I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood is a non-fiction graphic novel about depression, dealing with being known, and the struggle of making connections. When Zoe’s precious graphic novel gets popular, she's invited to a convention that gets post-poned due to COVID and starts to consider her own depression and suicidal ideation.

I don't think I've ever seen someone communicate their depression in a way that hit this close to home. When Zoe says that she's had a lot of luck and maybe she's selfish and evil and deserves the bad things but that her younger self didn't, I cried. It was a very cathartic moment for me and I still tear up thinking about it. It's a brief moment, but that idea that the adult you isn't worth anything but the younger you deserved the world and trying to reconcile those two parts of yourself is so hard to articulate. I thank Zoe Thorogood for putting in in the graphic novel because it made communicating my own feelings a little bit easier.

Zoe Thorogood plays a lot with form throughout, often breaking the fourth wall, showing different parts of herself depicting others as people with animal heads or basic faces while injecting bits of color. You have no idea what to expect as you turn each page and it really works to the story’s benefit because mental illness is exactly like that. It can be unpredictable and bits of color can seep through or maybe you have a monster following you wherever you go.

One thing I really liked was how the graphic novel tackles relatability. The term gets thrown around all the time, creators are encouraged to be relatable, exposing parts of yourself makes people see themselves in you. But how do you deal with that when you feel like you can't connect to anyone and it feels like everyone is leaving you? When people draw connections to your characters and your life and you don't really want to admit that you made an idealized version of yourself? Or when the person that should understand you the most is the person you can't ever seem to see eye-to-eye with?

I love this graphic novel because the only answer it provides is to try to see the good in the world and to try to not let the depression consume you, but it doesn't give easy answers. It's not a self-help books, it's not a feel good story; it's a story of someone dealing with their own brain trying to escape as nothing in their life seems to be working out. We need things like this, too, even if they are a bit uncomfortable.

I would recommend this to readers looking for stories about depression and suicidal ideation, fans of non-fiction graphic novels that deal with difficult topics, and those looking for graphic novel that plays a lot with the medium.

WOW. That graphic novel was simply great. I loved all of it. I won’t say it was relatable cause I think the author heard that enough, but it helped me put words on feelings I have since forever. Thank you for your art, thank you for being you.

That graphic novel is about being human, simply. I recommend it to everyone. It has great illustrations, it’s funny, inspiring, it makes us think about life, it’s short and yet I would have took more.

I will definitely be reading everything she ever did and everything she ever will make.

The art is very good, highly stylized, and gets across the feelings trying to be conveyed very well. The narrative is a bit of a mess. As self reflective auto-bio pieces on mental health go, it takes a lot to even do, much less to really open up about the less than flattering parts of ourselves. However, it's a very delicate tight rope to walk between self reflection, and wallowing, between constructive analysis and trauma dumping, and it's particularly difficult not to come off like a pretentious art snob who wants everyone else to know how much you suffer so.

Sadly, for all it's artistic merit, It's Lonely seems too often to be an echo chamber of misery the author allowed herself to wallow in, unchecked, all while reassuring us of what a great artist she is. While the latter is true, pretention isn't a virtue, and putting a hat on it, drawing attention to it and making a joke about it, doesn't change that, and it loses the element that makes it easy to connect with the author more often than it should.

It COULD in some ways be a modern No Longer Human (one hopes with a different outcome of course), what with the very personal exploration of depression, it just becomes swallowed by the author's intense focus on herself pulling back only for a brief clarity about those around her.

I had to sit with this book a bit before writing a review. This book was incredibly real, and it left me to think about a lot. Mainly the realness of depression and how it can take a hold on others.

The author displayed 6 months of her life. And I gotta say, I’m extremely glad this book exists and I hope to read many more books by the author in the future.

Her illustrations were absolutely amazing. I haven’t read a graphic novel quite illustrated like this before and, it was genius.

goddamn, this one cut like a knife. I'll admit it took me a second to get into it but once I did I felt a lot and it hurt. I felt very seen while reading this

Within the first two pages, I was hooked. This is such a dark, emotional, real graphic novel. This definitely isn’t a feel good read, but I loved that about it. It dark times, I don’t want to read something where everything magically works out and everything gets better at the end. I want something heavy and gritty, and that’s exactly what this book gives you. The potato scene in particular was so painfully relatable.

I’m not sure enjoyed is the right word to use, but I am really glad to have read this and that it exists.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I wasn't sure what I was expecting from this graphic novel, and I'm left feeling a bit empty, but fulfilled. I liked the mixed media elements and illustration style in the novel and the asides enriched the story as it progressed. I related to some of what Thorogood discussed about loneliness and it felt comforting to know that I wasn't alone. This graphic novel is heavy (very heavy), but there are glimmers of hope and small pockets of joy sprinkled throughout. Overall, I enjoyed this graphic novel and I'm definitely interested in reading more from this author!

The story itself wasn't bad, however; it felt like a fevre dream trying to read it. But, a good representation of what it means to be depressed

This book was an ARC from Netgalley

I really like the mixed medium style of this graphic novel! It feels really all over the place and takes getting used to, but I think it’s worth it.

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!