I found the premise quite interesting but the execution was rather lacking. I felt as if there were a lot of issues raised but almost none properly tackled or resolved. On the contrary, many instances made me uncomfortable. The art, however, was very good.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this eARC to review.

Review to come Sept 28 on blog/other places.

I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange of an honest review.

In this one a girl goes into the world of wrestling for her journalist job and then stays with it. I really loved her idea for the article and I loved how, instead of just staying on the sidelines and write an article that way, she just went deep inside the world. Became a part of it. Participated in some fights. Wore some questionable outfits (even she wasn't always so amused). We see that the world of wrestling isn't always pretty. There is the manager who could easily be sued for sexual harassment. There are some real fights between the guys. There is one girl who is shunned by others because she slept with everyone. And other things. It was an interesting look in the world. I loved how Georgie stayed a part of the world, first as undercover, then to help out her boyfriend, and then also thought of some great ideas herself which made me so excited and happy. I loved how she tried to grow. Given her past and also how Steve is, she could just have given up, but she stuck to it. Learned new things. Tried out ideas. Love it!

But yeah, she was a bit dodgy on the whole man front. Those two guys on the cover? The left is her boyfriend and the right is the guy who I definitely thought was the better choice. Then there is also another wrestler that Georgie dated/had sex with before (and around) the time she met and got closer to Steve (which yes felt a bit iffy). 

I loved seeing her make friends, not just with girls, but also with guys. I loved seeing them all just hang out and do fun things. 

She also has an eating disorder and sees her body totally different from what others see, which hit me quite badly. I am not sure if I would say I have an eating disorder... well maybe others would say the way I look at food isn't healthy. But I definitely understood how what she saw in the mirror was different from what others see. I am the same. My hubby and others will say I look good, but what I see, almost always, is a fat chubby girl. I often will describe myself as a whale. Because that is my reality. That is what I see when I look in the mirror. That is what I feel when I touch my stomach or hips. So yeah, I had to hold at times because it was like, OH. OH. Oh no. 

We also get bits featuring abuse (our MC was beat by her mom and well Steve wasn't the best though he only hit her once, but there were enough verbal and emotional abuse on that one). Our MC hasn't had the easiest life and that also explained some of her more questionable choices she at times made. 

But I didn't like the ending. Our MC finds out things about her bestie and her boyfriend and then stuff happens with the show and the book is over. It felt so incomplete and I was definitely wondering if I missed something. It was just so anticlimactic. I had expected just a bit more. Just a bit more ties to the loose ends. 

The art was pretty fun, it reminded me at times of Giant Days, and I love that! 

All in all, despite the open ending and some other things just feeling a bit all over the place, I am happy to have read this graphic novel. It was an interesting read!

Thank you net gallery for this arc.

A very interesting premise completely bungled, filled with internalized misogyny and character heel turns with no build up. This book is not sensitive or good enough to successfully deal with the issues it tackles.

This book is more honest about your mid 20s than a lot of readers are going to want. The ending is also unresolved, but realistic.

Gorgeous art, and there are moments of great character work, but overall it was a bit scattered and lacked cohesion. The story feels really rushed, and it jumps from relationship to relationship in a way that doesn't allow the emotional beats to land.

Thank you to netGalley for the ARC!

Honestly this want what I expected this to be, it turned out so much better and way more emotional than I expected! The art is great and the story is entertaining and at times kinda emotional. I loved it!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

I was really excited to read this from the title alone and the themes of women in wrestling. Unfortunately it missed the mark for me. The book explored many themes, including emotional abuse, sexism, and eating disorders, but it jumped around a lot and didn’t tackle any of the themes thoroughly

When I started reading this graphic novel I didn't really know where I was going to go and the truth is that as I progressed I realized what the story wanted us to see. About what the author wanted to tell us through Total Suplex of Heart.

When you get to the end and read the author's words, everything makes more sense. It is not a novel in which one can judge the protagonist, one simply sees her and tries to understand her. I think he was very brave for having made this graphic novel and for exposing his soul in this way.

Thank you very much Humanoids Inc for the ARC I read on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love the art in this novel. I feel like it was really striking and the story was quick to read and entertaining. I do wish some of the plot hadn’t been so rushed, as I felt like a lot of topics could’ve been expanded on but I would still recommend.

