Item: Everything Is OK
Rating: 5.00
Author: quirkycat

by Debbie Tung

From the bestselling author of Quiet Girl in a Noisy World comes a gently humorous and poignant collection of comics about anxiety and depression—because sometimes even the simple things like getting out of bed every day feel like an uphill battle.

Everything Is OK is the story of Debbie Tung’s struggle with anxiety and her experience with depression. She shares what it’s like navigating life, overthinking every possible worst-case scenario, and constantly feeling like all hope is lost.

The book explores her journey to understanding the importance of mental health in her day-to-day life and how she learns to embrace the highs and lows when things feel out of control. Debbie opens up about deeply personal issues and the winding road to recovery, discovers the value of self-love, and rebuilds a more mindful relationship with her mental health.

In this graphic memoir, Debbie aims to provide positive and comforting messages to anyone who is facing similar difficulties or is just trying to get through a tough time in life. She hopes to encourage readers to be kinder to themselves, to know that they are not alone, and that it’s okay to be vulnerable because they are not defined by their mental health struggles. The dark clouds won’t be there forever. Everything will turn out all right.

Can we just stop and take a moment to appreciate the cover of Everything Is OK? Being a graphic novel, it's no surprise that Everything Is OK appreciates visual elements – but that cover is striking. It's the perfect balance of tones and pulls the reader in. At least, it pulled this reader in.

The other thing that really caught my attention about Everything Is OK is the promise. This graphic novel describes Debbie Tung's struggle with anxiety and depression. I imagine that is something many people can relate to – especially now. I have struggled my whole life with anxiety, so this book hit me hard.

This graphic memoir portrays all of Debbie Tung's experiences and insights, giving readers a chance to see through a lens, unlike their own experience. It has the good and bad moments, and everything in between.

I love how honest and real this graphic novel feels. Everything Is OK is easy to connect to, and I'm not just saying that because I, too, have dealt with anxiety. I think anyone could find a way to relate to Debbie Tung's writing and words; she does such a good job here.

Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Everything Is OK

by Debbie Tung

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on Oct 21, 2022

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