This was beautiful but not quite what I'd hoped for. It was fine, albeit a tad underwhelming. Perhaps something also got lost in translation.

I Feel Awful, Thanks is a wonderful, endearing graphic novel that deals with mental health, relationships and professional life. I thought the approach to support and therapy was so balanced and thoughtful. Honestly, I feel like I’ve been through therapy after reading this. Pickle encourages self love, self appreciation and self worth through her writing which is so refreshing! Not to mention beautiful artwork that really conveys the magical world her characters live in. It’s a relatable story in a magical realism setting that will speak to a lot of people!

This was such a cute little read! A nife little pick-me-up in the middle of a rather dull week for me. The art style is very charming, and fun! i loved all the character designs so much!! visually, this felt very comfy and vibrant and I loved that!

The story is mostly a little dive into the importance of mental health in one's life and that was nice to read about, too. I didn't think there was anything new there for me, personally, but that's just because I've been dealing with things for like over a decade and I've heard it a lot over the years. Still, I think it can be a reassuring read for a lot of people! And although we didn't get to explore it in all that much detail, I really liked the sprinkling of witchy stuff in the book! It was just...fun!!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy! All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel about dealing with an everyday level of anxiety and depression and it quite accurately reflected the toll this can take on yourself and those around you. The chest of emotions was such a good idea and how we all have dragons inside us we need to tame, with some people needing more help than others to tame them. I noticed a lot of ways of coping with anxiety that my therapist taught me and it felt like a very authentic story due to that.

Visually, the artwork was beautiful, so cozy with gorgeous colours and I really liked the way the boxes would become jagged with sharp lines when Joanna has moments of unease or upset.

The concept of witches being a totally normal thing to exist in the world and London specifically was awesome. I really liked the use of 'soft magic' and how it was portrayed. The bonus material at the end that described how Lara created all the different nuances of magic in her fictional world was really interesting to read and has filled in some of the technicalities for me of how this version of reality works.

P.S. I really appreciated the inclusion of The Princess Bride and Hamilton, such awesome little nuggets.

I absolutely loved this it was such a fun quick read. The illustrations are modern, artsy and cute with witchy magic vibes.

The writing is easy to follow and given in small doses. The perfect read for a pallet cleansing.

Would recommend !

I Feel Awful, Thanks is about a witch named Joanna who got accepted her dream job in London which is her dream city. But when she starts her new job she realizes some things are so much harder than she expected. Joanna tries to balance her new job, and her new friendships and try to live alone for the first time. I think this graphic novel perfectly deals with mental health topics. On top of that illustrations were gorgeous. It was a really great graphic novel and I highly recommend it.

Joana just started working at her dream job and living in her dream city, but why isn’t she living her dream life? As everything starts to go wrong, Joana is forced to face her emotional dragons head on. Ultimately, she learns that it is okay to not be okay!

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a graphic novel, and this ARC from NetGalley really impressed me. The art was stunning and you can tell Lara Pickle put her all into this- I felt every emotion Joana was feeling through the artwork. One of the highlights of the graphic novel for me was the mental health resources mentioned at the end of the novel. I also enjoyed reading about Pickle’s development of the witchy world and her character designs. One con I will mention is that some of the scenes have drastic transitions, so sometimes it can be confusing following the storyline. Overall a 4-star read for me!!

This was a very interesting take on adulting and going through trauma in work, relationships, and finding yourself.

I enjoyed the way the magic world represented real life situations but trigger warning if you are in a abusive work situation. That was tough to read but I thought they did a great job navigating it.

The art was fun, the story was good, overall a decent graphic novel. I would definitely recommend this to adult friends who are in their early 20's trying to navigate life.

Thank you to NetGallery, the publishers, and the author for letting me review this title!

This is a wonderful witchy fantasy graphic novel about a young woman moving to London to pursue potions making for her dream coven. Though she seems to have it all together, finding a place to live and navigating her new, but stressful job alone starts to take he huge toll on her emotions.

It's a great book that encourages readers to reflect on turbulent emotions and process them rather than bottle them away. I really enjoyed the story and the artwork is beautiful.

I think this will be good for the target audience! I was not hooked by this. The artwork is of course great, but it wasn't really working for me. The story felt a little bland for me, but I think it will seem cool to the teenage demographic! It seems like it will be a cute story. I did have to DNF around 20%.

This is glorious. It’s gorgeous and it’s full of meaning and I just adored it. Wonderful conversations around mental health, standing up for yourself, embracing your emotions and friendship. Just wonderful.

