Memorial

Despite the unusual prose - no punctuation, it was a good emotional read. Interesting characters and plot. I enjoyed it

I loved this book. The author has created a story that engages and teases in equal measure, with characters that are sketched rather than fully-drawn and they are all the better for it. Other reviews have commented on the unconventional style - lack of speech punctuation, for example - but it is easy to get into the swing of the writing and to follow the lives of the characters that the author chooses to tell us about - it is his story and he lets us into what he wants us to know about Benson, Mike and their relationship(s) (a bit like Sally Rooney's Normal People) and, while some have found this a bit frustrating, I really enjoyed this approach. I laughed and cried and, as an aside, learnt a lot about Japanese cooking! If you are looking for something a little unconventional and care about the way we live and how society views us, then this book is for you.....might I also suggest that there could be a sequel here too?

The characters in this book are really likeable, you become invested as a reader in their lives and how they are unfolding. It explores relationships in a unique and refreshing manner but unfortunately it started to lose it's momentum half way through... left me feeling a bit disappointed as the start had such great potential!!

I really enjoyed reading this, the storyline was quite simple but it didn’t need to be complex because it was well written. It was a little slow at times and it wasn’t the most exciting read, but I enjoyed getting to know the characters and seeing viewpoints of queer people of colour. I’d recommend it if you are interested in good, simple writing but I wouldn’t recommend it if you need an exciting plot.

This is wonderful. Benson and Mike's relationship has been on the rocks for a while. They both know it but neither are willing to pull the plug. Then Mike's father gets sick and he flies off to Osaka to mend his relationship with him before it's too late. As he flies out, his mother flies in and Benson finds himself with an extremely demanding houseguest and problems of his own.Written from both men's perspective, this is quietly funny, slightly heartbreaking and beautifully nuanced.

This is a book by an African-American writer with four principal characters: two Japanese, one American of Japanese origin and one African-American. It takes place in the US and in Japan. At its heart it's a love story: a gay love story and a family love story. It is highly readable, quite unlike anything else I have ever read, and it's powerfully moving. It is memorable. My one reservation: maybe the way the characters speak and interact is drawn from life, but the dialogues are unlike any others I have read and struck me as contrived. Do people really speak to each other in such a staccato way? The book is written in scenes, rather like a TV drama, and gives the impression that achieving an effect has often trumped something more realistic. I found it hard to believe that so many of the characters were so socially disfuntional. But I am a British white reader. Maybe the characters seemed to stretch credulity simply because they were so unfamiliar, apart from the fact of two of them being gay that is.

A memorial to the time I wasted reading this book and hoping beyond hope that the next page would make me empathise with the characters, all to no avail. I can only think that the reviewers read another book because I simply could not relate to their comments at all. It made me frustrated, it certainly wasn’t funny or moving, and the lack of any in-depth analysis of the characters left me extremely puzzled how anyone could empathise with them. A huge disappointment.

I really wanted to like this book much more than I ended up actually enjoying it. The author has so much potential and I loved the main characters especially Mike, Benson and Mike’s Mother. But the plot lacked focus and felt too flimsy. I know this author is more well known for his poetry and maybe this book was just the authors’ way of working out the kinks in his writing style while he was adapting from poetry to narrative form.I will certainly read anything else this author writes as his character development was fantastic. But the slow nature of the relationship between Benson and Mike was too frustrating for me and they spent most of the novel apart in separate countries which meant we spent more time with filler narratives than their own on/off romance.Thanks to Atlantic Books, Bryan Washington the author and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful piece of literature. Its a well crafted plot that tugs at your heart strings. The complicated relationships of the characters make for a truly unique reading experience.

This story is everything , so much depth. A Story of love and despair all in one. That sadness and joy can co exist is not such a revelation as it is a reminder that love is a journey , that has many ups and downs, and that you never know what will happen next😎

The characters and interactions between theme are amazing. Definitely worth reading.

I don’t want to say too much - this book is best if you go into it not knowing too much.

One of the most moving novels I’ve read in a long time. It was slightly difficult to get used to the style of the prose at the very beginning, but once I settled into Ben and Mike’s world, I was captivated.