Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Memorial

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Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Memorial by Bryan Washington

94 reviews

themlin666's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I really enjoyed this book.

I think it deserves all the notoriety it received from NPR, WaPo, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, The NY Times, etc.

I definitely recommend it to anyone, especially those who like to read books from different character's perspectives.

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lucinotlucy's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

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moiracampbell23's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

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ollie_again's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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.)

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brazenbookbabe's review against another edition

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dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book gave a great window into so many different relationships of the characters with extremely flawed narrators. It was a slow read but satisfying.

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charlotte123's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad

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

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emmehooks's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I was not a fan of this book until I realized it’s more about the journey then the outcome. The reader is supposed to create emotional subtext and themes in the blank space Washington leaves. A wonderful narrative that uses 2 perspectives, a lot of memories, and the present thought to evoke empathy, thoughts of subtle change, and what it means to build a life that’s okay, but not easy or perfect.

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