Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Memorial by Bryan Washington

9 reviews

kappafrog's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

20sidedbi's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Classism

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

this was very good and somehow wholesome. the ending was slightly unsatisfying to me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

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

3.5

One hand I thought the fact this cast is basically entirely people of color (and at least all the characters of note are not white) and their problems don’t stem from racism was very refreshing. However the emotional repression and emotionally stunt aspects of the characters and just how miserable they are (though the writing is very good) both made the book very refreshing in some aspects while frustrating in others. 

Also one hand the two men the book is in the perspective of grew up in hostile environments and the main cast is their families so it could just be what they would find normalized but it was difficult to tell of the novel took domestic violence seriously especially violence involving throwing things? 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

mansinnikam's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

kirani's review against another edition

emotional tense slow-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, and Abandonment

Minor: Body shaming, Racial slurs, and Classism

emmehooks's review against another edition

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

5.0

I was not a fan of this book until I realized it’s more about the journey then the outcome. The reader is supposed to create emotional subtext and themes in the blank space Washington leaves. A wonderful narrative that uses 2 perspectives, a lot of memories, and the present thought to evoke empathy, thoughts of subtle change, and what it means to build a life that’s okay, but not easy or perfect. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Body shaming

greatu's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism