Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Memorial by Bryan Washington

11 reviews

kappafrog's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This book just didn't do it for me. Even though the book is written in first person, something about its style made me feel disconnected from the characters, especially Benson and Mitsuko. I almost gave up in Benson's portion because I found Benson such a blah character and the relationship that drove the novel seemed to have nothing going for it. Once we switched to Mike's perspective though, things picked up. I was surprised to find Mike such a sympathetic character after my apathy towards both him and Benson in the first section. Even Benson became more likeable from Mike's perspective some of the time (though at other times he was really awful).

Unusually for a book, the final section was definitely the best. So often authors lose steam at that point, but here I thought that Washington got me to care way more than I had about Benson and his father, while still keeping up the emotional momentum on Mike. Before the final section, I had spent most of my time reading resigned to finishing but with no enthusiasm for the book or its characters. The end brought together a lot of the threads of the book. Even though the ending is
open-ended, I still felt satisfied with it.


I have some other issues with the book though. A lot of the characters don't feel like real people in the way they talked - particularly the women, Ximena, Lydia and Mitsuko. They dispensed cryptic wisdom or made pithy remarks but never felt like real people. What I've seen described as the book's "staccato" pace meant that there were way too many emotional punchlines. So many passages tried to be profound in an understated way that I just got bored.

And finally, I don't think that Eiju's domestic abuse of Mitsuko was reckoned with enough (or for that matter, Mike and Benson's domestic abuse of each other). But it felt especially annoying in such a male-focused book that so much of the book's emotional core is about a reconciliation between a boy and the father who beat his mother, in which said father never once apologizes for that abuse, and a twist is made to make us think for a second that Mitsuko was the bad guy all along. The book's best emotional bits were about Eiju and Mike, but I never felt like Mitsuko got her emotional due even though the book ended with a focus on her.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sadhbhprice's review

Go to review page

emotional funny reflective 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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

whatannikareads's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sorcha's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

greatu's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

cheye13's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional 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 was a five star read right up until the end. I'm not usually picky about endings, but this one ultimately left me wondering about the purpose of the story. Which was probably the purpose of said ending! But still irks me.

Beautiful writing, engaging and deep characters. Would not be opposed to a reread – maybe bc I read it in audio, some details went over my head that would've made the ending land better.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

gabbygarcia's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging 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

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lena_and_her_books's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mxfahrenheit's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lexa's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It took a little while to get into the groove of this book. It flashes back and forth between memories and present day. But once I hit about halfway, it had captivated me with its everyday beauty and pain. One of those stories where nothing happens but also so much happens. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings