Honestly, this book doesn't feel like it was made to be published for a wider audience. It was more a rough form of processing grief or eulogizing and it must have a lot of value for the author and potentially her family, but it was rough and unfocused and kind of empty from an outside perspective.
It was already a short book and repetition -- losing a topic, then reexplaining it as it circles back -- pared the story down even further.
Additionally, in my opinion, the most well-told memoirs require the author to have thorough metacognition and the ability to be honest even about their unfair or unpleasant thoughts and feelings, especially when messy and painful topics like this. I didn't think the author was able to do this. This caused certain sections to land as uncomfortably passive-aggressive, like there was anger and judgment, that had to be concealed to maintain face. There were also concepts relating to the role of family and the changing relationships in difficult times that got turned around, contained unacknowledged contradictions, or were overly repeated without going beyond the surface-level statement.
It was already a short book and repetition -- losing a topic, then reexplaining it as it circles back -- pared the story down even further.
Additionally, in my opinion, the most well-told memoirs require the author to have thorough metacognition and the ability to be honest even about their unfair or unpleasant thoughts and feelings, especially when messy and painful topics like this. I didn't think the author was able to do this. This caused certain sections to land as uncomfortably passive-aggressive, like there was anger and judgment, that had to be concealed to maintain face. There were also concepts relating to the role of family and the changing relationships in difficult times that got turned around, contained unacknowledged contradictions, or were overly repeated without going beyond the surface-level statement.