Thinking Of You (but not like in a weird creepy way): A Comic Collection by Beth Evans

This is a sweet collection of affirmations featuring Beth Evans’ cute blobs telling you that someone is always in your corner, even if they don’t know you and you don’t know them.

Because it’s true, innit? There are millions of people like Ms Evans who genuinely care about the well-being of others. We may not know how to fix your problems, and we may not always approve of your choices, but we believe that you’re strong and worthy. Maybe not of lifting Thor’s hammer, but definitely of starting a new day tomorrow. Every day, every hour, every minute is a fresh opportunity to be your best self, to be kind, to do good, to spread love and joy while maintaining your own boundaries and sense of self-respect.

Which is absolutely what Ms Evans does with this book. Most of the pages are filled with positive messages spoken by cute, emotive blobs. Reminders of your self-worth are interspersed with motivations to do that thing that scares you, even if it’s “just” opening an email with potentially negative news. She urges readers not to wallow in self-doubt or to engage in self-destructive cycles, accompanying her bite-sized pieces of advice with disarmingly adorable illustrations. Interspersed with these pages are slightly longer notes about why she wrote this book that read like letters from a friend.

This is all done in modern, empathic language that fully engages with the burdens of your average sensitive person. I want to run out and buy copies for all my friends who are struggling with their mental health right now (so, basically, all my friends.) Having recently had a run-in with a destructive narcissist, tho, I couldn’t help but wonder whether a person like that would read a book like this and take all the wrong messages from it. I venture to think that they wouldn’t even touch this book, considering it unnecessary. A part of me wants everyone, regardless of whether they think they need it, to read this book in order to learn more empathy, and perhaps to start healing the wounds that cause them to lash out and hurt others.

While Thinking Of You is certainly no substitute for therapy and a circle of supportive friends, it’s definitely a nice way to remind yourself that you are not the worst person in the world, and that there are perfect strangers out there who care a lot that you keep existing and trying to live your best life. Sure there are also a lot of people who are terrible and mean, but there are so many of us who believe in you. If you need a little psychological pick-me-up, this is a wonderful book to have handy.

Thinking Of You (but not like in a weird creepy way): A Comic Collection by Beth Evans was published today May 2 2023 by Andrews McMeel Publishing and is available from all good booksellers, including