Memorial Drive

 

Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Once again, I think this memoir was written more for the author than for anyone else as she tries to process the murder of her mother by her stepfather. However, Trethewey is actually a brilliant writer and her processing becomes compelling for the reader. Trethewey is exceptional at taking a picture and seeing meaning in the details. The use of her early memory of drowning which bookends the book illustrates how we tell a narrative to ourselves, and hers is especially literary, full of symbolism and metaphor. She is careful to only use her memories, pictures, and documents which is responsible for a memoirist, especially with other people in the book still living. Still, I can't help but feel the holes that are missing (what about the half-brother? how did her mother's relationships affect her own relationships, esp. with her husband? where was the birth father during this time?)

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The City We Became

 

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed Jemisin's The Fifth Season, but couldn't get traction on this one. It's a charming premise--a city is "born" and creates human avatars which, I guess, protect the city. New York is a bit different though--it has 5 avatars that must come together to wake the New York avatar to keep interdemensional demons at bay. Each avatar represents a borough of New York and epitomizes it. It's cute. The action scenes are pretty well done. There are some good bits especially when the avatars use their "abilities" to defeat the enemy. But there wasn't much depth to the story, in my opinion. I really like New York, but have never lived there, so maybe that's why? This one just was just ok in my book.

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Nothing human beings do is set in stone--and even stone changes, anyway