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A review by octavia_cade
Parenthesis by Élodie Durand
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
There's something quite terrifying about the central challenge here, which is Durand's tumour-induced epilepsy. There she is, going about her life and everything's normal, or it seems that way... except her brain periodically cuts out, and when she zaps back to full consciousness she doesn't even remember the lapse. The people around her certainly do, though - and it must be shockingly destabilising, being constantly told, by people you trust, that there's a problem with your mind and, by that problem's very nature, you can't even notice it, or not really.
It's like the beginning of a horror story, really it is.
In this case, it's a horror story with an (eventual) happy ending, as medical advances and an exceptionally supportive family lead to full recovery, but even so. I defy anyone to read this and not wonder, for a split second, if that time earlier in the day when they zoned out over some small boring thing wasn't indicative of a bigger problem. Hypochondria, certainly! Doesn't make the prospect of something like this any less dreadful, though.
It's like the beginning of a horror story, really it is.
In this case, it's a horror story with an (eventual) happy ending, as medical advances and an exceptionally supportive family lead to full recovery, but even so. I defy anyone to read this and not wonder, for a split second, if that time earlier in the day when they zoned out over some small boring thing wasn't indicative of a bigger problem. Hypochondria, certainly! Doesn't make the prospect of something like this any less dreadful, though.