622 reviews for:

Brother

David Chariandy

4.03 AVERAGE

emotional 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: Complicated

mazza57's review

2.0

I just didn't feel it. It seemed to lose focus in the middle and i hate this here, back then and a bit further back type of narrative it makes it so difficult to follow the time line.

Wonderful first read of 2020 (lol better late than never). The writing felt very authentic, brought back lots of nostalgia of growing up in Toronto (especially if you grew up in Scarborough) and of being of Caribbean descent. It was beautiful but also quite tragic.

3,5
emotional reflective sad 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

This book was beautiful. Not beautiful in the sense that it was all sunshine and rainbows but achingly beautiful, the type that will slowly tear you apart. The nuanced and intricate imagery that was littered abundantly through the entire novel built up the setting of Scarborough, Canada; revealing a side to the country that is not so commonly seen in popular culture. We follow the lives of two boys, Michael and Francis, whose mother is a Trinidadian immigrant and father left when they were young. Essentially estranged from their culture, they explore their way through the ins and outs of 70s-80s Canada surrounded by the harms of gang violence and microagressions, as well as looking after their mother who works multiple jobs to support the family. While this book may not have you bawling in your seat, it definitely leaves a lasting impression, especially on those growing up in a country where the larger population may not be the same ethnicity as them.
emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

The prose was an interesting mix of sentence fragments and complete sentences, and it worked really well with this book.  I usually don't like books with two different timelines that alternate in this way, but the pieces all fit together perfectly to tell this story.  I related too much to this book, living in Canada with my sister being my closest friend, and some of the family details were scarily similar to my own family.  And yes, I cried.

Lyssnade på denna som ljudbok, uppläst av Jason Diakitè. Det var skitbra men tyvärr var min koncentration annanstans under delar av denna korta bok. Men kan trots det säga att det är en bra bok.
challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

wow .. a short book but so impactful . you aren’t with the characters for very long , but you can still see their motivations and reasonings for their actions (whether good or bad) and it feels like you’re watching an ocean of stories all mingle together , despite the book focusing on 3 main characters . what a way to start the 2023 reading year - thank you david chariandy

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated