Mis(H)adra .. it took some looking around to understand the parenthetical title (H). In Arabic misadra = seizure and mishadra = ‘I cannot’

A fitting and incredibly nuanced title for Iasmin Omar Ata’s deep dive into pain and despair felt when a person perceives themselves as alone, burdensome, and dismissed by the medical community.

Phenomenal graphic novel

Isaac, an Arab-American college student, is five years deep into his new norm with epilepsy. Each day he gets further and further removed from his friends and family.

Isaac’s epilepsy is visualized as strings of pearls with knives and eyeballs. Anytime he is triggered (dehydration, exhaustion, stress) the blades come out in a menacing, but pseudo protective way. Early in the book, the implied violence gains a footing as Isaac loses an eye during a seizure.

Mishadra follows the mental turmoil of Isaac as he struggles to cope and pushes to retain his new friendship with Jo, the only person he has ever honestly opened up to.

This is the type of books, the type.of stories deserves to be told.
I live for this illustrations, really love it. The colors, the edition, and all was really perfect. I conected so good with the storie and that is something I really need when I'm reading.

I was immediately very bored. I am planning to try to (re)read this book since I did have to dnf it. I can't really say why I didn't enjoy this one, but that's fine.

'Mis(h)adra' with words and art by Iasmin Omar Ata is a story about trying to live with an illness that no one around you understands.

Isaac is a student, but he has seizures, so he misses a lot of classes. His father doesn't understand, and Isaac is irritable with everyone around him. As he becomes more isolated with the people around him, he finds a new friend that wants to help. When doctors won't seem to understand, his friend Jo is there to help out. When Isaac reaches the bottom, Jo shares her own experiences.

This book at first was kind of a chaotic mess and it kind of drove me crazy, until a light went on that it was supposed to be that way. At over 200 pages, the story could have been a bit shorter, but by the end, I really liked it. Especially when I found out the story was based on the author's experiences. This seems like a scary thing to go through, and surviving it took courage.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Gallery 13 and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

The review is too long to post here - pls read link

The review is too long to post here - pls read link

The review is too long to post here - pls read link

I loved this. It's an exploration of epilepsy through the lens of one character's struggle, and the art in this graphic novel is so unique and evocative that I am now insisting on showing it to everyone I know.

Mis(h)adra is a gorgeously drawn novel, and much like the author, the style falls somewhere between Eastern and Western styles. We follow the story of a college student struggling with epilepsy while trying to navigate a family in denial, his own denial about his condition, the rigors of life, and the pull of depression and addiction.

I really loved this novel for its originality of story. This kind of tale doesn't get told everyday and its really important that it does. I didn't share anything in common with the narrator, but I still connected with him and was geniunely interested in what happened. Also, the artwork is lovely and riveting.

The topics weren't something I was used to read about and they surprised me greatly, in a good way. The art was striking and fit the themes perfectly. Overall pretty good.

Amazing, semi-autobiographical graphic novel centered around an Arab-American university student and his experience with epilepsy. Iasmin Omar Ata beautifully captures what it is like to actually experience a seizure. Would definitely recommend for anyone wishing to know more about epilepsy, or for anyone looking for a good graphic novel.

Wow - love this art.

Another good book with subject matter that helps me learn about living in someone else’s shoes.

The art is amazing. And the story about someone learning to live with epilepsy is intense.

The minimalist use of color was an excellent choice - and the color changes when he has a seizure is jarring. This is really different, and it’s really well done.

A bit experimental. Definitely different than what I’m used to. Which is a good thing. Definitely worth reading.

Highly recommended.

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery 13 for a copy in return for an honest review.</i>

This is a beautiful illustration of a condition as difficult to comprehend as epilepsy - the illustrator is able to show how epileptic aura (the horrible promise of seizures to come) follow Isaac around just waiting for the opportunity to strike.

This isn't a dramatic story, it's reads more like a memoir that shows a young man coming to terms with his diagnosis. It's purpose is to give you, the reader, an insight into the life of someone suffering from epilepsy - from seizure triggers to the weight of carrying the risk of seizure around with you every day. The ending of this novel isn't particularly satisfying, but if there's anything to be learnt from this novel - it's to make the small wins count.

I would recommend this graphic novel to absolutely anyone - the message will benefit everyone and the artwork is simply wonderful.

This was a beautiful story depicting the struggles that individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses go through in their everyday lives. It's a tough read, but the artwork soothes the soul while you learn about the trials and victories that come along with the life of a disabled individual (in this case, a boy with epilepsy). I appreciated the insight into this world, as the author also has epilepsy.

This is such a brilliant story and very powerful too.

It depicts the author's struggle with epilepsy by telling the story of a young man named Isaac who has epilepsy and it tells his story through art. I have read a number of graphic novels which focus on health issues and I feel that the graphic novel is a very powerful medium for explaining the struggles and victories of people who live with serious health conditions.

This novel is definitely worth reading. It is thoughtful in the way it depicts Isaac's struggles. The real beauty about this story is that the artwork is quite simple and the language that accompanies the art is also simple, but at the same time the message and the impact of the story is very hard hitting. I felt that the art uses a limited range of color but this actually works. The use of black and red depicting when Isaac has his epileptic attacks and the blue thread showing the aura before an attack impresses upon the reader the way Isaac is rendered helpless and that this is approaching danger. It conveys this effectively and without the use of words. It also has a way of drawing the reader into the epileptic episode.

We are also shown the power of friendship and community, and at the same time the barrier and challenges that Isaac has to face in order to receive strength from being part of this community. Frustration is also another emotion that is quite clearly conveyed in the story and as a reader we get to experience Isaac's frustrations both with his health condition and with the medical establishment and their refusal to listen to him and take his complaints seriously. Then there are all the difficulties with family and how Isaac struggles to get them to understand the seriousness of his condition.

This is this is a thoughtful story and very emotional too. As I read it I wanted to be the friend who was relentless in her support of him. Everyone needs someone like that in their lives even if they don't have a health condition. The book shows quite clearly that empathy can help a person who is struggling with life and once again it shows this in a subtle way without directly telling us.

I really enjoyed reading this. Epilepsy is not something that I am familiar with but through this book I feel that I have actually come to understand a little bit more about it. This is definitely a graphic novel that is well worth reading.

Copy provided by publisher via net galley in exchange for an unbiased review.

When it comes to illnesses, especially those that feed on emotional reactions to external stimuli, it is wise to not assume too much but listen to its sufferers and do what you can to empathise - even when you do not understand half of what is being said. This is because, unless you have come under the hand of the illness itself or you are close to someone who has, you may never truly understand what its sufferers go through. The graphic novel, Mis(h)adra, shines a clearer light on this for me, as I realise the emotional and psychological toll epilepsy takes in its sufferers.

Mis(h)adra is a fictional account (loosely based on the author's own life) of an epileptic patient called Isaac. The book chronicles how neighbourhood noises, insensitive comments, and Isaac's own negative thoughts, contributes to a debilitating anxiety that gives the illness more power to manifest itself. The book also shares how easy it sometimes can be for people suffering from epilepsy to develop an addiction for the medicine they are taking and from there take an overdose. Most importantly, Mis(h)adra reveals what it sometimes takes for epilepsy sufferers to rise above the illness. The book shows that reaching out, taking one day at a time, not giving up is key to managing it.

For those who know little or nothing about epilepsy but want to have a basic understanding from the perspective of a patient, Mis(h)adra is a wonderful educational tool. Also, those with the illness can read and take encouragement from Isaac's story, using it as an emotional and psychological boost towards managing the illness.

Lest I forget, the art style in Mis(h)dra is unique. Its use of colour to heighten emotional effects works well. The whole reading experience stayed with me for days. Mis(h)dra is a book worth reading.

Mis(h)dra is published by Gallery 13. Many thanks to them for the review copy.

A quick but striking read, Mis(h)adra shares the story of Isaac, an Arab American college student struggling with epilepsy. Represented by hanging knives, Isaac's epilepsy is the one constant in his life. Attending college and working are hard enough, but Isaac's epilepsy means he's also struggling with having the energy to deal with daily tasks, an unsupportive family, medical professionals who won't listen, and his own reluctance to open up to those around him.

While the story is solid, it's really the art that does the heavy lifting here. The use of color and line work to illustrate not only the day to day tension of possible epileptic seizures but the seizure themselves is remarkable. The shift to a black and magenta color palette from the softer tone of the main story both emphasizes and empathizes Isaac's seizures. Presenting the attacks so jarringly makes it easier to relate to Isaac's struggle with the violence and disruption of epileptic seizures.

Mis(h)andra is a solid book with art that elevates it to must pick up, if only to marvel at Ata's mastery of color and tone.

Mis(h)andra is the story of Isaac who struggle to live his normal live while having seizures. I love the story, it seems very realistic to me especially since this is an #ownvoices book. The way the art and the dialogues are presented make the story real and we can symphatize with Isaac.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

Based on her own experiences as someone who endures epilepsy, this graphic novel tells the story of Isaac, an Arab-American student struggling with trying to get a college education while coping with the disruptive effect of epilepsy in his life. He's not doing very well, but he has an underlying current of hope, which keeps him moving towards a brighter future - and not one that's made bright merely from a pre-seizure aura.

The story is intriguingly done through the use of visual metaphor (as well as in the text), and often in the very graphic form of scimitars all directed at poor Isaac. The despair and exhaustion he suffers from constantly being at risk of a seizure, and from his inability to get even his own father to believe him when he talks about his problem, is palpable in this story. It's almost despairing and exhausting to read it.

At times you want to shake him out of his lethargy and inertia, but at the same time you realize this is such a knee-jerk response that you want to slap yourself. It's at that crux that you realize how debilitating this is; it's not that Isaac is stupid, or lazy, or incompetent, it's that this illness has such a crippling hold on him that he's all-but paralyzed by it.

Most of us tend to associate seizures with flashing lights as depicted in the Michael Crichton novel The Andromeda Strain but this is an ignorant view which completely neglects the serious role that less specific preconditions such as tiredness and stress, inter alia, play in triggering a seizure - and the danger of harboring a narrow definition of 'seizure' is also brought to light. A friend of Isaac's lectures him about letting his friends help instead of shutting them out, and this straight-talk marks a turning point in his life.

This was a moving story, a fiction, but based on real truths, and it was illustrated with startling colors and bold depictions. I liked it and I recommend it, and I would definitely look for future novels from this author.

I received an advanced copy of Mis(h)andra from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Mis(h)andra tells the story of Isaac, and Arab-American whom is struggling to come to terms with his epilepsy while having essentially no support structure. Along with his condition he has an unsupportive family, college problems, and the day to day issues, many of which can trigger an epileptic fit. If this wasn’t enough for a young man on his own to deal with, throw in the fact that he has yet to find a doctor that will truly listen to him, and you have the perfect recipe for despair.
The artist uses knifes to symbolize Isaac’s epilepsy – a move that is both bold and beautiful. Combined with a stunning color palette and rich imagery, it fully immerses the reader in the struggles and emotions that Isaac is being forced to cope with. I absolutely love all of the artistic choices made, right down to the simplest and smallest details.
There are some triggering subjects covered throughout the graphic novel. Isaac struggles with suicidal thoughts (stemming from the belief that he will never be himself again, that there’s no hope, no cure). The author doesn’t hide from these emotions that Isaac feels. Isaac also faces multiple uncaring medical professionals whom seem to prefer to assume he’s not really sick, as opposed to listening to him and giving him a proper diagnosis. During one of Isaac’s epileptic fits he loses an eye – the imagery around it is somewhat graphic, in part because of the way he illustrates his condition.
I sincerely cannot get over how beautiful and powerful this book was. The imagery and the story merge into an evocative tale where the reader finds themselves rooting for the main character’s well-being. I honestly wish I could read it for the first time all over again.

This graphic novel was an illuminating exploration of an Arab American's experience of epilepsy, while navigating graduate studies amid ableism from loved ones and professionals alike.