This manga felt like falling into rapids only to be deposited on the shore safely at the end. I enjoyed what parts of the story I could pick up on but I did spend a fair amount of time lost as to how I went from point A to point B. I feel the character’s (and author’s) pain and happiness. I wish the storyline had been a bit clearer and maybe a bit better explained. It is a whirlwind of the emotional spectrum and a rough journey that many of us have unfortunately been on. I enjoyed the optimistic outlook at the end.

I was NOT a fan of this when I started it. The humour is off-colour and crude, and difficult topics are not handled with a lot of care, and the pacing is a little odd. I was tempted to not finish reading it. But I kept going, and I eventually did end up liking it quite a lot, especially when I realised it was autobiographical. The art style is probably my favourite thing about it, as it is a really lovely style.

Content Warnings for racism, fatphobia, homophobia, misogyny, eating disorder, parental abuse, partner abuse, violence

This graphic novel follows Georgie, who gets into the world of wrestling for a story that she is writing. But quickly she realizes that she wants to stay in this world.

We follow Georgie as she grows up and changes. I loved the story a lot. It explored a lot of themes like love, relationships and life struggles like an eating disorder. I also really liked the art. It was very beautiful.
I don’t really want to talk about the book much. I think you should just read it for yourself. It’s a wonderful book and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The illustrations were easy on the eye, unfortunately I found the story chaotic and quite uncomfortable.

Unfortunately this book was all over the place. The graphic novel telling a biographical story of a journalist entering the world of wrestling sounds interesting but this book doesn't fulfill the promised premise. The concept itself was enough for me to want to power through but there was just very little that would make it memorable. Even the art style, albeit well done, wasn't special or intriguing in any way.

Total suplex of the heart follows Georgie, a freelance journalist, as she enters the wrestling scene in order to write a new article for her website.

I learned after reading this that this graphic novel is semi-biographical which almost makes me feel bad for rating this so low, but I can't bring myself to rate it any higher.

This graphic novel covers a variety of important and serious topics from domestic abuse, homophobia, sexism, eating disorders and generational trauma. Unfortunately, it does not cover any of these topics in any detail and rather glosses over them to get to the next plot point. If you're looking for a book that takes any of these topics seriously this is not the one.

An example is when Georgie's partner, Steve, slaps her across the face for singing whilst cleaning the toilet. The next page she is having sex with him and it is never mentioned again.

The 'plot' is also very incoherent. It jumps from plot point to plot point with zero cohesion or flow. On several occasions I found myself flicking back and forth, believing that I had skipped pages accidentally, I had not. There are just simply major gaps in the storytelling.

The ending also left much to be desired. There is no character growth or development, nor is there any conclusion to the story. There is a massive betrayal from Steve on more than one front and then it ends abruptly. Not really sure what happened there.

Thank you netgalley and Humanoids Inc for providing an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own

Total Suplex of the Heart follows Georgie, a journalist who enters the wrestling space. This semi-biographical graphic novel discusses eating disorders, misogyny and domestic violence which are all important topics that don’t seem to get delved into enough. This graphic novel’s plot goes at breakneck speed and quite honestly glosses over everything, including your ability to like Georgie. It didn’t feel fleshed out enough for me and was a struggle to finish. I do think those that enjoy or have an interest in wrestling would enjoy this book.

Although this book wasn’t for me, I did enjoy aspects of the story, and the journey that the main character goes on. The illustrations are well done and it was overall a solid read. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was into wrestling!

I jumped into this graphic novel without knowing much about the story, drawn in by the cover. It was an interesting story (and not what I expected). Georgie’s life is a mess, but it’s hard not to find yourself rooting for her/wanting things to get better/work out. I didn’t realize it was autobiographical until the end and it tackled some difficult topics - mental health/illness, disordered eating, abusive relationships, body image issues, and more (so could be good to know before reading). While many of the characters in and out of her life are less than stellar, I enjoyed the few folks truly in her corner. The artwork was really nice - it looked very polished, fun, brought the characters to life. Overall I’m glad I read it and thanks for NetGalley for the copy.

This is very much an R Rated graphic novel, so heads up going in the title for me read a little more romance a little less spice. However its not all spice it defiantly does give in to it about half way in.

The story follows a female journalist who dives in to the world of wrestling to get a first hand account for a online journalism piece. She finds out quickly that the world of wrestling is very sexist and homophobic in ways she didn't previously understand. She's learning the double standards that really effect women in wrestling. He attractive, and have people want you, but don't give in. Be strong, but not to strong, not threating, never stronger than a man. Be there to make the man look good but don't outshine him.

She is learning a lot about her self through the story as well. Not knowing how others are feeling and how that effects you. Not wanting to hurt a friend but also knowing you two want the same thing or person.

This feels very coming of age, in all the good ways.


Thank you Netgalley and Humanoids Inc for allowing me to read this for an honest review.
#TotalSuplexoftheHeart #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers

I went into this blind and I wasn't sure when I started if I would like it however as it went on I understood the main character a little better. This was an ok afternoon read, I'm not sure if I was the intended audience.

Total Suplex of the Heart is a great autobiographical story about a journalist going undercover in a local hardcore wrestling promotion.

Thanks to NetGalley and Humanoids Inc for the ARC.

