Reviews

If You Kept a Record of Sins by Andrea Bajani

dianarojas's review

5.0

This slim book tells the story of a man's whole relationship with his absent mother, using spare words and lots of flashback to fill in the emotional blanks. I love this kind of story, which I'll call contemporary European for lack of a better descriptor. It's a heavy story, but not a fat book, and when you finish it you'll find yourself thinking about it for many days thereafter. The conclusion, as in stories like these, is for you to determine.

pearloz's review

4.0

Wonderful reminiscence about a boy/man and the fraught relationship with his mother, spurred by her death and his attendance of her funeral in Romania. There's some oddly specific details: mom invents a weight loss device, an egg, for people to step into, starts traveling from Italy to Romania for business, for longer and longer durations, eventually leaves his father for her business partner in Romania. Calls become more and more infrequent until communication ends altogether. It's a bittersweet mix of memories and the current moment, as he travels in her city and meets the people of her life. It was a sweet and sad book.

hellojay's review

dark reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

keehansmith's review

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

profpeaton's review

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

frida_kahlo's review

reflective

3.0

lexybear's review

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

imanb9601's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

callmeamelia's review

challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

hundo_p's review

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75