Reviews with content warning for Racism - Brother

I started the 2023 Read the World challenge here on Storygraph, requiring me to read books set or written in 10 different areas of the world. One of the areas (Trinidad and Tobago) was a complete mystery to me, and I figured I'd end up reading a romance novel set in a beach resort just to "check it off" the list. Instead, skimming their list of suggested titles, Brother by David Chariandy caught my attention and I gave it a shot. If nothing else comes of this challenge, I am thankful this challenge brought me to this book!
From the first page the language of this book is captivating, quickly transitioning the experience from "just another book" to "a powerful work of literature." So many poignant moments of literary perfection.

"He taught me that, my older brother. Memory's got nothing to do with the old and grey and faraway gone. Memory's the muscle sting of now."

The story is a simple one on paper - ten years after the death of his older brother, Francis, main character Michael, invites a girl from his past, Aisha, to stay with him while she grieves her father's death. Aisha's presence pushes Michael both physically and emotionally to confront the loss of his brother.

There is so much more in this 200 pages, though -- this is a story of identity, of family, of courage, of grief, of brutality and recovery. It deals with crucial modern issues like the interaction of black men and the police and the view of gay men in the black community with a featherlight touch and brutal honesty. A plot structure that could be easily seen as an attempt to play on headlines is instead gut wrenchingly honest in its presentation of the unexpectedness, the unexplanable nature, and the unacceptableness of the actions included. Francis' character in absentia remains the most powerful force - his family and friends pulled to his gravity even years after his death. The highest compliment I can give a book is to say I want to write about it...and this one I do. I want to write and write and write...this book has so much to explore.

Honestly, though, I feel insignificant just trying to review this book - it's so beautiful and so powerful it should be the top of every reading list.

Content Warnings

linneahbt's review

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Michael and Francis are brother, sons of Trinidadian immigrants, who are surviving in Scarborough. They haven't had it easy, but they make it through, until a shooting in their neighbourhood changes everything. Ten years later, Michael reunites with his teenage love, and is forced to reckon with the way that summer altered his entire life.
This story hurt to read; it felt very intimate. It explores topics of poverty, racism, complicated grief, in a simultaneously delicate and heavily impactful way.

Content Warnings

katoo's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

lizlikesfrogs's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

rachelfek's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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aliciawrong's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

megelizabeth's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

"Francis was my older brother. His was a name a toughened kid might boast of knowing, or a name a parent might pronounce in warning. But before all of this, he was the shoulder pressed against me bare and warm, that body always just a skin away."

This is a brilliant, beautiful, soul-destroying book. The writing is very strong and the non-linear narrative is very well-crafted, and I adored the central relationship between brothers Michael and Francis, which is portrayed with such honesty and devastation. There's also a super interesting set of side characters and so many other important relationships are explored too.

This book provides so much to think about and reflect upon in its themes of grief, trauma, familial expectations, living as an immigrant, poverty, race, sexuality, police violence, and friendship and community, and it's one that I'm sure will stay with me for a long time.

My only criticism is that I struggled to feel connected to the time period. Most of the book is set during the 1980s and 1990s, but for reasons I can't quite articulate, it felt very contemporary and I honestly wouldn't have batted an eyelid if every word had been the same but it had been set today. I'd still highly, highly recommend it though, as everything else about it is so fantastic and brutal and important and devastating.

Content Warnings

robin_jong's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense 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

Content Warnings

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