I wanted Memento Mori by Tiitu Takalo (and Crank) to be this year’s Down to the Bone: A Leukemia Story by Catherine Pioli, but it did not turn out exactly as hoped. Still, Memento Mori is amazing and an emotional journey of life, possible death, and living, but maybe I was not as invested in the story as I was during my Pioli reading. After all, I read hers soon after/while I was dealing with health issues of my own, so I was still pretty invested in the health and well being of people. Not to say I was not investing in Titu’s life, after all she had brain aneurysms to deal with and I was there worried about her/with her, but I think I had been able to come to terms with my own health more, so it wasn’t “hitting as hard.”
Yet, there were times I was oh DAAAAMN! The talk about how she was feeling, the issues with the healthcare system (first the ambulance, then the hospital, her mental health journey and the follow ups) and her relationship with her guilt of not working and not “being right” but with no answers, did hit home. One thing that really hit home was the healthcare system and how it was different and similar to our own. I read the introduction, and recommend you do as well, as it talks about how the healthcare system is different from ours (allowing you to compare the similarities and differences) and other points that the author needed to make.
The illustrations were a bit more, not abstract than Pioli’s, but did not have the same “solidness” to them. They are done to push the ideas of the story/the text and less of their own character, but they are also a character by showing you things without words. Colors and details are both minimalist and busy depending on what is needed. The “artsy” aspect comes out more when you realize the author’s own artistic background.
Some of the medical situations could be triggering for some readers, such as mild vomiting, the issues her body and brain are going through (we get a map of red flowing through the body, but it is not real, just a visual symbol of things) and Takalo’s feelings can be difficult to read. Things have a simple, but not simplistic tone, which follows with the art. The text and art sets the tone, allowing the words to take you through things, but also giving a bit of the story as well to read in pictures.