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4.51 AVERAGE
4.51 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Every word carefully placed in this memoir. Yiyun Li's book is spare and honest. Now and now and now. I will likely revisit this book later, as I read it during a fraught personal time.
reading books on grief often feels like reading someone's diary without them knowing -- like, maybe i should not be reading this. it's a very personal pain li talks about and she does it in a way that many people won't relate to. but i also, like her, think more than feel, and it's heartbreaking that many people don't understand that kind of sorrow and i'm glad i read about someone who experiences grief in a similar way. there are some beautiful insights in here but the book was a means to an end: trying to grapple with the loss of her son; because of this i don't recommend it to everybody, but if you've ever lost someone and feel like reading these kinds of books to cope with it, it's certainly a valid option.
thank you to the publisher for the e-arc.
thank you to the publisher for the e-arc.
challenging
sad
medium-paced
Tough book to review… So I'm just going to refer to Liz' review (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7545251117), which pretty much describes how I feel.
Topic 6
Writing Style 6
Execution/Pace 6
Execution/Setup 6
Enjoyment/Engrossment 6
Narration 5
Topic 6
Writing Style 6
Execution/Pace 6
Execution/Setup 6
Enjoyment/Engrossment 6
Narration 5
Li writes from the depth of the abyss that is both her teenage sons deaths by suicide. She is never sentimental and she is not seeking to answer the questions you might assume she would. She does not flinch as she writes of her profound losses. Her prose is so polished and clean you could chip a tooth on it. The portrait she paints of her sons is tenderly and honestly rendered. This is quite simply one of the most extraordinary pieces of memoir writing I have ever read.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
A stark, striking memoir that will stay with me for a long time.
“Words may fall short, but they cast long shadows that sometimes can reach the unspeakable.”
“Words may fall short, but they cast long shadows that sometimes can reach the unspeakable.”
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
dark
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Lovely reflection, in parenting, and how to really love a child and live a life.
A lot of suffering. A lot of peace.
A lot of suffering. A lot of peace.