In recent times, now more than ever, we can find a reflection of our lives mirrored in Don Brown’s “Fever Year: The Killer Flu of 1918.” Despite taking place over a hundred years ago this graphic novel depicts life during the Spanish flu outbreak and the struggles that have been prevalent during the Covid-19 pandemic, with thousands losing their lives, many losing their jobs, healthcare workers became outnumbered by the number of patients, supply became limited, researchers scrambling to find a cure, having a mask mandate, and much more. If this graphic novel were about any other disease else readers may not have felt this novel as much but the fact that it is centered around a pandemic causes all readers to sympathize with the plot. Which is why I believe everyone should read this graphic novel at least once.

This novel was constructed with exigence in order to illustrate a grueling lifestyle at a time when Covid-19 was just around the corner. “The Killer Flu of 1918” was published around 2019, just dawn of when the pandemic was officially in place, therefore I believe this graphic novel can be used to inform the masses what the world has been through before and what we could expect moving forward. It does not matter how long ago the Spanish flu took place because though times change and our society advances life in times of the Spanish flu and Covid-19 are pretty much identical.

The Coronavirus is to blame for many unfortunate things for the last three years and that goes for every single person in the world, therefore there is no reason why anybody would not relate or have some sort of connection with this book. The parrallels are uncanny and even give readers a sense of comfort knowing that the world has been through its troubles but has prevailed against a similar instance, so the virus of 2020 is not completely alien to us and we don’t have to feel so hopeless.