Comparisons to both The Bloggess and [author:Allie Brosh|6984726] caused me to pick up this book SO FAST and, for once, the comparisons are quite apt.

I just love the illustrations and the incredibly relatable observations, thoughts, stories. Like Brosh and Lawson, Elliott writes (illustrates) about social awkwardness, depression, and other personal mental health issues. She does so with rich humor, insight, and tenderness.

If you already love Brosh and Lawson, you'll adore Elliott as well!

I appreciated the concepts and topical matter as I'm all for de-stigmatizing mental health, but I don’t think the comics always resonated or drove home any sort of meaningful impact. I wanted to like this more than I actually did.

This book is funny (especially the illustrations) and sad (the subject matter of mental illness.) It made me feel so many things I am not even sure if I can describe all my feels. I need to talk to someone....

Why not a 5 star? This has nothing to do with the writing or the illustrations but the e-book publisher. Why did you insist that the book be delivered in landscape sizing? I couldn't read half the writing, everything was so small. Then when I would enlarge it I had to spend all my time moving the text around. Grr.

My review: https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2023/07/review-its-all-absolutely-fine.html

Extremely delightful treatment of a tricky topic, and a good reminder that people can experience depression/anxiety/etc in lots of different ways.

I like Rubyetc's Tumblr a lot, and I admire her comics and drawing style. I also admire her for writing so honestly and wittily about depression and other mental illness. That said, this book didn't completely work for me. I think her comics lose their impact when viewed one after another, and work much better seen occasionally on Tumblr or Twitter. As someone who has had significant mental health problems, I found some of her auto-biographical writing about dealing with therapists, living with eating disorders, etc, a bit basic, and I would have liked her to delve deeper. That said, she's good at getting the basics across and I think this is a book a lot of people will find funny and useful.

This was a lot deeper than I was expecting, but that's a good thing! Ruby's artwork is pretty simple, but it still made me laugh or feel. It was a perfect read at the perfect time.

I’m familiar with Ruby through her tumblr. Her quick sketches are funny and relatable and get lots of attention. This wasn’t necessarily marketed as a self-help book, but I absolutely love the way Ruby chose to write this. Yes, there are jokes and humor. Yes, there are relatable and silly comics. But the tone of this book is not just about acknowledging and laughing at depression and pain. She writes chapters within these comics to explain her own journey with depression, self-harm, therapy, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and the way she talks about her life is so open and honest that it’s inspiring.

This book at first glance looks like a few other “quirky depression comics” out there, but I honestly enjoyed the writing more than the comic story lines. Don’t get me wrong, I still want a lot of these comics as magnets on my fridge.


Quotes worth mentioning:
"I might as well launch myself there headfirst before anything out of my control has the chance to do it. That's self-sabotage: undermining yourself because at least then the outcome is predictable - bad, but in my control."

"Why would I want to take baby steps? Babies are shit at walking. Think about it. To move forward I'll be taking jazzy little lizard steps.”

"Hunger: Oh, I see I am experiencing the physical sensation of being hungry.
Pre-Period Hunger: Everyone get out of my way I am dying my stomach is a bottomless pit and I have to eat the entire sun right this very instant or I will surely perish"


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

So, so good. Deals with anxiety, depression, bipolar, and other mental malaise in cartoons and short prose interludes that still manage to be hilarious. I identified with this book so hard.