Completed this book today. I enjoyed the illustrations and the topic of burnout. I liked watching the family regroup and go on vacation and remember how to enjoy their lives and see how to live out what really matters. This book very clearly had a social issues agenda which wasn’t quite what I was looking for in a book. However it was fairly well done and I did really love thinking about the impacts of burnout for these characters.

I just reviewed Amalia by Script & art by Aude Picault. #EuropeComics #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s about burnout, being a mum, anxiety and teen peer pressure during a pandemic. Its a quick read and really shows how each of these thing can affect you day to day.

This is an incredible book about motherhood, burn out, anxiety and stress during the pandemic. It reminds us to listen to our bodies when they are trying to tell us something, all we need to do is take a step back and feel and hear what’s going on. This is a must for everyone to read. The art in this book is beautiful!

Thank you so much for letting me read this wonderful book! The art is beautiful and light and the story is well developed. I think the readers will feel identified with the different characters and the conclusion. I would say that the text sometimes is difficult to read but it goes extremely well with the art and the overall look of the book.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me a copy of Amalia to review!

Amalia is a very sweet story of an overwhelmed woman dealing with burnout. She's overworked, surrounded by bad news, and is dealing with family tension. It all comes to a head when she passes out during a meeting and is instructed by a doctor to take some time to herself. Although I'm not a mom, I still think this book is extremely relatable to most if not all of us. It reminds you to not overwork yourself and take everything on, to listen to your body, and take time relaxing when needed. The art style is lovely as well. I really enjoyed this one!

This book serves as a reminder to take a step back and listen to your self and your body. Amalia experiences a burnout and then learns to rewind and identify the reason behind her burnout. While she is exploring, her family is also learning about themselves and overcoming their troubles.

Personally, this was a feel good story and made me stop and think about my own path and its trajectory. I recommend reading this.

Thank you #NetGalley and #Europe Comics for giving me the opportunity to read this.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book!

At first, I thought this was too adult for me, but I’ve learned to appreciate the characters as I went along. I love the interweaving of the story line and how the society is shown. It’s one thing knowing you’re a corporate slave and then reading about it and seeing yourself in a main character. It’s a very important topics for young adults like me as well. I am usually careful in just throwing the word “burnout” and “stressed” a lot. I know sometimes we can be saying this even if we are only just a little bit stressed. I’ve had my fair share of experiences which I’ve learned from and this graphic novel is a nice little reminder to take care of myself. It also felt like the main characters were fleshed out. It felt like I got to know them even in just a short number of pages. The art style is okay overall. The overall story is a personal preference though, as I don’t usually go for nonfiction and kind of philosophical books. It's still a nice read that I can easily recommend to friends.

I got this copy from netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

The book circles around Amalia and her family's life during the pandemic. It show the problems some of us are encountering like being burnout, having work related problems, and failing exams.
The book illustrates how sometimes medicine doesn't always cures our problems. Sometimes all you need is to give it some time, take a break and remember that a little chaos is all right.

The art of the book is very pleasing and the combination of the colors wouldn't hurt your eyes.

Personal rating: 3.25🌟, rounded down to 3🌟


Favourite quote:
“I'll try harder to put all my toys away!”
“That's really sweet of you, but you know you can keep a little bit of your chaos... Chaos is just life!”

My favourite thing about this is the art style. It's very much my style. The thing that chipped away at my enjoyment of this book though, is definitely the font(?) of the dialogues. At first it felt charming, but after a while I must admit that it grated on my nerves because the font choice made it harder for me to decipher what is actually written. A few times I just straight gave up and skipped the speech bubbles.

The story itself is... fine. It felt a bit bogged down with Amalia's misery and by the end I just felt pretty glad that I'm finally finished with the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free digital copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

A charming and impactful slice-of-life graphic novel, Amalia explored topics of burnout, stress, family issues and environmental issues in a way that was overall easy to connect to.

I enjoyed the overall theme and the more hard-hitting portions of the novel; this book did a great job portraying what burnout feels like, and how all the contributing factors of being a mother, homemaker, businesswoman, etc. play into that.

However, I felt like the multiple storylines weren’t integrated in a way that made the novel feel cohesive; instead, the frequent shifts took away from the story’s momentum, not allowing you to see the importance of these side plots until near the end.

I also loved how the background imagery was illustrated, but wasn’t as big of a fan of how facial expressions were illustrated. In addition, portions of the dialogue felt stilted or unrealistic.

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

This story is about characters being stressed, mother with a baby struggling to do everything , father with trouble at work who can't get on with his teenage daughter who herself is struggling with getting followers for her videos.

I have mixed feelings towards this book, I did want to find out what happened next and read to the end, but found myself wanting to skip bits. And reading about a stressed parent when you are one is stressful! I thought it would be an interesting read, maybe funny or insightful. But the father seemed a stereotypical father not looking after his child, stereotypical because the men I know do. Maybe if there was focus one one character and not all three or maybe less tedious work sections, or the bit where you read about the girl's make up videos. I think the novel tries to get a point across but it's nothing new and for me not interesting enough to engage me.

I found the text hard to read and for me the artwork too simplistic, like a comic strip. I was expecting something different I think.

Maybe this book isn't for me or I was reading at the wrong time or I was expecting too much from it. I just didn't enjoy it enough. I only read to the end as I had an ARC so felt I needed to.

Amalia is the story of a mom who is experiences burnout when she feels overwhelmed with the stresses and pressures placed on her. I related a lot to Amalia and share several traits with her that make her a very compelling character for me. I think many moms will see parts of themselves in Amalia, who is doing the best she can to take care of her family with some bumps along the way. It’s a quick read and the art is beautiful. I would recommend this to any mom who thinks she’s not good enough - you are, and we all need to give ourselves a break sometimes.

