My Pancreas Broke But My Life Got Better - Book Review

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Photo from Seven Seas Entertainment

My Pancreas Broke, But My Life Got Better is the latest autobiographical diary entry from Nagata Kabi creator of the Harvey-award winning My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness (2017) and the Eisner-nominated series My Solo Exchange Diary (2018-2019). My Pancreas Broke, But My Life Got Better is 160-pages long and was published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment on 07 November 2023. The book begins with Nagata being told that she has developed pancreatitis due to her alcoholism and will need to be admitted to hospital for treatment. The news does not surprise Nagata who was hospitalized with pancreatitis once before in My Alcoholic Escape from Reality (2021). After spending five days at the hospital, Nagata decides that she cannot stand being a patient any longer, so she rips her IV out of her arm and escapes from the hospital. She goes back to her house and eats all of the food in her fridge and then makes herself vomit it all back up. The rest of the book focuses on Nagata getting psychiatric help for her alcoholism and accepting that she will have to give up drinking.

I've read and reviewed all of Nagata Kabi's books. This was the first book of hers that I've read where I felt horrified by her behaviour. I think that Nagata is brave to share stories about her struggles with mental health and addiction. But this book felt like it crossed a line. It was so upsetting in parts I almost couldn't finish it. When she ripped the IV out of her arm, my jaw dropped. I can't imagine ever doing something like that to myself. When she returned to her house and started binging and purging, I felt so sad for her. I don't understand the title for this book. Her life has not gotten better it has gotten worse. I had sympathy for Nagata when she talked about the guilt that her parents make her feel for writing autobiographical manga. Nagata has spoken before about this. She doesn't want to shame her parents but she also wants to keep making autobiographical manga because she enjoys it and feels like she is good at it. On top of all of the guilt she feels, she he also feels a lot of pressure to create new content based on her life. With all of that weighing on her, I am not surprised that has developed an eating disorder and suffers from depression.

I wish I could say that I enjoyed this book but I didn't. It made me uncomfortable. I know that recovery from addiction is a long difficult road and it can be normal for people to slip up. I have been rooting for Nagata to get sober for a while now. After reading this book, I can't help but wonder if Nagata is really serious about getting sober. Because it seems like she is making bad choices on purpose to create content for future books.

Summary: Nagata Kabi is forced to give up drinking after her struggles with alcohol cause her to develop a flare up of pancreatitis which leads to her being admitted to hospital.
Website: My Pancreas Broke, But My Life Got Better - Seven Seas Entertainment
Cost $29.99
More Book Reviews by Marisa
My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness - Book Review
My Solo Exchange Diary - Book Review
My Solo Exchange Diary 2 - Book Review
My Alcoholic Escape From Reality - Book Review
My Wandering Warrior Existence - Book Review

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