Ruby Elliot intersperses relatable comics with short written chapters about mental health. The comic style and content remind me of Hyperbole and a Half and I just absolutely love the blunt honesty and raw emotion paired with the ability to laugh at ourselves and our struggles. I want so much more of Ruby Elliot, and it has been a few years since I got this ARC so I'm hoping a new collection will be coming soon.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

Hilarious and creative. It took me revisiting it to REALLY get it but that was the fault of my mindset, not the book itself. Definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys this kind of comic.

This is a phrase we often coin without meaning it at all.

For Ruby Elliot, keeping herself together is hard. She suffers from depression due to several disorders she mentions throughout the book such as an eating disorder, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. What should be a heavy read becomes lighter and quite simple to understand with the use of drawings. They are cartoon like - barely professional - but who cares. I found myself learning about the highs and lows of bipolar disorder in a way one would explain in a beginner 101 class. Sometimes it's helpful to get an image.

It's All Absolutely Fine is a daring book. Ruby Elliot takes a subject that is rather taboo in our society - mental health and the struggles maintaining it - and is brutally honest about it. She gets personal, talking quite frankly about things like depression and anxiety, things that make many people uncomfortable even admitting to, let alone talking about. This book is funny at times, and sometimes really sad. She seems to bear her soul on the page, and brings the reader along for the ride. And the pictures, while quirky, work really well with the story. I think this is an important book that everyone should read, not only because it is entertaining but also because it helps destigmatize something that society should be more comfortable discussing.

Funny collection of comics dealing with mental illness. Definitely gives a balanced and healthy take on the topic.

This book is a bit dark, but very relatable. I wasn't hooked at first, but I got into it as the pages progressed.

'It's All Absolutely Fine' by Ruby Elliot (aka Rubyetc) is a collection of her drawings. She has a huge following on Tumblr and this collection includes some of those drawings, as well as previously unseen drawings and writings.

The subjects of her drawings are her life with different aspects of depression, anxiety, and body image among other things. There are eight sections in the book with chapter headings like Ah, Face, We Meet again and Excuse Me While I Ruin Everything Accidentally on Purpose.

The drawings are funny although the subjects can be heavy. Ruby is deft at keeping the subject light. Her writing is about the different things she struggles with. The whole thing is shared openly and I think there are certainly those in her reach that could benefit in knowing they aren't the only ones with these types of struggles. I really liked Ruby's brand of humor and her candor with the reader.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Absolutely hilarious book. Ruby does brilliant illustrations.

Remind me of Adulthood is a myth, and that's a compliment. Great drawings and the humour was spot on!

One of those books that assures you that even though you may feel like you're losing your mind sometimes, things will generally be okay. It is wonderful that Ruby Elliot has shared her story in such a relatable, interesting way. The content may be a little emotionally draining at times, but Ruby is saying some really important things, and the topics she discusses should absolutely not be taboo.

I can relate to certain things in the book and that felt great. Even when I haven't been in the shoes of the author, I still get a sense of being close to her and somewhat able to empathize. Funny, quirky, page turning and awesome! A must read for everyone.

2.5
I was expecting to love this book, but as much as deals with interesting topics like depression, search of identity, anxiety, bipolar disorder and more, I couldn't relate to them. I suffer from anxiety and I don't know why(and maybe it's my fault) I was hoping to learn a little bit more about it and hoping that this book could help me with my problems. But, I couldn't connect with this book, somehow I felt that the humor was forced. I had lots of expectations but, although I liked some parts, I did not like most of the book. So, I think it just wasn't for me.

When you suffer from depression and/or anxiety, you often feel like no one else understands exactly what you are going through. If you're lucky, you come across a book like this. Ruby Elliott's simple drawings and their accompanying text resonated deeply with me. It is one of those books arrived in my life at the perfect time.

I hope that, as was the case with me, it helps other readers feel less alone.

This is a pretty great book. It’s an illustrated memoir – it is unflinchingly honest but also sidesplittingly funny.

It is down-to-earth and relatable to nearly everyone, and it a great portrayal of mental illness in the multi-dimensional – good days and bad days.

I recommend it greatly.

This book is so good. It's an incredibly candid book about mental health - it looks at depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, OCD and eating disorders - and not only is it amusing and easy to read, it gives a genuine and honest insight into what it's like to live with a mental illness.

I suffered with clinical depression as a teenager, and have had a battle with PTSD in more recent years. I'm now recovered from both, although I do have to be mindful of my triggers, but books about anxiety and mental health still appeal to me. I like to see what's out there and to read it from a point of view of remembering how I felt at the time and whether a book would have been of use to me, and also from my current perspective. It's good to consider whether a book is one I would recommend to someone going through this illness now, or if it would help someone who had no idea about mental health understand what it's like. Some books hit one mark and not another because a target market has to be aimed at, and I do get that. This book, however, ticks all of the boxes for me. It's absolutely brilliant.

This is a book predominantly told through illustrations and it packs such a punch with simple drawings. Some images made me hold my breath because I remember those moments of not being able to function, some images made me wryly smile because I remember being aware of how silly I felt at not being able to do something and yet still being unable to make myself do it. Ruby Elliot has written her own story in this book and as a result it is so easy to identify with; it's told with great compassion and empathy for others whilst being so honest about her own emotions. You feel like you're reading your own story.

I took a screen grab of a couple of pages from It's All Absolutely Fine because they really resonated with me - partly, through remembering feeling like that in the depths of my anxiety, and partly because I have occasional days like this whilst dealing with my physical health. I'm including these two images in my review because they really do give such a great example of the humour and the complete empathy and understanding in this book.

