Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Memorial

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.

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williamgideon's review against another edition

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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.

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kaii's review against another edition

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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

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thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

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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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nicolepaul_ine's review against another edition

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funny reflective fast-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

4.75

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mxbenjaminrose's review against another edition

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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

4.0

This is such a tender, melancholy novel from start to finish. I'm not sure why the publisher's blurb calls it a "funny, sexy, dramedy" -- it's a somber and at times sweet reflection on generational trauma, vulnerability, and discovering what it means to find home when the cards you're dealt are stacked against you. The characters are so real and multifaceted, and intensely flawed.

Washington handles parent-child relationships, romantic/sexual partnerships, and even professional relationships with insight and gentleness. I don't think there's a single relationship with completely healthy communication, but how many of us can say the same about our own families? Mitsuki and Ahmad are the sweetest and my favorites of the ensemble.

The main characters, Benson and Mike, have a deeply unhealthy relationship dynamic, which is enthralling but hard to read. It's a weird feeling to read a not-quite-romance novel with two POVs and be deeply rooting for each of them, but not rooting for them to be together.

All in all, this is a unique, emotional story with vibrant backdrops, beautiful prose, and angsty inner dialogue, so if that's your thing you will likely love this!

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sorcha's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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isobelk_18's review against another edition

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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

3.5

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