An emotional graphic novel with outstanding illustrations. I really enjoyed Amalia’s incredible journey.

"Amalia” was a short but powerful graphic novel that shed light on how burnout can affect people. While I don't have kids, I related to the feelings of burnout shown through Amalia. I loved how the story also showed burnout through the perspective of her step-daughter and husband as well. Life is stressful for everyone, or as Amalia says, "Life is chaos," and this story provides a comforting slice-of-life experience that many can relate to.

My only complaint was that there were some scenes where I got confused on what was exactly being shown with the husband’s work. It would jump around to different scenes so quickly that I had to adjust my thinking sometimes. Thankfully, by the end, I finally started to catch on.

This graphic novel will probably be stuck in my head for years to come. The story about Amalia and her family ultimately is a heartfelt invitation to return to nature, to examine how industrialization has stripped away a lot of things that are previously precious to us.

Amalia portrays how industrialization has shaped us to become impatient. Because of society's emphasis on productivity as a measure of our value, we become hyperaware of time. Although we managed to increase our efficiency, our patience dramatically shortens as well.

In a world where we're always chasing time and coveting material things, Amalia shows us how maybe sometimes what we need is to return back to the times where we do not care as much about time, where we frolic in meadows and stop to smell the roses. Although the ending was a bit rushed for me, I still love it all the same.

Many thanks to Europe Comics and Netgalley for the e-ARC!

This graphic novel that delves into the complexities of self-discovery, relationships, and the search for personal fulfillment. Picault's storytelling and expressive artwork captivate readers, drawing them into the life of the eponymous protagonist.

Ouch. One of those books that wants to show its characters flooded in the mundane, that ends flooding us in the mundane as well. Amalia is a pleasant enough woman, with a bad office job, a husband who doesn't seem to excite her, also with a job that results in us skipping pages, a brat of a toddler who launches this whole thing off with a trip to the adult loo, and a step-daughter who only wants to be a chavvy make-up influencer, or something. We have to see all these in turn, because the creator hasn't worked out how to tell us everything is being dumped on Amalia's shoulders and it's not good for her, without dumping it on us as well, where it's certainly no more welcome, even if it is fictional entertainment.

By all rights I should have really liked Amalia, the character, even if I didn't take to Amalia the book. But I didn't even manage that much empathy for her here. She sprints from the boring to the humdrum, and I just wasn't that interested – even to the extent of the background ecological plot. There are more engaging ways to portray the over-burdened innocent soul in the modern world.

A curious mix of family dramawith an alarming apocalypse slowly rolling out in the background, which all feels very European to me. The actual drama is well written, with every family member getting their own story. The whole thing ends on a couple of notes of hope, which is nice, seeing the bad things unfolding on the macro level.

The art, too, is very European, and its sweetness and softness works well for the story.

A compelling storyline, highly relatable to current events. However, I didn't find the art style compelling, nor did it match the plot well.

I thought this was a lovely graphic novel. The art style was great, but husband really enjoyed this read.

One cute book which feels like a breeze in the summer! Very relaxing and enjoyable and a good book to spend your time with!

This was a super quick read and I really liked how it offered a slice-of-life perspective.
It's not often that burnout is discussed in fiction, so it was nice to see a good portrayal in the format of a graphic novel. Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of the dialogue as it felt unrealistic and stilted.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Not a fun book to read when you're living on the edge of burnout. But it was pretty nice. I'm going to step back and think about how to work on my own life. This gave me a lot to think about and I got Studio Ghibil vibes from this.

Amalia is a graphic novel so beside the plot, there is other important things - if you like the illustration, if the artist makes you feel the story in your bones.

And Amalia does not.

I appreciate the main problem of the story. Amalia is burned out. She was a lot on her plate in work, in home, in family. I feel her. So it was refreshing to see that she decided to slow down, to take her of herself, to give herself some space to recover and just be.

But at the same time, I was kinda bored. I don’t like the lack of color, darkness. I was looking for some nice, happy stories to forget about my reality, not something that reminds me of my every day life.

Gorgeous graphic novel, thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access it in exchange for my feedback.

I thought this graphic novel was pretty unique - it delivered an important message while still maintaining lighthearted overtones with the use of cute artwork. Burnout is not often talked about and less often recognised, so works like these are a great introduction and the story was very realistic. I didn't give this 5 stars because while I enjoyed it and thought it was well done, it didn't completely blow me away.

Amalia is a heartwarming graphic novel about a mom trying to do it all, work, and raise a family. I really clicked with the story and really enjoyed what I was able to read. Unfortunately I was unable to finish it before the archive date but I would have really enjoyed to finish the story!

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and review this graphic novel. Amalia is about a woman who's a mother, wife, and a perfectionist, who keeps overworking herself until she gets burnout. Also, this story talks about covid and learning to let the small things go. The handwriting was hard to read at times, and I personally felt that the story could've been shorter. But overall I enjoyed the characters, the storyline, and the art style. The art style is stunning. 4 out of 5 stars.

A lovely, adorably illustrated graphic novel about what happens when a family reaches a total breaking point of stress and collectively decides to take a breath, slow down and appreciate what life has to offer besides constant work and stress.

3.5 ⭐
So, basically this story may seem simple, but it has so much detail about life, stress, family, etc. that it is overwhelming yet hopeful.
Definitely reading Amalia, has been good and enlightening because each of the characters has a development.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and review this graphic novel. Amalia is about a woman who's a mother, wife, and a perfectionist, who keeps overworking herself until she gets burnout. Also, this story talks about covid and learning to let the small things go. The handwriting was hard to read at times, and I personally felt that the story could've been shorter. But overall I enjoyed the characters, the storyline, and the art style. The art style is stunning. 3 out of 5 stars.

I didn’t enjoy this as much as I’d hoped. Even though the premise of a slice of life graphic novel following a family seems like a fun time. It just ended up being kind of boring. I really did not like choice of font for the text, which honestly made it hard to read and take much longer than it should have, I feel like a simpler font would have fit better with the art style as well. The art itself wasn’t my favourite but it was quirky and classic comic feeling. It was easy to consume but not the most pleasing to look at. Overall it was ok, but I don’t think I’ll be reading more from this artist/author.