cherreadssharereads 's review for:

Memorial by Bryan Washington

5.0

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I loved this book. I could not stop reading about Benson and Michael. I could not stop flying through the pages. Washington's writing makes their stories and lives so accessible and relatable -- like I felt such a rush of feelings at the end that I couldn't describe it any other than "my soul is crying" because it was so beautiful. The exploration of two queer men reconciling (or what may look like reconciling) with fathers. The coming together of two people who don't know what the fuck they're doing and trying to figure out how to love wholly and not like hurt people. The relationships in this story contain multitudes and are so nuanced; no one is innocent and at the same time, everyone is guilty of having done harm to each other. My fave character is Ximena even though she was only sprinkled through in the book -- Washington gave her some pretty wise and impactful lines. This book goes down as one of my 2025 faves.