Loved the style and the fact that this is LGBT+ but it was so disjointed that I couldn’t read it correctly and made the story hard to follow, dnf’d at 33%.

So the reason I applied for this ARC is because, as I always say, I adore queer storytelling. Friends this graphic novel did not disappoint. I read through this so quickly (literally in one sitting) and just ate this story up. There was not a single character (other than Riena) in this book that I did not like. This was such a feel good read from the get go and I found myself smiling the whole way through the story. My favourite thing about this book, is that yes, Blanca, the main character is obviously the main part of the story, but the authors of this graphic novel gave so much consideration and information around the other central characters in the story, diving not only into their wants and needs now, but their past lives also. I will say, you may need google translate for a couple of the pages of the novel, as Blanca speaks in Spanish with her friends/family throughout some of the novel, but please don't let that put you off because these pages are so sweet and really deserve the amount of love that was put into them. The cast of characters was also so diverse and the authors truly put something for everyone in this graphic novel. The artwork is also absolutely stunning, I adore the artstyle so much and it made it so easy on my eyes to read through. My only downside to this book, is that I have to wait until 2025 to read volume 2. It cannot come soon enough. I will absolutely be picking up a physical copy of this graphic novel when it comes out and I implore that you do also.

My Favourite Characters:

Blanca: So Blanca is our main character but I love how kind she is to everyone and truly shows that a little compassion can go a long way.

Emile: Emily legitimately saw this girl, saw she needed a place to stay and took her in. I love him so much.

Cat: Cat is such a small character in the story, but she is GORGEOUS. I loved all of the scenes with her in.

My Least Favourite Characters:

Riena: This woman is drawn and acts like the typical villain you would see in a fairytale. I hope her and Blanca do see eye to eye at some point, but for now she scares me.

(If you'd like to see more of my reviews please go to my blog:
https://doesden.blogspot.com/)

Great start to the series! Eat Your Heart Out Vol 1 sets the scene for Blanca's great escape from her mother's life plan. People, I am not exaggerating - at the start of the book, Blanca's mother actually asks for her 4-year plan. I know planning ahead is a good skill for a young adult to have, but yikes. So of course Blanca immediately gets away from that mess, moves to New York, and starts a wholesome series of failing upwards that puts her in contact with a home full of adorable idiots who do their best to help Blanca with her dream of becoming a fashion designer. We meet characters such as the model with connections in the industry, the drag queen with a timely fashion crisis, and the new mysterious new love interest. The story kept me invested and the characters were relatable and sweet.

If you're into wholesome tales of unconditional friendship, LGBTQ representation and young adults finding thheir path, you'll enjoy this one.

✨ Disclaimer ✨ I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Even though she just turned eighteen and fresh out of high school, Blanca is ruled by her overbearing and strict mother. Her decision: to bail out to New York City, the home of fashion central. There, she meets Emile, who loves to cook, and he invites her to stay at his brownstone with his other roommates. With a newfound family found in other housemates, complex drama, and the reality of being an adult, Blanca has her hands full. Will she be able to have her dreams come true?
Food and lots of it, this graphic novel veers toward adulthood and the end of coming of age. Blanca prefers fashion design to her mother’s real estate business, and needs an out of that toxic atmosphere. Making new friends in the world of drag queens, Eat Your Heart Out is funny, charming, and all-around full of heart. I can’t wait for Volume 2.

I loved the found family, diversity, and the storylines in this book! The number of characters was a little overwhelming, but it didn't take away from the inter-connectedness of everything. I can't wait for volume 2! 4.5/5

Thank you to Net Galley and the authors for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The art, the story and the characters are all ✨️chefs kiss✨️. I loved this book and can't wait for volume 2. The only set backs for me are that I struggled with the number of characters and keeping track of them all and their stories.

There was so many to keep up with and learn that it made me wonder if there's a previous book and backstory that I'm missing. Either way, I'd love if there was a little list of the characters and their details!

Looooved the end of part one. I'm definitely hooked!

One of my favourite tropes is found family so I really enjoyed that this book featured a big queer found family living together! I also love the diversity of this book and the overall queer joy we got to experience.

I did find that the story jumped around suddenly a few times which made it confusing, and I wasn't the biggest fan of the art style. I also wish there were a few more female characters in the story!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

I absolutely love this graphic novel, I hope to be able to pre-order the frist volume, and can't wait for volume 2 to come out, even though this is volume one! The artwork is beautiful, with an engaging fun story. It follows Blanca, someone who just turned 18 who runs away to find a place for herself, and ends up in New York City.

Blanca's mom has her life set out for her and she has other plans, even if that means struggling and learning as she goes. You meet a cast of queer characters, her overbearing mom, and an engaging world they fall into.

More like a 2.5, but only because the artwork is utterly delightful. It’s colorful & cutesie & it really struck my particular fancy, but unfortunately the story just wasn’t up to par. It was very cliche and cheesy & I think it had a lot of deliberate progressive representation which always feels sorta lame rather than inclusive. This might work for someone looking for a wholesome G rated story but it just didn’t work for me unfortunately.

I really wanted it to tho! The 2 stars are entirely bc I adored the artwork!

this was very nice and heartwarming! The arc I was provided with had quite a few typos and grammar errors — both in English and in the Spanish that's spoken at times. This took me out of the story whenever it happened, but I still had a nice time with it.

Another negative I would point out is the pacing. Sometimes the change in scene was a bit abrupt, and even confusing in terms of the timeline. This might be fixed in the final version, though idk

Positives, though!!! This story had a found family, and the dynamics between the characters were very cute and accomplished considering how short the volume was! Also, great representation, and the art style is lovely! I genuinely don't think the cover does it justice.

