Reviews - Family Meal: A Novel

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1.28k reviews for:

Family Meal: A Novel

Bryan Washington

3.8 AVERAGE

emk69's review against another edition

3.5

emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

emsimily's review against another edition

4.0

About coming home. About (found) family. About addiction and grief and healing.

sophia_mt's review against another edition

4.0

hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

“Some people set the key of their lives inside you and simply turn.”

Family Meal follows 3 queer Black and mixed men in their struggles in love, identity, and grief. Bryan Washington’s characters feel real, and their use of actions when they couldn’t use words felt human.

This story is refreshingly queer normative, and paints a diverse and vibrant Houston as its backdrop. I loved Washington’s flowing style of writing, which made this book very quick to read.

I enjoyed this book, but I wanted it to go a little farther. Characters would hurt themselves and others with things unsaid, but I never felt like I got the cathartic moment of those truths finally being revealed. Still, this book was beautiful and poignant, and I would definitely read more from this author.

hannahvandriel's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

tckolar's review against another edition

3.75

emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

seraphicpetal's review against another edition

3.0

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

m_egg_o's review against another edition

2.75

dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I wanted gay ghostbusters and instead I got the juiciest slut debrief

Content Warnings

tuai's review against another edition

3.25

reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Is this profound or is it just written weird?

I've never found a novel that's made better by omitting dialogue markings. I just can't see the point of that stylistic choice, the only thing it does is make everything confusing and signal to the reader that 'Hey, this is one of *these* books'. Here it makes you really focus on the dialogue, but that's not a positive. It feels overwritten, they don't sound like people talking but like characters on a play, and not in a good way. Like they know they're just saying bullshit.

There are moments in this novel that are beautiful and hard to read and very moving, but ultimately I don't feel connected to the characters, I don't think I know them enough. Every decision they made left me like 'huh? Ok, sure?' So, idk.