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camprocter's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
3.75
At the beginning, this book reminded me of Real Life, wherein all of the characters are totally hateable and do a lot shitty things to each other.
This book is absolutely like that too, but as it comes together, you start to see that, yeah, they're all total fucking dicks, but also, they all have redeeming qualities and there are little nuggets of gold. In the end, I just felt sad for everyone.
I feel like I hate the content of these books, but I can't bring myself to hate the books themselves? Like, big ups to the authors for writing about the absolute worst qualities of people.
This book is absolutely like that too, but as it comes together, you start to see that, yeah, they're all total fucking dicks, but also, they all have redeeming qualities and there are little nuggets of gold. In the end, I just felt sad for everyone.
I feel like I hate the content of these books, but I can't bring myself to hate the books themselves? Like, big ups to the authors for writing about the absolute worst qualities of people.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Homophobia
dgdrgn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Homophobia, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Violence
alonadadonut's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a book about people who are really bad at expressing love. Like, *so* bad at it. I wanted to yell at the protagonists at least 20 times throughout the book. It was cruel and raw and deceptively dry and I couldn't look away. Loved Mitsuko, what an icon. Would recommend to anyone who likes it when books tears their heart out and stomps on it.
Not 5 stars because the book ends on a sort of cliffhanger and I would prefer to know what ends up happening. On the one hand I understand why we don't get told what happens and on the other hand I desperately require closure.
Not 5 stars because the book ends on a sort of cliffhanger and I would prefer to know what ends up happening. On the one hand I understand why we don't get told what happens and on the other hand I desperately require closure.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Medical content, and Racial slurs
williamgideon's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Memorial is a book centered around two men and their lives. Through first person narrative, Ben and Mike share memories in a stream of conciousness. The writing is quite minimal, which I felt was approriate for the book. The focus is on the experiences rather than impressions. The book meditates on relationships, wether they be familial, romantic or sexual. How we try our best to love each other, because of our memories or despite them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Death, and Death of parent
kaii's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
this book made me sob on not one, but two, german trains
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Cancer, Homophobia, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Medical content
Minor: Infidelity, Racial slurs, Fatphobia, Grief, and Body shaming
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Moderate: Racism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Body shaming
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
the lack of quotation marks, the monotonous nature of the chapters, the boring main characters....i just couldn't do it anymore lmao
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, and Grief
annakap's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
faythd's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity and Terminal illness
Minor: Domestic abuse
ollie_again's review
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
3.75
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.
It baffles me that people shelve this book as a romance. Because it is not. The book starts with a relationship that is falling apart and as the title suggest the book is a memorial of that relationship and other relationships in the lives of the two central men. How it started, how it progressed, a memorial to small moments, nice or not, in those relationships. The book is not even about putting the relationship back together and the two men, Mike and Ben, are apart for most of the book. And it is as much about romantic, sexual relationships as about family relationships. And unlike in true romance, there is no guarantee how the book (and the central relationship) will end.
I was fortunate enough I was aware that this book is not a romance and I had my expectations set pretty clearly and accurately. And in the end, I quite enjoyed this book. It is not action-packed, with no particular twists or turns, and even though it is emotional it is not exactly an emotional rollercoaster either. It is very much a character study of sorts and I liked that. Surprising but a nice addition were the photographs sprinkled throughout the book.
Even though it wasn't a groundbreaking read for me, it definitely put Bryan Washington on my radar and I'll pick up whatever he comes up with next. (Quotation marks would be appreciated though.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Cancer
Minor: Racial slurs