All in all, I would definitely like to continue the series 😄

There is so much to like about Eat Your Heart Out. I was drawn to the cover right away and love the author’s art style. The detail and thought put into the outfits alone is impressive.

I love the whole cast of characters. They all feel so real and relatable. I especially love Reuben and Dom, but every single character was so unique and well done.

The only thing that threw me off a bit was the pacing was very fast, especially at the beginning. However, with so many characters and background to introduce it makes sense that it would be fast paced.

Overall, I really enjoyed this graphic novel and would recommend it. I can’t wait for volume two to see what happens next!

This story is one featuring a big cast of standout characters. When Blanca runs away to search for freedom and to chase her dreams, I saw a younger me hoping for the same — I can’t wait to learn more about her as the story continues, especially in the way she will go about achieving her dreams.

I was struggling a bit with the way that everything seemed to come easy to her after a few bumps in the road, but after reading what the creators had to say about what they hoped to achieve in this story and through this world, I really understood why things come so easy.

In life, people like Blanca (and myself — a Queer Latina) — deal with so many multilayered struggles, and that makes stories like this so appealing.

When she meets Emile by chance, she gets whisked away through the city by a kind soul and she’s adopted by a kind group of queer folk. In my own experience, I too have found solace in the lgbtqia+ community and this story is a beautiful take on a freeing, yet challenging, experience — which for Blanca is leaving behind everything she’s known, moving to a new place, and chasing her dreams.

This is long and may not be very cohesive as far as reviews go, but I would recommend this book to any and all of my friends so that they too can experience the comfort that this story gave me.

Absolutely love the fashion storyline! The found family aspect was so wholesome and sweet and just so lovely and the ending??? I had my suspicions ut that cliffhanger was crazy I need more immediately 🥲

This was so fun!! We need more diverse, friendship stories where characters can find a family in each other. Can't wait for more volumes!

This was a really good look at what it's like to be a runaway teen who arrives in New York City with nothing but a hope and a bag of her luggage.

Blanca, thankfully, strikes gold when she moves in with a bunch of queers and makes fast friends with them all. There's a lot of characters, so I struggled a bit to keep up with who was who, but the story itself was easy to follow.

There's an abundance of queer men, and queer POC men, which is wonderful to see. It's definitely lacking on the queer women front - but hopefully there will be more in volume 2.

Speaking of volume 2 - he fact this ended on a cliffhanger is sad-madenning. I wasn't expecting that! So I hope volume 2 comes out quickly!

Thanks netgalley for the arc.

Cute diverse and queer. What can you want more ???

This is literally the cutest kind of story. If you enjoy found family, queer joy and wholesome stuff : add this to your tbr asap.

It was one of the most pleasant graphic novel I've ever read. The drawing style is super colorful and sweet ! And the story was light yet still intriguing and omg I'm so looking forward for book 2 next year 💛

I just finished this graphic novel and I absolutely ADORED it!!! I am so thankful for receiving an ARC!!! It’s a very simple story and one you have read before, but the characters combined with the beautiful artwork made it so wonderfully unique! Each character was so remarkable it’s impossible to pick a favourite! They are all unique, sweet, funny and awesome! Characters I would love to have as best friends! Love, love, LOVE it!!! Can’t wait for Volume 2 (it ends on a slight cliffhanger😭)!

Thank you Negalley and publishers for sending me an arc of Eat Your Heart Out vol. 1 in exchange for an honest review

THIS WAS SO CUTE!!

Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the art style and vibrant colours, the content and plot was easy to read and enjoyable too.

Eat Your Heart Out follows our protagonist, Blanca, after she ran away from her mother and her mother’s expectations of what her life should look like. She arrives in New York, and stays in a house with various other people, who have made it into my top ten found families I’ve read about in a while. Something about the group of young, queer people living their lives in New York City learning to live their best lives is so wholesome and so fun to read about.

We get to see Blanca's different dynamics with each of her new friends. Each relationship is unique, and this is helped by each character having distinct, unique and different character voices. I felt like I could hear their various voices while I was reading.

Another thing I really appreciated about the story is the sensitive way that the difficult topics were dealt with. The creators didn't shy away from writing about these topics, but managed to include them in with a certain gentleness that kept the lighthearted atmosphere of the graphic novel.

All in all, this graphic novel was adorable, comforting and entertaining, and I am going to be eagerly awaiting volume 2 after that ending...

In terms of concept, art, and overarching plot, this is a solid 4.5/5 for me, but unfortunately I really struggled to follow all of the subplots and side characters as the scenes seemed to change with little to no context or back story as to what is going on and how they got from A to B.

I may still give volume 2 a go when it’s released but we’ll see.

What a delightful graphic novel. I love the illustration style and the vibrant colours in this story. The plot itself was also engaging.

I really enjoyed all the different characters in this story (although I have to admit I struggled with remembering who was who for a good while since a lot of them are introduced at once and sometimes the illustrations looked a bit similar). Bianca was a fun main character to follow and extremely relatable. I liked how she decided to follow her dream and brave the world alone. With all the great people she met, it truly paid off.

My favourite thing about this story were the found/chosen family vibes. It makes me happy reading about a group of young, queer people living in a New York brownstone together and just figuring out life. Especially when they’re such a wholesome bunch!

The ending actually made me go “oh you fucker!” so I absolutely need a sequel and I will be buying this for my graphic novel collection when it comes out.

Thanks Netgalley and Oni Press for letting me read an eARC of this book. Eat Your Heart Out Vol 1 comes out August 13th.