Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - What We Lose

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons

21 reviews

between_2worlds's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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brooketreads's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced

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

2.0

To me this felt all over the place. I couldn’t follow the timeline, because it was jumping around so much. I didn’t find our main character Thandi likable. I wanted to love her mom but we didn’t get enough of her in the story besides mainly when she was sick. There were some good moments and it had some potential, but the skipping around just ruined it for me. I wish it had followed a timeline and we would have gotten to see more from before illness, then during, then after. Thandi was sex obsessed and it kind of overshadowed the story. There was also a really crass line about f-ing death in the a- and death liked it… that just felt completely unnecessary.

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khuppe's review against another edition

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emotional sad 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? No

3.25

A compelling coming of age story

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siobhanward's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

I would have liked to have read this as a physical book, rather than an ebook, since I'm curious how the interludes between chapters looked in a physical copy. However, that's more of a curiosity thing than a quality thing.

I liked how Clemmons incorporated different styles into the book and different media snippets. Honestly, that part was so well executed, that I frequently forgot I was reading a work of fiction. Clemmons' voice throughout was so real and raw that it felt like a memoir. However, it also felt like a memoir in that at times it felt like I was missing something - almost like I should have been able to fill in some gaps myself, but I just wasn't able to. This was a cool and interesting read. Sometimes it was a challenge to figure out what was happening when, as sometimes Clemmons moved through time periods without differentiating them, but it was still a solid read

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klor's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.75

An exploration of growing up, grief, and moving through life. Simultaneously sad and reflective. I loved the exploration of her immigrant family background and the connection our character had to her culture. There are a lot of tender moments in the book and it almost feels like a memoir (I think it loosely is) but I must say, the main character kind of suffers from the Rory Gilmore scenario of being almost too perfect so when the hard times hit, it's hard to grow. I also wish I enjoyed this more

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fraidyghost'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? It's complicated

4.25

Really enjoyed the narrative structure of this book, and its narrator Thandi, whose relationships with her culture/identity and family I found deeply relatable. The story was rich without being weighed down by overly descriptive language (although there were places I wished for more). I only put it down once, and only because the style took a little bit of acclimation; once I fell into the rhythm I finished the rest in one sitting.

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