geetanshtea's Reviews (361)


“If there are really so many of us, I wonder why we never talk about it. And why I’m still a bit ashamed.” 

PARENTHESIS by Elodie Durand is a graphic memoir translated from French that narrates the author's experience with tumor-related epilepsy. It is actually my introduction to the field of graphic medicine, a unique form of sharing stories about chronic illness and disability that I find incredibly engaging, if not personally the most accessible. I thought this memoir was so effective in capturing the confusion, anger, embarrassment, and grief the author felt experiencing disability, memory loss, and chronic illness as a young adult, and I especially loved that she interspersed it with images that she had drawn during these periods. 

It reminded me a bit of Tara Sidhoo Fraser's WHEN MY GHOST SINGS in that sometimes we need to create a new form of writing to share our experience. Both memoirs create their own forms to share the experience of memory loss, in Fraser's case a new character called "Ghost," and in Durand's case, visuals that she created during her illness and the at times dramatically different art styles throughout the memoir.


slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Chalice of the Gods

Rick Riordan

DID NOT FINISH

honestly, this read like PJO fanfic to me, couldn't get into it

I Am Yours: A Shared Memoir

DID NOT FINISH: 32%

Didn't particularly enjoy the writing style and didn't feel connected enough to the characters to continue -- the pace was too quick for me.