Often when someone becomes ill, their identity is supplanted by their illness. The people around them no longer see a life in progress just the diagnosis. This bothers me about this sometimes compelling, often not graphic novel. We have lost the MOM to her CANCER while she is still alive. This is even reflected in the title where the key word is CANCER and not MOM. I can’t think that this was the intention of the author, this feeling of detachment—where instead of being the earth, MOM was relegated to the moon.

This book, however, does have some strengths. It might have been titled CANCER FAMILY instead of MOM’S CANCER to better reflect what it does best. There are three adult children. Seeing how each goes through their own stages in different ways and how they come together or don’t come together over the illness is to finally be invited into the story. The siblings are rendered with an honesty that makes them feel real. I wish that had been extended to the MOM.

I have been part of a cancer family several times, including my own mom, and expected this to hit me harder than it did. I actually hoped it would hit me hard as a means of remembering and grieving. Instead, I felt like I was reading about a plane crash from the point of view of the land that was hit rather than the people on board.