Parenthesis by Élodie Durand

Published: 9 February 2021

Genres: Graphic Novel, Memoir

Available as: Paperback

Summary:

Parenthesis focuses on the character of Judith, based on the author’s experience. The black-and-white drawings represent her journey as she struggles to piece together her memory and experience with epilepsy with the help of her friends and family.

Review

I would recommend this book to young adults and adults interested in learning more about how people live with epilepsy, who struggle with illness, or who might be struggling readers. There were two elements that I enjoyed. One was the repetition of images to represent when the epilepsy worsened again. The other element I enjoyed were the black and white doodles. They expressed the character’s changing sense of self and provided spacing between the pages that had more text and images. One element that confused me was the beginning of the text. At first, I thought the character was experiencing young-onset dementia. However, if the reader sticks with the text, her condition begins to be explained in more detail and the reader learns about the condition as the character relearns and reviews her memories.