I Feel Awful, Thanks

by Lara Pickle

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels
Pages: 216
Rating:

Synopsis:

Joana has dragons inside her. Can she tame them before they burn her life down?

Joana is a young witch who secured her dream job with a coven in London, her favorite city, where she can dedicate herself to creating potions, her favorite activity! However, she will soon discover the reality of city life is not so idyllic. Finding a flat is an ordeal, her “dream job” is stressful, and she’s totally alone. Little by little, she makes her place, but fatigue, sadness, and doubts threaten to topple her hard-earned success... until she starts talking to a professional who helps her realize in order to take care of herself, she must know herself.

Lara Pickle’s I Feel Awful, Thanks comes out to being a depiction of anxiety and therapy in a fantasy world where emotions manifest near-physically, and turn into dragons if shut in a box and ignored. It’s, ah, not subtle. At all.

The fantasy world is one where magic is basically taken for granted: everyone can do a little, and some can do a lot more than most. Otherwise, it’s very much like our world, and the main character Joana goes from Spain to the UK for a first job helping to create new potions. Her work is stolen by her team leader, she makes some friends but falls into terrible patterns of bad communication with her boyfriend, and slams all her feelings into a box with predictable consequences.

As a discussion of how anxiety (and other feelings) can get bottled up and how you can treat yourself poorly in the process, it’s not bad. It’s a bit overly simplistic, of course, and it feels like Joana’s journey is vastly exaggerated as far as speed of recovery goes — but it does mention genuine techniques that you can try, and Joana and her friends are relatable and likeable enough to spend the time with.

Rating: 2/5