Drawn Together: Illustrated True Love Stories

by Olivia de Recat

Experience the beauty of romance in this charmingly illustrated book showcasing true stories of true love, in all its magnificence and mess. From The New Yorker contributor and @drawingolive Instagrammer Olivia de Recat comes a heartwarming look at love, in its many forms. Drawing on interviews with "the best couples she knows"—young and old, from all walks of life—de Recat explores the what makes love work? But instead of trying to solve the puzzle of all relationships, ever, Drawn Together simply reflects the world back to itself, with stories of love and belonging, from pet names, to first date anxieties, to the enduring tales of life-long partnership. 

Throughout, Olivia gracefully weaves in her own experiences, exploring how sometimes finding love can mean learning to embrace yourself. A perfect gift for a partner, a couple celebrating an anniversary, or a friend who just went through a break up, Drawn Together is a hopeful, humorous, entertaining book that will inspire even the shiest among us to take a chance on love.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Graphic Novels

336 pages, Hardcover

Published July 5, 2022

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book is such a unique and heartfelt and eye-opening experience. I've never seen or read anything like it. It's so funny and insightful and open and somehow also informative? It's like a masterclass in love but told by your best friend. Her drawings are incredible. I laughed, I cried, I bought it this week and have already re-read it multiple times. WHAT MAGIC THIS BOOK IS!!! They should invent a more precise word than "book" to describe this, because it's so much more than anything I've ever read before! Ya gotta read this!!! Ya gotta!!!!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one you can pick up easily. I read it in two days and was swept away by the stories and the author’s own personal journey throughout the book. I laughed, I cried, and examined my own relationships. I especially loved the last chapter about coming home and self-love. Highly recommend for anyone who needs a reminder that love is out there, someone going through a breakup, or just a sweet gift for a friend. Go read it!💖

[Sarah Alvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet, honest look at different types of love stories. Come for the cute doodles, and stay for the vulnerability - you WILL laugh and cry and want to do something nice for yourself. Finally, in this sweet book of love stories - you can tell how much love the author put into every single (HAND DRAWN!) page.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an endearing and uplifting book. The art is adorable and often funny and the stories are beautiful.

[Eric Neil Pitsenbarger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deceptively austere in its presentation, this deeply felt examination of relationships and the human capacity for connectedness is multi-layered and emotionally intelligent. "Sweet" drawings beguile with humor, but soon I realized that this is a stealth template for the examination of one's self, of reaching beyond your safety zone, and for trusting. This is a book that serves a nutritious, crunchy dose of hope. Olivia de Recat is a cartoonist for the New Yorker, and I would compare her to other greats like Roz Chast, or Lynda Barry. This is brilliant, heady work dressed as "easy reading".

[Shannon Green-Kingery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olivia de Recat was inspired to write this graphic novel on love/relationships during the pandemic. Really understandable:) For her it is an interesting exercise on self-discovery and -acceptance seen through the exploration of how various couples of her acquaintance came to be together and what makes them stay together. Enjoyable.

[Janaina Settle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful put together book. I love how the author collected different and unique stories and brought it all together in a book. In addition, Her art and humor adds to why I put 5/5 stars. I laughed, smiled and became teary-eyed in between. For this being her first published book, she did an amazing job and look forward to more reads from this author 💕

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming, delightfully illustrated. Self-love chapter is required reading. 4/5 because it’s quite a quick read - would have loved a bit more substance in parts. But I did truly enjoy and appreciate this work.

[Paige Zalewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

The loveliest little book about love ❤️

I adored the growth this author showed, and all the stories were so heartwarming! There’s a lot of wisdom in this book. I felt especially drawn to it because I love to journal in this same way (combination of words and doodles). Highly recommend!

[Jvermeersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Observative, creative and self-reflective.
A compelling way to get immersed in the topic of what makes relationships work, with a clear message: one size does not fit all, or rather: many ways may work, depending on who you are.

[Shellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect—heartwarming, honest and funny. A beautiful look at what love can be.

[Anj Gagliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend to anyone currently exploring what love means to them. Witty and insightful.

[Silas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet and simple :)

[Leslie Jonsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent selection of true love tales with all ages and lifestyles represented.

[CSC · Rating 5 out of 5]

A spontaneous library grab, but I suspect this will end up being one of the most refreshing and romantic books I read all year.

[Alivia Norwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly poignant and charming.

[Natalie Riesberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love love. Sucha fun read.

[Olivia De · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good job, Olivia!
Love,
Olivia

[Karen]

A lovely graphic novel about love and couplehood, and about how different people meet and love each other. Strangely, this GR listing is for the audiobook?

[Stri Rani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple cutesy read.

[zararam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading this book to combat the crippling confusing I feel currently.

[Ariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

adorable 😭😭 i love love!

[Gabe Dulecki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stop 😭😭😭 I’m unwell this was so sweet and cute!!!! I love love!!!! I don’t often laugh out loud at books but there were several moments in this one that I did. I think this was beautifully done :’)

[Shana Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved hearing all these couples stories and how everyone defines love. It lost a star for too many Taylor swift references

[Julia Alfred · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 stars for cute and 4 for creativity. I loved the illustrations and the matter of fact wisdom.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO CUTE. Every single page is hand drawn!!! Including the writing!!!

[Sebadiaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a cute enough book which I generally enjoyed, but this is what they talk about when they say out-of-touch coast obsessed liberal elite. Of course, I would expect LGBTQ loves to be presented and celebrated, and the book does a fine job of that. Yet at the same time, does the author not know a single person who works a normal 9-5? Are there no office workers who know what love is? What about a happy middle american couple where she is a stay-at-home mom and church and religion is a key part of their love-language. I know she tried to include an example with the elderly couple, but that just made it clear that she really had to stretch to find a traditional romance she could relate too. Again, don't want to make it into a big deal, the book is lovely, it merely could have been better.

[Ava Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming, witty, and insightful little book about love. Reading about people's love stories with beautiful and silly drawings just made my heart happy! A great intervention for those of us habitually listening to The Prophecy by Taylor Swift (a little treat for swifties especially since there were multiple references to Taylor Swift throughout this graphic novel). Shoutout to Therapy Jeff for recommending this book, that man has never led me astray

[Xinmeng · Rating 4 out of 5]

All true love stories sound like legends