Comics are amazing as they can open our minds to a whole world of imagination. There are many comics and graphic novels which are based on real life and tell us about the human condition and humanity and It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thoroughgood is one such book.

It's an introspective, relatable and very truthful graphic novel about depression. I haven't felt depressed for many years but this comic did send me back into my memories of my difficult mid to late teens where I questioned everything and wasn't sure of my place in the world. Looking back that was more existential and a feeling of ennui than clinical depression but nonetheless, it felt monumentally overwhelming at the time. Thoroughgood describes her depression as something biological and chemical; 'I am not my depression. But sometimes it's comforting to believe that's all that I am' and 'Even on beautiful days like this one-it feels impossible to imagine a future where I don't kill myself.' When her depression hits it hits hard and the lockdown during the pandemic heightened her sense of isolation.

Through its varied art styles, including collage, manga, super deformed as well as videogame style like pixel art, we get to connect to her moods and feelings. Thoroughgood is effective at being self-deprecating but also brutally and harshly critical of herself and her process.

I enjoyed the graphic novel and, even though some parts were heartbreaking, I liked the honesty and earnestness of her writing.

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