Miigweetch to NetGalley and Europe Comics for the DRC.

The art style is simple and pretty; it reminded me of The Adventures of Tin Tin. While the art style is tranquil and relaxing, our protagonist is anything but. Amalia is a mom and wife on the verge of burnout. Her family life – with her husband, Karim; her 4-year-old daughter, Lili; and her 17-year-old stepdaughter, Nora – is nothing but rushing around, screaming, and doors slamming. I feel like many women in their 30s & 40s will be able to relate to this character, even if they do not have children. The author did a good job of transmitting Nora’s anxiety through the page - I felt super stressed while I was reading this!

The story is raw, real, and addresses a topic relevant to all: mental health.

My biggest critique about this book is related to the font used. Although it is beautiful to look at, it is extremely difficult to read. I found it so frustrating that I almost gave up; I would strongly urge a change before the final edition.

Thank you to Europe Comics and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Amalia by Aude Picault is a realistic graphic novel with tons of humor. The story revolves around Amalia, who is a mother struggling to balance her family life, including her children, and her work life, where she's falling behind the innovations and flexibility of younger workers. According to the description, eventually, Amalia "struggles, tries, fails… and eventually, she cracks." Can she find a way to get control of her life?

Overall, Amalia is a delightful graphic novel that would make the perfect gift for the mother in your life. One highlight of this book is the humor. It has plenty of jokes. It reminded me a bit of the Cathy comic strips that used to appear in the newspaper. I did take off 2 stars, because it just didn't appeal to me. I read a lot of books aimed at middle-aged women, but I feel I just couldn't relate to anything in this one. If you're intrigued by the description, or if you're a fan of graphic novels in general, I recommend that you check out this book, which is available now!

Very cute story dealing with themes like the pandemic, burnout and being economically aware / recycling.

The plot was interesting and it was nice to see the concept of burnout in an adult and teen. However, I felt like the father didn't really develop in his views, the dad and Nora's issues was quickly resolved through one quick conversation and although set in the pandemic didn't actually make note to the pandemic rules such as restrictive buying, masks and distance so you wouldn't know it was set in the pandemic if the author hadn't specified.

The art was nice but wish the font was different as it made it difficult to read.

3.5 stars. There were bits I loved, and bits I didn't.

On the negative side, it could sometimes feel a little unsubtle, and, SPOILER: when Nora changes her outlook the author suddenly showed her receiving lots of likes. I really dislike that. It takes away from the intrinsic goodness of what she achieves. It would have been better to leave that one frame out entirely.

But on the positive side: I found the illustrations to be beautiful and calming, despite how stressful the content could be at times. I appreciated the presentation of wonder and of good whole things being healing, instead of preaching specifics. It has left me with food for thought.

Amalia (Story and Art by Aude Picault)

Amalia is a housewife on the verge of collapse. Her husband spends too much of his time shouting at his teenage daughter from a previous marriage. The daughter is obsessed with making make-up tutorials and neglects her schoolwork. Their youngest has far too much energy and Amelia is drawing herself into burn-out by trying to contain it all.

One day it happens. She collapses at work and a visit to her doctor tells her that she simply has to take things easy. But how does a woman who is trying to do everything actually do nothing?


I found Amalia filed away under women’s fiction at NetGalley, and though the description is accurate it is also somewhat reductionist. Amalia is wonderful women’s fiction, but it is a great deal more besides. There is a sense in the book that it is not told exactly in the here and now. A crop epidemic threatens the fields of France, and business is on the edge of economic collapse because of it. The last whale has died and the icecaps are completely melted. New technologies abound and there is a growing chasm between the staff and the management at both Amalia and her husband’s workplaces.

There is a sense in Amalia that it is not only Amalia that is on the edge of collapse but everything around her too, it’s just that she is more aware of the fact, and as she begins to come to terms with her own shortcomings and the things she needs to fix, we sense that there may be hope for the world around her.

The book may not be set in the exact here and now, but it is close enough that we can recognise the mistakes being made and see the echo of them in the world around us. We can see Amalia in ourselves, whether the reader is a man or a woman makes little difference here, and we see that the fixes she makes for herself would probably be wise to take on ourselves.

Amalia is a fine story. A quick, uplifting tale that will certainly bring a smile to any reader’s face. I am very pleased that Europe Comics released this on NetGalley, and allowed me the pleasure of reading it.

This is a graphic novel that follows a family (a husband, wife, teenager and child) during the wheat pandemic.

The mother is suffering from a burnout. Trying to be perfect at work and trying to please her husband… so she’s basicly over working herself
The husbands workplace has been caught in a scandal when they fertilizer “growboost” (for their wheat fields) gets washed away from the fields and pollutes the water.
The teenage daughter is having troubles with her own with social media.

This was such a fun read and makes you think what little changes you can do yourself to relax and enjoy life with having to burnout.

amalia follows a mom on the verge of burnout due to tacking responsibilities with her job, keeping her home clean, and her rowdy family. in the beginning of this graphic novel, we get a glimpse of amalia’s work and home life and how that’s been distressing her. her husband is constantly yelling, her youngest daughter is messy, and her step daughter isolates herself. facing everything around her without any breaks leads her to burnout and in order to move past it, she must change the way she lives her day yo day life. i really liked the art for this novel and i loved that we got to see the growth of all the members of amalia’s family, not just her. it was a cute, quick read.

find my goodreads review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4796820427?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

find my instagram review here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CfMCrdIrkeJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Enjoyable, read it very quickly. Not ky usual genre but would try more graphic novels. Loved the illustrations of this book