Reviews tagging 'Death'

Memorial by Bryan Washington

37 reviews

maybeimali's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

3.5

Benson saved it. Mike ruined it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Grief, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Homophobia, Cursing, Death, Cancer, Death of parent, and Infidelity

Moderate: Addiction, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, and Homophobia

philippmk's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Sexual content, Grief, and Domestic abuse

uriah's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

2.75

I'm not sure Washington and I are compatible as author/reader, and that is a shame because his prose is lush. If you're a fan of Sally Rooney's writing you'd probably love this. I didnt dislike it, it clearly moved me a lot because I felt the sadness that was woven into the text but it's not one I'm going to reread.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent

karlo's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Cancer

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this was very good and somehow wholesome. the ending was slightly unsatisfying to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Classism, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Medical content, Alcohol, Addiction, Infidelity, Cursing, Alcoholism, and Grief

spookyaz's review

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Homophobia, Death, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Addiction, Cancer, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

laurataylor's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

• 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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical content, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, and Homophobia

madisophi's review

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I get why some people would really like this book, but it simply was not my cup of tea. The characters were so bad for each other and themselves, that it was kind of baffling that they had survived for so long. However, the writing style was beautiful and was what kept me hooked throughout the book. Overall, I feel like this book tried to say something, but I don’t really know what. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Death, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.5

One hand I thought the fact this cast is basically entirely people of color (and at least all the characters of note are not white) and their problems don’t stem from racism was very refreshing. However the emotional repression and emotionally stunt aspects of the characters and just how miserable they are (though the writing is very good) both made the book very refreshing in some aspects while frustrating in others. 

Also one hand the two men the book is in the perspective of grew up in hostile environments and the main cast is their families so it could just be what they would find normalized but it was difficult to tell of the novel took domestic violence seriously especially violence involving throwing things? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Cancer, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, Racism, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Death, Cursing, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Classism, Body shaming, and Abandonment

williamgideon's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Memorial is a book centered around two men and their lives. Through first person narrative, Ben and Mike share memories in a stream of conciousness. The writing is quite minimal, which I felt was approriate for the book. The focus is on the experiences rather than impressions. The book meditates on relationships, wether they be familial, romantic or sexual. How we try our best to love each other, because of our memories or despite them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Death, and Death of parent