Could not get into it, sadly. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the free eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I appreciate that this is a biography graphic novel, and I always find it tough to give a less-than-favorable review. I thought the premise was quite intriguing, but I felt that the execution could have been improved. There were quite a few important issues brought up, but it seemed like many of them weren’t fully explored or resolved. Some moments did make me feel a bit uncomfortable, but I want to highlight that the artwork was really fantastic! want to highlight that the artwork was really fantastic!

Realmente quería disfrutar de TOTAL SUPLEX OF THE HEART pero no está exento de fallos. El principal de ellos: la historia se siente bastante desconectada, como si estuviéramos saltando de un momento de la vida de Georgie a otro, sin ninguna transición. Un minuto, una Georgie sin entrenar está tratando de conseguir trabajo en el ring local; al siguiente, ya está actuando con otros luchadores. Ella y Steve tal vez están saliendo, luego - ¡bam! - se une a él en PA. Georgie es acosada sexualmente e incluso agredida en varios puntos de la historia, y luego el tema simplemente... ¿se deja de lado? Incluso la recuperación de Georgie de un trastorno alimentario se siente un poco demasiado fácil; casi anticlimática, de hecho. Tal vez sea porque leí el ARC, pero la historia me pareció un poco sin pulir.

Por el lado positivo, las ilustraciones son encantadoras, y hay suficientes referencias a PARKS AND REC como para satisfacer a la sirena terrestre poética y noble que llevamos dentro. También me encantaron las escenas con JT y su madre - hubiera querido ver más de esos dos.

A fictionalized account of the author's journey as a female wrestler, exploring the challenges of toxic relationships, the struggles of being a woman in a male-dominated sport, and battles with eating disorders. Blending humor and raw honesty, it tackles heavy issues with an unfiltered voice. Perfect for fans of the film Fighting with My Family.

I loved the artwork in this graphic novel. I also really liked the story. It did take me some time to get into it, but when it got me I pressed on.
I think the book has some topics that might be very recognizable for people, so that's very nice.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Total Suplex of the Heart is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel following Georgie, a young woman with a burgeoning career in freelance journalism who decides to go undercover in the world of local amateur hardcore wrestling circuit to investigate the ins-and-outs of this at time sordid and certainly alluring scene. As she gets her start acting as a valet (someone--usually a woman--who accompanies another wrestler--usually a man--into the ring to excite the crowd or interfere in the match, as needed), she quickly finds herself ingriated with the locals, making friends, enemies, and then some as she dives deeper and deeper into the wrestling world unfolding before her.

First thing's first: this art is GORGEOUS. The characters look amazing; the character design is sleek and gorgeous while not sacrificing a certain realism to the designs, and it perfectly fits the story it is depicting. The colors are appropriately moody, and it really adds to the sense of atmosphere that the story is trying to invoke.

All of the characters depicted feel very *real,* in a "these people are SO messy" sort of a way, which made the narrative feel more grounded and compelling to me (a serial lover of messy, complicated people). This messy realness could, in all fairness, also make it very hard to root for anyone presented in this graphic novel, but that's the thing with people: nobody is usually 100% good or 100% bad, and that very much comes through in the writing of these characters, who may be loosely or firmly based upon actual people in the author's life.

Even the author's own expy is not immune to being a complete wreck who makes some severely bad choices, but that's what makes her Real--she struggles severely with her childhood trauma which, in turn, spirals into her making rash sexual and interpersonal decisions and dealing with an eating disorder as she tries to lay claim to her own life and choices. This part, at least, is entirely too relatable to me.

These messy characters, alongside the depiction of abuse in relationships and the realities of the very-often misogynistic, homophobic, racist, etc. world of hardcore wrestling, can be something of a heavy, bitter pill, but it makes for a story that feels deeply authentic and fascinating for me. It is best summarized as being a hot mess of a story about a bunch of hot messes, and I wouldn't change that, even if some readers might not find that to be to their tastes.

The ending is a little abrupt, but given that this is based on the author's real life, I can understand why it left off as it did, and there are pacing issues--often, we fly through any semblance of characters bonding or relationships unraveling, and months will pass by from one panel to the next without mention particularly in the latter half of the novel, which can be a bit difficult to follow at times.

Overall, I enjoyed this graphic novel. It's not perfect, but nobody is, right?
3.5 out of 5, rounded up.

Content Warnings: Eating disorders, bullying, OCD, child/familial abuse, domestic abuse/violence, sexual harrassment and assault, infidelity.

Total Suplex of the Heart by Joanne Starer and Ornella Greco is a semi autographical graphic novel about Georgie who is a journalist that becomes a wrestler, and her journey. It is a graphic novel that deals with messy people and quite a lot of heavy subjects like domestic abuse, misogyny and eating disorders, so it can be pretty hard to read at times. When I went into the book, I hadn’t expected it to be as heavy as it was. The art is nice and feels natural, but the pacing of the story is quite fast. For me personally, the book didn’t fully hit the spot. I think it would be a better fit for someone who has more of an interest in wrestling, and is aware of the tough subjects and is comfortable with them being dealt with fairly heavy handedly. I was quite uncomfortable with how some things were barely or not dealt with at all, which impacted my overall experience reading the book.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I can't say I got what I have read. For most of the book, I was totally confused about what was happening. BUT, I loved this book, on the one hand. The characters were nice, the plot was beautifully written. I really liked the drawings and colors. 3,5-4 ⭐