Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - What We Lose

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons

22 reviews

hartendief's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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ejsreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

What an absolutely stunning debut novel!

This book made me smile, cry, laugh, think --heck I felt it all. Some parts were absolutely soul-crushing. The way Clemmons portrayed love, joy, grief, and despair through her characters was raw, palpable, and equally heartfelt yet heartbreaking. The highs were triumphantly high and the lows were extremely low.

It definitely reads more like a memoir. There were times I had to remind myself it was fictional. This is the type of book you are sorry to finish for it truly made you think and, more importantly, made you feel. Read best on public transportation (read: university bus) so you can then gaze longingly out the window.

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carleesi's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

The writing style of this book was really interesting. The combination of non-linear storytelling with the short chapters helped develop the emotional impact for me. One of the downsides that pulled me out of the story was the frequent fatphobia. Sometimes it was covert and other times it was really blatant, made it hard for me to stay in the story.

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1414's review

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fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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wingateyoshie's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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adoesetfree's review

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

I checked this out from my library on a whim a few days before Mother's Day- books about complicated mother/daughter relationships always draw me in, and it felt appropriate considering the time.

Turns out this book was exactly what I needed right now: after reading two very humorous, light-hearted novels, the slow-paced heaviness of "What We Lose" was refreshing and palette-cleansing. Clemmons took a very difficult and honest look at grief, and how it can impact individuals and break down family units. I often felt grieved myself while reading, which either speaks for my sensitivity or Clemmons' skill. Probably both.

I appreciated the way this was written: the bite-sized looks at Thandi's psyche, combined with Clemmons' simple but insightful prose, made the book easy to consume. The writing was a very good balance of "straight-forward, with the occasional sentence to take your breath away."

Though grief (how it feels and changes your life, how people cope or don't cope with it, the vague probability of healing from it) is the main focus of "What We Lose", the book also dipped its feet in the effects of capitalism, classism, and misogynoir and colorism within the Black community- all discussions that I enjoyed and appreciated.

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