I really liked this! The mental health struggles are well described and represented, loved the idea of the dragons for the emotions! Loved the boyband included here, so relatable to me 🥰

As someone who has struggled with her mental health for as long as I can remember, I can't overstate how much I loved this novel. I feel like usually when characters are struggling mentally it's usually caused by an 'end of the world/history of abuse/my entire family died' situation, and it's so important to see it as so many of us experience it. Life isn't the worst and we have people that care for us and good jobs and homes to live in, but we still have dragons that take over sometimes.

Lessons Joana learnt from Alex will stay with me as I continue on my own mental health journey, so thank you to the author for that.

I also very much enjoyed the character designs, world building, and resources section at the end as I loooove getting to see more of the creative process behind these graphic novels! The art style was stunning and the colours were always so rich, the way the dragons were represented was beautiful.

Wow, I loved this!! I had a feeling this would be great just from the title, but I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this. I read it all in one sitting because I couldn't put it down.

I Feel Awful, Thanks is a graphic novel about a witch who moves to London to start her dream job. Yet, this story is so much more. It carefully and craftfully tackles how overwhelming adulthood is, dealing with mental illness, platonic and romantic relationships, and so much more. It was so easy to relate to our main character, Joana.

A graphic novel was a great way to tell this story as well. Not only is the art colorful and beautiful, but it has a visual representation of how Joana feels like everything is falling apart by showing how the background starts to break and fall apart. 

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc copy for review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lara Pickle for the free eARC copy of 'I Feel Awful, Thanks' for an honest review!

Joana is a witch who got her dream potion-making job in her dream city, London. She moves and starts to realize how hard it is to be alone in a new country/city where you know nobody, and have very few options to live.

She starts her dream job and realizes how stressful and unfair upper management can be. It sends her spiraling and trying to learn how to handle her "dragons". Her dragons try to destroy her relationships with herself, her boyfriend, and her new friends.

Joana is a character I can empathize with, I also struggle with my own "dragons" and managing them. With a lot of encouragement from her friends, Joana decides to see a "dragon tamer" and learn how to accept herself and express her emotions in healthier ways. The biggest lesson Joana and the reader take out of the book is that to love others, you must love yourself.


The art style is gorgeous and I'll be keeping Lara Pickle on my radar!

I had been wanting to read this graphic novel for some time, so thank you Netgalley for sending me an e-copy! <3

This novel is the story of Joana as she starts her dream job at a big company in London. There, she navigates love, friendship, a terrible roommate, and a very conceited boss. As well as all the emotions that come with so many changes and new situations.

This novel is very heavy on mental health and dealing with emotions, and in my opinion, the author does so in an incredible way.

The illustrations and the colours were gorgeous, and the atmosphere of magic gave it an extra touch that I LOVED.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a great graphic novel. I love the magical elements and how they are gently integrated into a contemporary society. The characters are well written and illustrated and I quickly became invested. The scenarios were real and relevant. The way mental health was portrayed and approached was perfection. This was a darling read!

I loooove the artwork so much! I love the style and the color palette, and the aesthetic is great. Huge fan of that.

The story itself is okay. I liked Joana well enough and I think the way this explores themes like anxiety, emotional intelligence, and therapy is helpful for the intended audience.

I'm not the intended audience, so I thought it was a bit surface-level and lacked some nuance, but I can see younger people (teens specifically) enjoy this, maybe see themselves represented, and self-reflect.

Overall, a solid graphic novel for teens.

I was drawn to this book by the fact that I love graphic novels and use them a lot to get some of my more reluctant readers into reading. I also loved the title. I guessed that it was going to be about mental health but I didn't know how explicit some of the messages were going to be. What made the book even more interesting, was that these explicit messages about mental illness, mental wellbeing and imposter syndrome were set amidst tea witches, magic and spells in a very real, overpriced London.

The illustrations were varied and I really liked the story. I also appreciated the messages that came through and I learnt a lot, although I worry some readers might find the tone somewhat too preachy and too much like a self-help book. It wasn't for me though. I really enjoyed it.

Aww, I just LOVE every book I read hy ONI Press. And this one is no exception!

We follow a young woman as she enters her first big job (for her dream position as well!). At the beginning, everything looks fantastic, but faster than not all aspects of her life seem to fall short —the blooming relationship with her new boyfriend, the working situation with her team leader (who is just plainly an ass), and her living situation as well (her roommate is the devil herself). As she had never learned to handle her emotions, they were all kept crammed inside of her and threatening to burst out of her metaphorical (and in this case, literal) chest.

A beautifully drawn and so, so, so important Strom about what Toxic Positivity can do to you and how you can learn how to live with your emotions.

I read this in one sitting, really enjoyed it, and plan to buy it as soon as it gets out, so it can sit beneath my other Oni Press books on my shelf. <3,