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A review by cjwitch
How Do I Draw These Memories? by Jonell Joshua
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
If you are have ever sat with someone as they shuffled through a box of old photos, pulling them out at random and telling you about them, you'll have a good idea of how this memoir is told - through flashes of disconnected memories, occassionally out of order, but somehow precious and full of family and life and love. This book is a true time capsule of what it was like to grow up in the 90's and early 00's.
What I liked:
- The unique story telling style where it's mostly told through text format, but switches to graphic novel format or the sharing of photographs.
- The huge dose of nostalgia this book gave me, filling me with memories of my own childhood and family.
What I struggled with:
- The memories shared throughout the book are disjointed fragments that don't follow a natural flow of storytelling and feel like random moments that the author is reflecting on. The end does come together somewhat, but overall the fragmented storytelling was difficult for me.
What I liked:
- The unique story telling style where it's mostly told through text format, but switches to graphic novel format or the sharing of photographs.
- The huge dose of nostalgia this book gave me, filling me with memories of my own childhood and family.
What I struggled with:
- The memories shared throughout the book are disjointed fragments that don't follow a natural flow of storytelling and feel like random moments that the author is reflecting on. The end does come together somewhat, but overall the fragmented storytelling was difficult for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death