You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
nicolepaul_ine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Homophobia, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Alcohol
sorcha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Homophobia, Infidelity, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Vomit
isobelk_18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Cancer and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Fatphobia
ceedy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: Cancer, Sexual content, and Death of parent
meganeorcx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer
krystalgaia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Everything about this book is quietly tender, quietly palming my cheeks like a bruise. It makes you think of what it means to love, to let go, and to change, and loving the fact that you have the option to let go and therefore change. Whether that’s for the better or worse, no one knows: what matters is there is always an option, a choice, and what’s more important is you choose and act on it.
Washington’s sentences were very clean and clear. He said a lot by not saying a lot. The dialogue was topnotch but this novel’s power lies in the quiet moments, the scenes where it seems like nothing is happening when, in fact, everything is happening. He doesn’t adorn his words and simply tells the story as it is.
As Ocean Vuong said it, “this book made me happy.”
Graphic: Cancer, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Alcoholism
lucinotlucy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent, and Alcohol
moiracampbell23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, and Abandonment
ollie_again's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
That loving a person means letting them change when they need to. And letting them go when they need to. And that doesn't make them any less of a home. Just maybe not one for you. Or only for a season or two. But that doesn't diminish the love. It just changes forms.
It baffles me that people shelve this book as a romance. Because it is not. The book starts with a relationship that is falling apart and as the title suggest the book is a memorial of that relationship and other relationships in the lives of the two central men. How it started, how it progressed, a memorial to small moments, nice or not, in those relationships. The book is not even about putting the relationship back together and the two men, Mike and Ben, are apart for most of the book. And it is as much about romantic, sexual relationships as about family relationships. And unlike in true romance, there is no guarantee how the book (and the central relationship) will end.
I was fortunate enough I was aware that this book is not a romance and I had my expectations set pretty clearly and accurately. And in the end, I quite enjoyed this book. It is not action-packed, with no particular twists or turns, and even though it is emotional it is not exactly an emotional rollercoaster either. It is very much a character study of sorts and I liked that. Surprising but a nice addition were the photographs sprinkled throughout the book.
Even though it wasn't a groundbreaking read for me, it definitely put Bryan Washington on my radar and I'll pick up whatever he comes up with next. (Quotation marks would be appreciated though.)
Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Racism
Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Racial slurs