What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons (A Review by Bianca Verbeek)

Rating: 4/5 

This beautiful book is about Thandi, a woman who is trying to make sense of her life after her mother is diagnosed with cancer and who dies not long after. Traveling back and forth in time, you get an insight in the relationship with both her mother and (the development of the relationship with) her father and the choices Thandi makes in her own love life after her mother’s death. Although the back of the book also promised a view in her struggles as an African American woman in the United States, this is only a small part of the book and I found it to be more of a background of Zinzi and her mother. The book mainly describes the loss of a loved one, and how this grief can impact your life in even the smallest aspects of it.

The book is a quick read, but a beautiful one. With illustrations to clarify her emotions, this book read more like a memoir than a novel. I can imagine anyone who has lost a parent can deeply relate to this book, but anyone who experienced some kind of loss can understand the emotions the main character goes through. For me, the only thing that made this book into a 4-star instead of a 5-star was the (sometimes) chaotic timeline. Because the book travels back and forth so much without notice, it sometimes took me a while to figure out where the main character was in time.

In conclusion, this is a beautiful book that I would definitely recommend. I’m very curious to see how everyone will relate to this story.

Review by Bianca Verbeek