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aishathebibliophile's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“It wasn’t the demands of time that told me therapy was over, it was the gestures of arms exasperated by my self-loathing. ‘Who taught you to hate yourself, K?’, was said with a tremor like the slow and contained eddies on an unsettled river. I didn’t know the answer but I knew I could never see her again”
That Reminds Me by Derek Owusu
That Reminds Me is the semi-autobiographical story of K, a young British – Ghanaian boy, who is briefly in institutional care up until he’s 8. As he grows older, we watch in jagged flashes, the slow unravelling of his mind.
This is a haunting, raw, unflinching and powerful look at the life of a young Black boy in Britain, whose self loathing is deeply uncomfortable to see.Part poetry, part prose, it's structure is an experimental drip-feed creating a cutting and effective mimicry of K's mental state. I liked the use of the Anansi folklore, the way the book highlights the immigrant child's struggle to straddle two worlds and cultural identity, and the love of literature which serves as a light through the tunnel.
It is an important story because the reality is that many young Black children continue to be shuffled between the institutional care system and a precarious idea of home. The resulting trauma sometimes leaves visible scars.
There are several conversations to be had on some of the causes and effects; how the UK creates a pressurised system which in turn creates dysfunctional people; the generational trauma from colonialism, migration and racism that created the self-serving generations of men incapable of giving love; the pipeline of council estate childhoods to the street, prison or death; and finally the inability to have or discuss and disclose mental health issues in Black families.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
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