Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Memorial by Bryan Washington

7 reviews

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

whatannikareads's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.5

this one started out not rough, but a little choppy for me, but from the end of Benson's first part until the end of the novel it really picked up for me. i found i needed time to adjust to the absence in detail from Benson's perspective, but in hindsight I can see it's how Benson process information as direct result of his upbringing/trauma. when the exposition picks up with Mike, i really started to enjoy the quiet unraveling of these individual character's and their family members' lives. it's not a pretty, squeaky clean relationship and it does get abusive at times. i'm not saying that that's a good thing to read about, but it does offer a nuanced perspective on a queer relationship. also, i love that the novel so authentically speaks to Washington's own upbringing; only he could have written this novel with the appreciation of the cultures involved and that intersection of houston and osaka. the characters have flaws and have raw reactions to the conflicts presented to them, which i think is why this novel was so enjoyable--because it's testament to the human experience. i think it'd be a great hbo max show.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Vomit, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Medical content, and Abandonment

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

greatu's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Addiction, Alcohol, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Grief, Racism, Sexual content, Cancer, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

gabbygarcia's review

challenging 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racial slurs, and Racism

rinarina's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship