Dating and heartbreak summed up in nine cartoons by illustrator Mari Andrew

Mari Andrew taps into her emotions to tell a story through illustrations

Reprinted from Am I There Yet? Copyright © 2018 by Mari Andrew. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.

Expressing your thoughts and feelings through words can be difficult - so for Mari Andrew, writing and illustrating helps her put her experiences on paper.

The immensely popular artist has over 776,000 Instagram followers and is the author of the new book, “Am I There Yet?: The Loop-de-loop, Zigzagging Journey to Adulthood,” and her illustrations will resonate with anyone who has ever had a crush, went on a date, or felt the sting of heartbreak.

Drawing on inspiration from her own life, and her “great emotional memory,” Andrew told The Independent: “My work is completely autobiographical but often influenced by conversations I have with my wonderful friends, or phenomena that I see in the media (i.e. sexist tropes).

“It’s almost like being an actor; I tap into emotions that I felt at one point to tell the story I’m publishing now.”

And although Andrew told us: “I don't draw to deal with heartbreak, because it's important to me that the healing comes first before I put anything in public. I don't want to rely on Instagram as a means to heal myself, but I do enjoy drawing about a particular experience after I've processed it,” she says she has realised “how many people are going through the same challenges. We are so much more alike than we think we are.”

These are the nine of the best illustrations that depict dating, relationships, and love as a millennial.

1. Dating concerns

Reprinted from Am I There Yet? Copyright © 2018 by Mari Andrew. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.

2. First date report card

Reprinted from Am I There Yet? Copyright © 2018 by Mari Andrew. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.

3. Anatomy of a heartbreak

Reprinted from Am I There Yet? Copyright © 2018 by Mari Andrew. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.

4. Vows at the beginning of a relationship

5. Why I might have a crush on you

6. Anatomy of a two-month boyfriend

7. Questions I have for her

8. Types of crushes

9. Attraction (Drawn when Andrew was "very much in love")

Mari Andrew's book is a #1 bestseller (Copyright © 2018 by Mari Andrew. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.)

Mari Andrew's book is available for purchase here.