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Bryan Washington

3.67 AVERAGE


okay so good, I vaguely liked [b:Lot: Stories|40749395|Lot Stories|Bryan Washington|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531178755l/40749395._SY75_.jpg|63420959] but I definitely prefer this one, just bc the characters were so well fleshed out

I agreed with the reviewer named Thomas who wrote a very thorough version of what I’m about to say: I was rooting for this book and these characters and I’m glad it exists, but the dysfunctional nature of Benson and Mike’s relationship was something I couldn’t get past enough to enjoy reading it.
challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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: Yes

really good book, but just not the book for me, at least at the moment, maybe a reread at the right time will change my mind, and I'll rate it higher.

Two men are confronted with the question of their relationship when one leaves the country to take care of his ailing father.

Loved the insights into the men’s perspectives on race, being gay, and being a son of immigrants/addicts. Bryan Washington is deft at writing conversations that end in devastating epiphanies for the reader. The slow cook between Benson and Mitsuko was believable and endearing, just really good writing.

Maybe I missed something but this story didn’t resolve for me. Does Mike leave again? Or does Ben follow him to Japan? Do they open up their relationship depending on which continent they’re on? Does Oman become a poly beta?

The entire narration built up this huge decision this couple has to make, and I cared, and then it ended before a decision was made. Although, kudos to the author for making it clear that things had slightly changed for the better between these men.

Wauw!

Jeg kan virkelig ikke sætte ord på, hvorfor den her oplevelse bare ramte spot on hos mig, men jeg elskede den virkelig!

Jeg elsker det meget enkle sprog, hvor man dog lige skal være OBS på dialogerne. De er nemlig ikke indrammet af citationstegn eller bindestreg, men står frit i teksten. Det gør dog ingenting, når man lige har vænnet sig til det.

Ordvalget er simpelt, men virker meget gennemtænkt. Masser af humor er proppet ind i bogen, der ellers indeholder mange sværere emner. Til trods for det blev jeg faktisk ret glad af at læse den og havde en god følelse undervejs.

Slutningen er faktisk virkelig passende for historien, og på ingen måde som man havde forudset. Den rørte mig utrolig meget. Det klæder fortællingen helt vildt godt og giver den det ekstra lag.
Jeg kunne godt være i tvivl, om bogen kunne komme til at påvirke stigmatiseringen af hiv i den dårlige retning, men synes der er en pointe med at have det med i den her bog.

Jeg vil på ingen måde sige, at bogen er fejlfri, og karaktererne er ikke ligefrem elskværdige, men det giver et godt spil. Jeg elsker Mikes forældre, især moren!! Jeg har kæmpe kærlighed til den her bog, og tror jeg kommer til at genlæse den!

*4.5
much to ponder! brb with a review
ok I'm back:

This book was a journey, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Bryan Washington's writing is accessible in a way that describes the ordinary in extraordinary ways. The writing is beautiful.

The plot is interesting, too. The character dynamics and developments drew me in from the very beginning. I spent the whole book wanting both the main characters to find peace, both internally and with each other. The way Bryan Washington creates tension and then diffuses is brilliant.

This is a novel, but peppered with side characters and stories. Every one of them add up to the climax and resolution of the book in different subtle ways, and I really enjoyed making those connections and reading those pieces of the larger story.

Throughout, there seemed to be a theme of Bryan Washington observing parts of human interaction and life in general that are not normally observed or given the time of day; Bryan Washington sees the mundane, and writes it intricately, with care, drawing it to the reader's attention and putting it through a different lens. Excellent.

I really enjoyed my journey reading this book, and I recommend.
emotional funny reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A perfect book if there was one

That loving a person means letting them change when they need to. And letting them go when they need to. And that doesn't make them any less of a home. Just maybe not one for you. Or only for a season or two. But that doesn't diminish the love. It just changes forms.
Mike and Benson are aware things are not going as smoothly between them anymore. So, when Mike spontaneously decides to fly out to Japan to help his sick father, his mother, who herself just flew in from Japan to visit her son, is left alone with the barely-boyfriend Benson.

Loved this. I don't wanna start every review of a gay book by saying it's not like other gay books, but I loved how flawed the characters in this one were. Benson is so emotionally repressed (at least in terms of his relationship to Mike) it hurts. His family history has left some scars, after he was more or less kicked out after testing HIV-positive at a younger age. Nevertheless, they keep in touch, the way some families still do, especially since his alcoholic father requires babysitting. On the other hand, Benson is a caring daycare worker, with a great support system in his work friend, and potential lover Omar. It was interesting to see him toe the line as he was trying to figure out whether the relationship with Mike is 'worth it' anymore.

Mike himself is shown to be flawed in his own way. His family history has left some bruises, too. As an immigrant child with history of domestic abuse, with not enough money to go to college so he had to find his passion in food and cooking. To be fair, I found his part of the book slightly more 'boring', but that's more so due to the nature of his story, largely centred around bridging the gap between the father who abandoned him as a child, and the one who is dying right in front of him.

I do think this book had something interesting to show about relationships. In terms of how much pressure we put on relationships these days, evaluating from the start how high the chances are of things "working out" when in the end, as stated by multiple characters in this book, you don't really know until you try. Trying, I feel, is the main takeaway from this book. Trying, but also letting go.

Overall, another great gay novel with great rep. There are some instances of racism, both from Ben, and from Mike, which I feel like you don't always see in 'romance' novels. I did tear up by the end of it, so for that alone I couldn't NOT give this a five star review.

I don't know how I feel about this one.

This book was a slight let down from me, but I also recognize that I am not the target audience and took that into account with my review.

What I liked:
The representation of an inter-racial LGBTQ+ couple
The theme of finding out who you are and what that means in a relationship

What I didn't care for:
The writing style-it just wasn't for me. No quotation marks made the dialogue hard to follow
Slow plot line

Check out my full review at: https://www.mynightsbooked.com/post/memorial