Kori Johnson’s Reviews > Nervous System > Status Update

Ella’s brother resents her. He knows about her lack of progress with her dissertation. It’s also revealed that Ella got money from their dad for school while her brother did not. She doesn’t outright say that to him, but he picks up on it. Getting close to the end!

Ella’s aunt dies of cancer, her father unable to assist earlier in ending her life due to the law. Ella’s stepmother had lost her hair in the shower and the maid “the lady” had thrown it away, but Ella wanted to keep it and made a wig out of it. Ella speaks of rats, and how she used them in the lab and tried to save them by putting them in her pockets. The stepmother poisoned the rats in her home.

Ella’s stepmother is not very supportive of her pursuit of academia. As well as her siblings. Her father seems supportive, but distant. Her stepmother fears that El is keeping Ella from completing her thesis, and blames him for her not leaving. The stepmother wants Ella to come back to their country to have a “normal life”.

A lot has happened! Ella has seen a lot of specialists and gotten nowhere. She had her spine tapped multiple times and that’s a no-no! She feels guilt for lying to her father about graduating, and not listening to his recommendations. El has stomach issues, relatable, and has a colonoscopy as well as an endoscopy. Ella relates this to violence and sexual assault she experienced in the past. I’m intrigued for sure

Ella regrets praying to her dead mother about getting sick. She also tells a story of her stepmother telling her to stay away from a boy disabled by polio. I wonder if Ella liked him?

Seems Ella had a mysterious illness that is causing partial paralysis. So far there are a lot of doctors trying to figure out what’s going on. An MRI showed a possible cause, and they found out her spine is inflamed; it makes Ella think of her mother who died of cancer. I’m really enjoying the story so far, I’m intrigued to see how this unfolds.

So far the author is building up the character’s life and struggles. Ella has lied to her father about getting her doctorate, and has prayed to her dead mother to acquire an illness that’s debilitating but transient.