Eat Your Heart Out Volume 1 had me flipping through the pages with hunger. writers Terry Blas and Matty Newton with illustrator Lydia Anslow invite us into the world of Blanca, a recent high school grad fighting to fulfill her own dreams outside of her mother’s grip. Pressured by her mother into coming up with a “life plan” that involves her studying business, Blanca makes a run from home (taking the opportunity of being home alone while her mother is on a business trip) in the hopes of beginning the life plan she has dreamt for herself.
Once out of Idaho and in New York, readers see Blanca learning to navigate life in a bustling cityscape she’d only heard about in her father’s stories. Blanca’s art is sewing. Fashion is her calling and that’s ultimately what drives her to New York. Once there, she meets Emile who opens the doors for Blanca in terms of friendship and the literal doors to the house he rents out with a few other roommates.
Emile, Andy, Dom, Brady, Evan/Thai Dishes, Nic, and Reuben welcome and build community with Blanca as she learns bits and pieces of everyone’s histories. Blanca’s real time to shine is when Thai Dishes has a wardrobe malfunction before her show at a local bar Tableau. After the ordeal is over and Thai Dishes impresses with her talent and wardrobe (thanks to Blanca’s sewing skills), Blanca’s roommates continue to invite her into spaces that serve as inspiration and opportunities for the young designer.
The narrative is one of community, dream seeking, acceptance, love, family, and self-discovery. Along with the positive, the story also discusses some hard issues such as homelessness as an LGBTQ youth, homophobia, loss of loved ones, and overbearing, toxic parents. The writers bring sensitivity and care towards these topics as the reader learns more about each of the characters and what they have experienced in their respective lives. Eat Your Heart Out is not only a story about Blanca finding herself, but a story about building community with those who accept and support you and your dreams.
Along with the positive, the story also discusses some hard issues such as homelessness as an LGBTQ youth, homophobia, loss of loved ones, and overbearing, toxic parents.
The art style and colors in the graphic novel are phenomenal. Anslow’s animated faces and detailed panels added emotions that made me empathize with what the characters were going through in their respective panels. I could not get over how cute some of the character designs were drawn. The cute aspect made it feel like the characters were my friends, and on the other hand, when it came to the adversaries of the story, the art conveyed a sense of needing to keep my distance. Each character design was as unique as their stories. From Evan and Emile’s childlike wonder to Brady and Reuben’s loving, parent-like care to Dom’s cold “too cool for you” attitude, there was never a dull moment with the designs of each character. I would say it was the complex facial expressions that pushed the artwork to another level in this graphic novel.
Claudia Aguirre’s color selections blended together words and images in an impactful way. The stunning splash pages sprinkled throughout were a great break from traditional panel layouts and helped emphasize important moments while giving the pages distinct movement. The artists knew how to visually push readers back in time during the flashbacks and expertly moved attention into new scenes with their use of strong visual cues and energetic color palettes.
My favorite moments involved the flashbacks, especially of Blanca and her Abuela. The sepia tones that colored the memory reminds the reader that we are in a flashback, but the decision to use vibrant colors for the abuela shows how formative this lesson was for young Blanca. The lettering only added more interest to the story as the font changes between dialogue, captions, and digital conversations were distinct from one another allowing for a clear understanding of what was happening.
There are many questions swirling around after putting down the first volume. What is going to happen to Blanca and her romantic interest? Will her mother find her? What will we learn about her other roommates in part two? Will Blanca become the designer of her dreams?
Eat Your Heart Out is such a great read and I am anxiously awaiting Volume 2 in 2025. Dreams are something to chase after, and watching Blanca chase hers is heartwarming and worth the journey.
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