There are some books that just don’t work as an audiobook. There were passages and ideas and themes in this book that I really enjoyed, but it was so clearly written to be read, to be digested and understood at your own pace, to be able to reread passages, to see where one section ends and another begins. 

Vanishing Monuments follows Alani, a photographer who returns to their childhood home to visit their dying mother. They confront their past, reflect on the importance of memory and identity, and try to find closure. 

The writing is undeniable beautiful, but all I wanted to do was go back over certain passages, highlight a section, flick back and forth. The narrative switches between first and second person, which is a fantastic way of distinguishing between the real and the imagined, but doesn’t translate quite as well on an audiobook. 

This was a very moving reflection on gender, identity, family, art, and the importance of memory. Hopefully one day soon I’ll get the chance to read it in written form; I feel like I would be able to follow the story much more, and get more out of the experience, if that was the case. 

I received a free audiobook for review. All opinions are my own.