4th wall added the element of really immersing you on this book.

I loved the art styles and the way the author utilized it to present their story. This memoir was enjoyable from the perspective of a depressed person (ie. me). I would definitely read more of her works in the future.

It's tough to get through this one. As the author says, there are aspects of mental illness that make you feel narcissistic, and unable to get out of your own head. I was lucky to have some cautionary people in my life with some of my same issues, and I knew very clearly who I refused to be because of them. Seeing my worst qualities reflected in others can be sobering.

So, yes, it's tough to read about someone who doesn't discuss treatment, because it's hard at times not to agree with someone who keeps telling you they are a collection of negative qualities and then doesn't have a growing collection of coping mechanisms to improve their quality of life. But it's also important to recognize how many people, especially in their teens and twenties, do feel this way, and it DOES feel too overwhelming to even begin to try to cope with.

Anyway, it was an interesting read, with interesting art.

Dear Zoe Thorogood,
In general I hope you don't read your reviews because nobody should read the reviews of their work. But I hope you read my review because I want you to know how much your book made me feel in places that I thought could no longer feel.

Your book makes me wish I could give it 6 stars. It makes me wish there was some way to put my review in illuminated gold leaf lettering with tiny birds and curious monsters all creeping around the edges of the words, to underscore just how important this book has suddenly become to me. In the last twelve hours I have gone from never having heard of you or this book, to gobbling down your book in one extended sitting - a sort of fever dream, to now loving it so much that I want it to hurry up and come out in physical copy so that I can buy it, already.

I don't often wax this lyrical about books, but this one touched something inside me. Actually, it reached in and got its claws caught on something and then, suddenly afraid of what it had done, it yanked back which only made me feel more suddenly interconnected with it and terrified that it would run away, so then we wrapped our arms around one another and comforted both each other and ourselves in regards to how big and empty and scary the world is, but also how small and delicate that this book and I could have come across one another in this moment when I needed it most.

P.S. To other people reading this review: If this all sounds like I'm still in that fever dream, that's because I am, a bit. This book makes you think this way. I can't explain it. Just read it, or fall into it and swim through it, as I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

"It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth" is a memoir by British artist/cartoonist Zoe Thorogood about six months of her life as she grapples with her depression and self sabotage. Really incredible art, combining multiple art styles within her meta-narrative and she excels at all of them. I don't want to say it's relatable, a term that the author has heard so many times it no longer means anything, but I feel empathy towards her as someone who can see what it's like to live through depression in the 21st century. Thorogood is an immense talent and this was really good

I’ve been sitting with this for about an hour since I’ve read it. Normally I would go straight into a review immediately after I read something, but this comic had me needing some time for introspection. This comic is so good in a way that it hurts. I can fangirl over the art and how unique the layouts and the creativity of how Zoe uses her art to show her perspective of the world, but after reading I feel it cuts so much deeper.

A big part of my life I have had an issue with not going through with my goals and sticking with them the way I want to. Worried that I won’t succeed even if I try, but I can’t succeed if I never try at all. My depression and anxiety stopped me along the way many times. However, Zoe has the depression even with her success. Her depression doesn’t go away and that’s scary to me. Its scary to me that I can possibly become successful and realize I’m still just sad old me.

Reading this comic feels like looking into an alternate universe and looking at myself and seeing that it’s not the outside stuff that is the problem all the time making me sad, but maybe the problem is me. That makes me very uncomfortable.

What’s even crazier to me is Zoe is basically the same age as me. She suffers a similar introspective anxiety and self-depreciation that I also feels and yet she already has experienced so much success. Success that doesn’t even feel like it reaches her as being real, because she doesn’t feel real. I want to be happy for her and root for her and yet the more I think about it the more I realize I am pretty bummed about my own mental situation and this was too real for me.

Zoe shared feelings and personal stories that are so personal to her and simply are what they are. It sucks to feel like she feels and I’ve been there myself. I get scared that I’ll never leave that state of mind. Yet I do know I can be happy and have been happy. This comic it just reminded me of what a thought spiral for me is like. I understand why this has a trigger warning.

All in all, this is a comic that I could see myself returning to again and again. Even if it’s just to sit in that headspace and see something I’ve felt be shared in art form. I hope that Zoe improves and finds her own definition of what happiness would be for her. I hope I also do the same for myself.

a well illustrated story about depression and mental health through different stages of life, that really brings into perspective what people can go through and live with day to day. It's a realistic, sappy depiction that although was hard to read at some times ( due to subject matter) , I think is still an important read.

Wow I really loved this art style. I'm not sure what it is, but it fell close to my heart and more raw than some other more polished styles. The writing is deep and touching and I feel for the character/author and can relate in some aspects. The "story" itself isn't always linear and I feel like that makes more sense for this telling. It makes fun of itself while also being real and impactful. The changes of the character's design depending upon the scene/forced perception makes sense to me and is something I've never seen before. It's like masking within a graphic novel. I really enjoyed this!