Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Memorial by Bryan Washington

32 reviews

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

memorial is an original, funny, and bittersweet book abt family, love and pain, whose second section sees washington achieve a rare feat of a western author writing like a japanese one - in that particular 'vignettes of life's small yet huge moments' way.

the characters are deeply - some surprisingly - flawed and layered; there's no 'good' ppl here bc everyone's fcked up in one way or another. im a lil amazed at how washington handles the characterization and adeptly shows how everyone's been on both sides of being hurt and doing the hurting.

in addition to being quite funny - mike's and ben's parents are bemusingly acerbic and surprising - this book's also got a lot of heart, esp in regards to its theme of family, w/ mike and eiju's complex relationship being a particularly heartrending one. a sense of melancholy and bittersweetness permeates throughout the aforementioned second section, evoking the slice-of-life quality often found in jpn lit. i view this as a great accomplishment as it's sth so rarely achieved in western lit, let alone by a man from texas. the importance and prevalent presence of food in the story is also sth i rly like, calming while acting as a bridge between the characters, while also displaying washington's deep knowledge of jpn culinary culture.

i enjoy this book for its acerbic humor, messy characters, melancholic tone, and the exploration of its themes, particularly that in this life, everyone - even ur seemingly perfect parents - is just winging it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Abandonment

sorcha's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Homophobia, Infidelity, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Vomit

agnesg's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia

moiracampbell23's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, and Abandonment

emmehooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

5.0

I was not a fan of this book until I realized it’s more about the journey then the outcome. The reader is supposed to create emotional subtext and themes in the blank space Washington leaves. A wonderful narrative that uses 2 perspectives, a lot of memories, and the present thought to evoke empathy, thoughts of subtle change, and what it means to build a life that’s okay, but not easy or perfect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Body shaming

greatu's review against another edition

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

cheesepuppy's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

Not my favorite story but I bet it would be for someone else. Well done. I love how we got to see the same events from different perspectives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Fatphobia

remie's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Homophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Abandonment

cheye13's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.0

This was a five star read right up until the end. I'm not usually picky about endings, but this one ultimately left me wondering about the purpose of the story. Which was probably the purpose of said ending! But still irks me.

Beautiful writing, engaging and deep characters. Would not be opposed to a reread – maybe bc I read it in audio, some details went over my head that would've made the ending land better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Sexual content, and Abandonment

Minor: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Vomit, and Alcohol

paulasnotsosecretdiary's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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

4.0

Memorial by Bryan Washington lives up to the critical acclaim. The story focuses on a couple who have reached that point in the relationship where they ask if they should deepen their commitment or break up. Both men have parents who have left their families and are in the process of navigating relationships with their addicted fathers. Memorial is a compelling read as Bryan Washington has his characters undergo transformations bought about by reflective periods during separation, job changes, bonding experiences, the death of a family member, and attempts at reconciliation. A compelling and poignant story.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Homophobia and Abandonment