While I did not enjoy the novel I still give it four stars because I can see how this would be perfect for others and honestly the literary merit is there from an objective stance.

The illustrations absolutely convey the mood of sickness and how the author is feeling. It’s hard to describe but with the color scheme and illustrations combined you can just feel like you are in that room as she suffers. This was why I was not a fan of the book because I just felt so much just from the drawings.

As someone also struggling with a diagnosis for rapid deterioration of my life, abilities, stamina, and future oh boy did I relate. This memoir is a light in the dark. #relatable in the best/worst ways. What would it be like to be like before, and yet how do we find a way to move forward. I truly appreciated every minute of this and I thoroughly recommend it to everyone. It’s nice to be seen.

Tessa Brunton has created such a generous, beautiful and very funny book about living with a chronic illness, specifically the period before diagnosis. With humor and kindness, she shows us her experiences as well as her coping skills, like using Dungeons and Dragons, or an adventure story, to take us into her mind. I love the scrapbooky style of some pages, the fake movie poster images for her story ideas and the repetitive panels giving us a window into the monotony of being stuck in bed. A very important addition to the set of graphic novels about medical experiences.

Applause for the author who writes and draws even though she's sick. This graphic novel entails you to be in the authors' shoes, battling her sickness. The story was a bit messy but I don't blame her because that is what she feels and she fights the symptoms by what she thinks would help and keeps her busy. For anyone who is sick we all relate the thoughts of getting out of bed because we overthink things but we know that we need to rest and heal. Great art and creativity!

Tnere is a chunk of this graphic novel that made absolutely no sense to me. However, once it was back to reality, it was great! I loved how absolutely truthful this condition can be. The mental effects are depressing. I wasn't a fan of the art as much, but you can tell that they worked hard on it and that is what matters.

If you haven't read any graphic novels or memoirs before, you're missing out on a great medium. This memoir is a quick read, at times both poignant and humorous, that gives the reader insight into the author's journey dealing daily with chronic illness. The drawings help communicate what words often cannot - the struggles and joys of a person's life. In many ways, the use of art and words make the story more vivid and meaningful. I highly recommend this book.

There's a lovely PC game called "Unpacking" that gives the player a similar feeling as this book. The chapter "Knick knacks" is especially apt.

Oh, and this gem, too perfect not to share: "One day I was watching a horror movie, which lord knows I wasn't supposed to do because it's too stimulating to be restful. The movie was about a haunted house that eats happy schoolgirls alive. I realized I identified with the house." (19) And same, Tessa Brunton.

Notes From a Sickbed is a graphic memoir of the authors struggle with chronic illness. As someone who is also chronically ill, I found this book so relatable. Brunton masterfully shares some of the incredibly detailed comics she made before she got her diagnosis. Some pages have enough detail to take in for awhile and still miss something. Since the sections are different comics she made while she was sick and not a straightforward telling of her life at the time, it can sometimes be hard to follow. However, I thought it was like looking into a window of her mind during each event. Someone who doesn't have a chronic illness may not understand the struggles us spoonies go through and I think this could be eye opening for them. Overall I thought her collection of comics was very interesting and moving. I look forward to seeing more of her comics from after she gets her diagnosis.

I'm having a hard time reviewing this one. Notes from a Sickbed starts off strong with beautifully detailed art paired with a raw and honest story about the struggles of living with a chronic illness (and an invisible illness at that!) Brunton speaks about her life with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) with passion and caring, going into details about how she fears becoming a different person and about how she had to switch up her routine because of it. I found it relatable, as I am someone who also deals with a chronic invisible illness.

Halfway through she gets roped into a book writing idea and the focus shifts to that and about how she can use her time when she feels well to work on it. The thing is...the plot just kind of stagnates and then stops abruptly. There is a small portion of her going to Disneyland to research for the book and the trials of resting and planning with her illness, but then it…ends. I was pretty disappointed to be honest. I'm trying to find a way for it to maybe be a metaphor? Like there is a part where Brunton exclaims that due to her ME/CFS it would take her 19 years to finish the book, so maybe this is like...a way of showing that things end abruptly due to the illness and needing to stop and rest? If that WAS the intention, it didn't land.

In her mid-20s, the author developed myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a debilitating chronic illness. After 8 years, she found a strategy that improved her symptoms and she began creating this graphic memoir to document the difficult period before her diagnosis.

If you are curious about what it can be like to live with ME/CFS or any other devastating chronic illness, this collection of comics might be a good choice. It doesn’t deal much with the author’s interactions with the medical community, her diagnosis, or whatever strategies eventually helped her. However, it does illustrate some of the difficulties in living with chronic illness, particularly the emotional aspects. It’s not a very coherent story though; it’s more like a collection of personal essays in comic form.

As someone who is also living with disabling chronic illnesses, I have been through some similar experiences and I could relate to some of what the author describes. However, I didn’t care for the art style, didn’t enjoy most of the stories, and didn’t learn anything of value to me at this point in my journey, having been sick for many years. I did enjoy “Dark Rides,” the author’s story of planning a graphic novel set in a Disney-style theme park.

Having a disabling chronic illness can be very isolating, and sometimes it feels like no one else understands what it’s like. If you’re experiencing that, then this book might help. It didn’t really resonate with me, but your mileage may vary. I hope that it helps bring more awareness to ME/CFS and other invisible disabilities.

I was provided an ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review.

This was such an interesting graphic novel. I really enjoyed the author's narration - she was very real and honest about her illness and everything that went with it. She didn't try to sugarcoat it or anything like that. I really liked the story and the artwork was very nice as well. Overall, a great story with fantastic visuals.

Best graphic novel I've read this year. Tessa Brunton writes/illustrates about her life with ME/CFS (a chronic fatigue syndrome). Even though so much of the book takes place on the couch, we get to go places with her in her head. My favorite comic was probably the one where she just talks about her day-to-day life and what it's like having to ration your energy so carefully. I also liked the "Dark Rides" one a lot.

I have suspected for a few months now that I have long COVID resulting in CFS, which is just beginning to be studied so isn't actually diagnosed (yet?), and so much of this book hit home for me. The frustration of feeling like life is passing you by. That you always have to pay for your "good days" with bad symptoms later on. That you have amazing creative ideas, but no energy to produce them. Much of this book made me emotional, and I will be buying a copy for my own bookshelf, as it meant a great deal to me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Notes from a Sickbed was a beautifully, painfully honest look at living with chronic fatigue. It perfect captures the difficult adjustment period (and often life after the adjustment) that many people with chronic illnesses live through. I also have a chronic fatigue disorder, and I saw so many of my own experiences and emotions reflected in this story. It meant the world to see a story like mine told without the "inspirational" or "tragic" lens that many non-disabled people use while telling stories about disabled people. Brunton perfectly illustrated the daily joys and struggles of many people with chronic fatigue syndrome, the constant balancing act that we must maintain to avoid or postpone flare-ups if we want to attend events. She perfectly describes the real-world application of spoon theory, of saving your energy for something fun while knowing that participating in it will cause pain down the line. Her art style compliments the story, especially the way she draws her range of emotion while coping with her ME. This story was like looking and the mirror, like someone putting their hand on my shoulder and saying "I've been there. I understand, and it's hard. You're not alone."

I adored this graphic novel. It closely represented my own personal journey with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and various other chronic illnesses. I became much more sick around the same age as the author and experienced many of the same thoughts, feelings, and day to day routines. I am going to give this to people in my life so that they can understand me more. This book with bring comfort to those who are chronically ill and should be required reading for anyone who is not.

A great peak into the life of someone with a long-term illness (chronic fatigue syndrome). The art style is beautiful and detailed but not overwhelming. As I read this, I felt like I was seeing her inner thoughts, those personal thoughts that you don't share with others because you don't want to seem silly or mean. The way this comic flowed really kept me engaged and I ended up reading it all in one sitting. I recommend this book to those that know someone going through a long-term illness or disability. It gives great insight and helps to remind us that not everyone experiences life the same way.

I receiver an eARC of this title from Netgalley in return to give an honest review.

I love reading graphic novels and memoirs. I was really excited to read Notes from a Sickbed because the blurb was really interesting. It was interesting reading about Tessa's daily life while she deals with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I enjoyed seeing the illustrations and feel like they paired well with Tessa's words.

However, the flow of the book felt off. I felt like the changes in the storylines randomly changed. Despite the "flow" being a bit off, the book wasn't terrible...it was just a little confusing when things randomly changed. The ending was also incredibly abrupt.

This book had a lot of amazing things, but I'm going to start with the art. The art was so incredibly unique, and on every page there was many intricate things to look at. I could've spent hours just looking at the art alone. The way it went along with the storyline was also amazing. I think that the color scheme was absolutely perfect with the tone of the book, and that the story was an incredibly important one as well. This isn't just a book about health and illnesses, it's about a very rare one that people need to be more educated on, myself included. This book does a great job of portraying what this author'[s life is like, how she feels, and just how the illness makes her personally feel. It's a very important message.

-I am conflicted on how to review this.
-The art was interesting and detailed (the pets in so many scenes and little washi tape bits are very endearing).
-It was eye opening to watch Tessa figure her way through her ME. But the problem for me was a lack of plot or direction.
-Obviously, there isn't built-in linear conflict for a chronic illness. And memoirs are given to be a little less "plotted". But events followed each other according to no discernible order or timeline and the ending felt very sudden
-It might just be a matter of taste. I'm certain other people with chronic illnesses will relate to this strongly.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free eBook in exchange for an honest review.

Notes from a Sickbed by Tessa Brunton is an honest, heart wrenching, humorous look into the life of someone with a chronic illness. You can almost feel the author's despair and desire to just feel "normal" throughout most of the novel until she is able to turn her focus to story writing. I think this book was inspirational and will be relatable for so many people. I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

A picture says a thousand words but multiple pictures can say thousands more. Notes from a Sickbed is a graphic novel of Tessa Brunton and her relationship with chronic fatigue syndrome. It spotlights the difficulty of findings a diagnosis, the reality of living with a disease that you can't control and finding ways to live with the symptoms all while trying to live a life you love.

As someone who deals with chronic illness on a daily basis it was so nice to find a character that I could relate to, especially in a graphic novel! I really appreciated that while her chronic illness looks different than mine I was still able to see myself in her and the struggles life can bring. I loved that even through all the challenges she faced she still found things she loved and found ways to make life worth living. That even through challenge life is always worth living.

I've never read a memoir in graphic novel format but I loved it. It's such a unique way to tell a piece of your story and made me want to start documenting my journey this way as well. So thankful that I found her story!

Thanks to NetGalley and Learner Publishing group for a e-copy for review! All opinions are my own works.

Memoirs are great things, but the problem is if you follow every little thing you did, they can get tedious. In this case, Tessa, who Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, explains how her days go, and what work she can get done. And most of the time we see her ignore her illness and try to do realistic things, that she finds just aggravates the illness.

The second part goes over how she is imaging a graphic novel she wants to write, and she realizes she needs to go to Disneyland in order to get the feel for where the story takes place. This has plot and intent, and build, and was much more interesting than the first half of the book.

If you want to read about how much she suffered, then this might be an interesting book to read. I found that I only really enjoyed reading the second half.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>