This is such a candid book, Ruby Elliot doesn't shy away from tackling what it's really like to live with mental illness. This book is absolutely essential reading for anyone going through depression and/or anxiety, and for anyone who wants to understand what it's like to live with these conditions. It's a book that will help sufferers feel less alone but without feeling the pressure to sit and read a whole book during the times when everything feels too hard.

I read this in ebook format but I'm definitely going to be buying a print copy, and I will absolutely be recommending this book to so many people.

It's All Absolutely Fine by Ruby Elliot is out now and available here.

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

Honestly, many thanks to the author. There is nothing better than reading something like this when dealing with your own deep depression. So, thank you!

And people, stop telling people to just "get over it" or "smile, it can't be all bad." Look, my brain doesn't know that. It never got the memo, and it never listens to me. I'm working on it, but it's a process and it's difficult.

Read this if you suffer from depression, read this if you know someone who does.

It's All Absolutely Fine (well actually, it isn't) is a mixture of comic-type drawings and personal essays from Ruby Elliot. In this collection she dives deep into her emotions and past to express with total honesty, her feelings and fears about herself. She gives the reader an inner look into the mind of someone that experiences anxiety, bipolar disorder and depression.

I really appreciated her ability to make the situation lighter while also capturing how she actually feels in those situations and describing them so well that another person can actually feel that too. Her drawing style was a favourite of mine, but the scribble type scrawl was hilarious at times and did capture the sort of chaos that these feelings can project onto a person. If you've ever been affected by these feelings or illnesses or are just interested in learning more about them then this book will definitely be interesting or useful to you.

It’s All Absolutely Fine by Ruby Elliot explores the highs and lows of modern life through the sharp, dark wit of Ruby Elliot—creator of the massively popular Tumblr account, Rubyetc, which has over 210k followers and growing. Ruby’s simple drawings of not-so-simple issues capture the humor and melancholy of everyday life. Her comics appeal to both new adults who are beginning to explore these subjects and to battle-tested veterans of the daily struggles of life with mental illness. It’s All Absolutely Fine is an honest and unapologetic account of day-to-day life as a groaning, crying, laughing sentient potato being for whom things are often absolutely not fine. Through simple, humorous drawings and a few short narratives, the book encompasses everything from mood disorders, anxiety, and issues with body image through to existential conversations with dogs and some unusually articulate birds. Through the drawings, the reader is shown that it is okay to struggle, and that it is okay to talk about struggling, to not undermine oneself by yelling ‘it’s fine’ when it isn’t, and while all this is going on to know that it is absolutely possible to hold on to hope, and of course humor.

It’s All Absolutely Fine is a collection of art and words that can shown readers that they are not alone. Anyone dealing with anxiety, feeling lost or alone, or battling any mental illness can find bits of their struggle on these pages while offering support and encouragement to keep on moving forward. I found the read made me smile, cry, and feel more empowered in dealing with the world around me and moving toward the future. Fans of Rubyetc's huge online presence will find more of what they love here, and I think the book will foster new fans as well.

I’ve read many accounts of mental illness over the years and, if I’m honest, I have never been entirely sure exactly what it is that I’m looking for. Taken at its most basic, I suppose that you could describe this impulse as that basic need that we all seem to have of trying to find representations of ourselves in the art that I love. Sometimes, no matter how strong we are in our convictions, we need to be able to find some sort of hint that the slightly damaged thoughts that we have exist outside of ourselves.

If this logic holds true then I think it’s fair to say that I’ve found various mirrors of myself during this subconscious pursuit. I’ve had my fears reflected in Joan Didion’s memoirs, the ridiculousness of the situations my mental illnesses can put me in echoed in my beloved Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half, and I’ve found slivers of all sorts of other wayward emotions in the fiction that I’ve read, all the way to characters from high fantasy and mystery. But, despite all of my apparent searching, I don’t think that I ever really knew what I was looking for until I read It’s All Absolutely Fine by Ruby Elliot.

I have never found anything as wholly confrontational as this book. Glimpses of my glee at my own self-sabotage? Check. Diagrams of all the twisted feelings that I have towards loved ones who try to make it better? Check. Whole page spreads of the complications of being at once nothing and everything? Check, check, check. There is all is, in this tiny book: the thoughts and feelings that, as someone with depression and anxiety, a terrible relationship with food and horrible impulse control, I have jealously guarded. There was every petty little thing I thought, there was every grubby little thing I did to try to make myself feel better even. If. It’s. only. For. Five. Minutes. Please. God.

No one likes to see the worst of themselves, let alone feel like they’re sharing it with the world. Except that’s exactly what Ruby Elliot does with this book. Halfway through, I could hear the shells of thousands of people around the world cracking as they realised that they were not the only ones who experience these destructive, obsessive little thoughts that keep trying take over every waking minute of the day. I could just as loudly hear them recoiling as I did moments later, realising that now other people can see them, there, in stark black and white.

Ruby Elliot is a brave lady. I don’t think I could have gone as deep, looked as hard, been as stringently honest as she has been. I don’t think I could have picked myself apart like that. I don’t think that I could have identified half of the despair that she taps into. And, while it was undoubtedly therapeutic and cleansing and, perhaps most honest of all, really blood shit while she was doing it, part of me believes that Ruby unconsciously thought outside of herself in the biggest way by sharing this experience with other people.

I hope that one day I’ll be able to be brave enough to hand this book to some of the people in my life and say: here. This. Me.