Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Memorial by Bryan Washington

79 reviews

madisophi's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I get why some people would really like this book, but it simply was not my cup of tea. The characters were so bad for each other and themselves, that it was kind of baffling that they had survived for so long. However, the writing style was beautiful and was what kept me hooked throughout the book. Overall, I feel like this book tried to say something, but I don’t really know what. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Death, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

george_tte's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia and Racism

himangi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Medical content, Racism, Racial slurs, Grief, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

sakisreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I LOVED this book. There are definitely some content warnings required (which I’ll put down below), but overall I loved Memorial deeply.

The Japanese food made throughout the story was a real comfort to me ✨ I also adored how Benito and Mitsuko started to cook together as their relationship progressed 🥰

What really made me fall in love with this book though was probably everyone’s ‘humanness’. Everyone had their flaws, everyone sometimes skirted around their flaws, everyone felt their flaws, etc. It was an insight into everyday human life and how we could push away the people we love, whether intentional or not. I felt Benito try to numb his flaws through conversations about work and about Ximena, whereas I felt Mike try to numb his flaws through escapism (going to see Eiju or Tan). 

There was no ‘happy ending’ per se, but I was surprised at how okay I was with this. I really appreciated Benito and Mike’s okayness at the end, even with Omar and Tan in the picture 🥲

All in all, a fantastic book. I can’t wait to recommend it to more people 🏳️‍🌈

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

whatannikareads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.5

this one started out not rough, but a little choppy for me, but from the end of Benson's first part until the end of the novel it really picked up for me. i found i needed time to adjust to the absence in detail from Benson's perspective, but in hindsight I can see it's how Benson process information as direct result of his upbringing/trauma. when the exposition picks up with Mike, i really started to enjoy the quiet unraveling of these individual character's and their family members' lives. it's not a pretty, squeaky clean relationship and it does get abusive at times. i'm not saying that that's a good thing to read about, but it does offer a nuanced perspective on a queer relationship. also, i love that the novel so authentically speaks to Washington's own upbringing; only he could have written this novel with the appreciation of the cultures involved and that intersection of houston and osaka. the characters have flaws and have raw reactions to the conflicts presented to them, which i think is why this novel was so enjoyable--because it's testament to the human experience. i think it'd be a great hbo max show.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Vomit, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Medical content, and Abandonment

readingwithcoffee'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

3.5

One hand I thought the fact this cast is basically entirely people of color (and at least all the characters of note are not white) and their problems don’t stem from racism was very refreshing. However the emotional repression and emotionally stunt aspects of the characters and just how miserable they are (though the writing is very good) both made the book very refreshing in some aspects while frustrating in others. 

Also one hand the two men the book is in the perspective of grew up in hostile environments and the main cast is their families so it could just be what they would find normalized but it was difficult to tell of the novel took domestic violence seriously especially violence involving throwing things? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Cancer, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, Racism, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Death, Cursing, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Classism, Body shaming, and Abandonment

cloud_animals's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Cancer, Homophobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Mental illness and Grief

meremeth's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

4.0

It starts slow, and so deadpan, i was worried. But I'm so glad I stick with it, it had me in tears by the end. 
I started off annoyed at both of the lead characters and ended with so much love for them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia and Alcoholism

emmelinelc's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Cancer, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Abandonment, Racism, and Sexual content

jessalex610's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-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

3.0

Some readers said it was funny, but it wasn’t humorous like I expected it to be. Washington explores the themes of family, loss, saying what’s not being said, and the complicated ways people can say “i love you”. It wasn’t was I anticipated, and my eyes glazed over in some parts because it was going deeper that what i prepared myself. I gave it 3 stars bc it’s a well-written book with complex characters, but it wasn’t the right book for me at this time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death of parent