I really wanted to like this, and I know you can only do so much with a graphic novel - but I felt like we were missing so much more information. The transitions between scenes felt very rushed and incomplete. I liked the premise of the story and the fact that the FMC realizes that family isn't only blood. I get the story was inspired by the authors life, but those weird comments from the men rubbed me the wrong way in the beginning.

This was a really great story!!! Even if it was really sad at the same time too. I didn't realize until I reached the end that it was actually based on someone's life and experiences in the wrestling world. I really enjoyed Georgie's journey and what it took for her to heal and grow as a person. The graphics for this comic were really good too. I also enjoyed JT I think he was my favorite character besides Georgie.

The cover had me hooked before I even knew the premise of the story. The art style was fantastic (*Chef's Kiss*), no notes from me on that. I do, however, have many notes on the writing. It felt jumpy, disconnected, and there were parts where I genuinely had no idea how the previous line and panel led to the next line and panel. I know that as I am writing this review, the book has already been released, but I really hope that there was more editing from this ARC to the final product. It was readable, but confusing at times.

Total Suplex of the Heart was a quick and entertaining read. The novel's art work is amazing and the characters created each have their own distinct personality. Georgie's growth through out the novel was a plus as well as the conversations that many of the problems associated with wrestling today. However I honestly wish the story was longer. Parts of Georgie's story felt rushed or even glossed over which would have given the reader a deeper connection to her character. I was saddened to see what I had hoped would be a meaningful and powerful female friendship be thrown away in the last few pages due to a man. While, I may not have enjoyed the entire book.it still was a worthwhile read.

This wasnt an easy read and I struggled to get into it at the beginning. Nonetheless it told an important and powerful. story! Not Bad!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for giving me this eArc to review.

The best thing about this graphic novel is the art as the story, whilst being semi-autobiographical, didn't have the depth that I expected. The concept is great but the story focuses more on men than the wrestling and what she achieved. The beginning feels like it is missing pages due to lack of depth and exploration as to how she got into wrestling. I also feel that the friendships that the main character had with women was stereotypical which I didn't enjoy.

In my opinion, I just don’t think this graphic novel was fleshed out enough: the themes (eating disorders, abusive relationships, being a woman in wrestling), the relationships between the mc and her love interest and the plot itself. It was trying to much with too little pages.

With that said, I am fairly interested in a fully biographical graphic novel by the author (since this one is only inspired by).

DNF @31% - I feel like I’m cheating a bit DNF’ing a graphic novel, but I really can’t with this. It just jumps around from scene to scene with no real line through it all. A lot developement has happened of screen already. We get 0 explanations for anything so everything just comes out of complete nowhere, and I can already tell that I’m going to DESPISE this main character by the end of it. I’m sorry, this just REALLY isn’t my thing.

i went in blind for this one as i thought the cover art and title were intriguing, but i thoroughly enjoyed how much care was given to it's portrayal of domestic violence in relationships and with sexism in the sport. i also didn't realize it was semi-autobiographical so i can't fault the author's lived experiences, but i wasn't as engaged with the wrestling plot-line.

thank you netgalley and lifedrawn for this arc!

this was a semi-autobiographical graphic novel about the authors experiences in independent wrestling. i was drawn to this as a wrestling fan but i didn’t fully know what to expect. i understand there are limitations in telling a story like this in this medium, but it felt like there was a LOT left unaddressed. overall it was a fun read that handled some heavy subject matter, but i definitely had some issues with the way those subjects were handled. this IS semi-autobiographical though, so i can’t fault the author for the way she’s talking about her lived experiences.

Total Suplex of the Heart is a semi-autobiographical, inspired-by story of a woman getting into underground wrestling-- and aaaaaaaaaaaall the men it comes with. It's a messy story but one that's really true to life and one that makes you go "oh no...." more than once! But not in a bad way, and despite Georgie's flaws you still want to root for her and hope for the best despite the dicks (both literal and figurative) around her.

There's several content warnings a reader should be aware of if they need it (domestic violence, cheating, EDs, abusive parents, letting oneself be controlled by a SO, emotional abuse/manipulation, dead beadrooms, etc) which may not be expected in a full color, cartoony graphic novel but it just goes to show how varied graphic novels can be!

Thank you to Humanoids Inc/Life Drawn and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for review!