Reviews - Brother | The StoryGraph

622 reviews for:

I highly recommend reading this book - many can learn more than a thing or two from the story. It ended up being more than a “Black Lives Matter” or black peoples injustices story.. it was so much more. It touched upon single parent families, marginalized communities, immigration, growing up, etc. So sad and unfortunately realistic. You felt present through Chariandy’s writing - well written. I can’t praise it enough!

linneahcanread's review against another edition

3.75

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Michael and Francis are brother, sons of Trinidadian immigrants, who are surviving in Scarborough. They haven't had it easy, but they make it through, until a shooting in their neighbourhood changes everything. Ten years later, Michael reunites with his teenage love, and is forced to reckon with the way that summer altered his entire life.
This story hurt to read; it felt very intimate. It explores topics of poverty, racism, complicated grief, in a simultaneously delicate and heavily impactful way.

Content Warnings

kat_impossible's review against another edition

4.5

Books about grief and I - we attract each other like magnets. I thought this was very well written, with descriptions of places and emotions that made it incredibly easy to envision and so much harder to stomach.
I learned about myself that I was more invested in the present than the past, although both perspectives were very necessary. I also wish there had been one more chapter, just a little look ahead, although I get why it ended the way it did.