Reviews

Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi

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lilym21's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

3.5

tracithomas's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I liked this book. It is a wild ride and not for the faint of heart. I think this book is going to be very polarizing, especially for folks who need likable characters. You're not getting that here. My biggest gripe is that the pacing stalls out (a bit long) in the middle third and I saw the ending coming miles and miles away.

mateyy's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

karbingut's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

caseythereader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

honey_444's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bookishandbougee's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Phew. This book. Wrote a review here: https://www.bookishandbougee.com/blog/littlerotreview

But in short, I was so excited to get an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) (thanks Riverhead!) of their latest novel Little Rot and to dive in. No idea of the plot, just vibes and an abiding admiration for this free ass spirit artist having a human experience.

I didn’t enjoy this book.

As I mentioned, I went into this story with no clue. I sincerely wish I had had a content warning about sexual violence in the book as it was too much.

I left the novel feeling dirty and questioning why I felt compelled to finish it. I don’t believe that characters in a novel need to bestow moral lessons or even that everything I read needs a happy ending, but this felt like being shown the ugliness of the world for the sake of it and the plot, thin as it was, didn’t justify the actions.

I didn’t think the story had anything interesting to say about people repressing their sexuality or religious hypocrites or gender roles or sex or so many topics that a skilled writer like Emezi is capable of in artful ways and that’s a shame.

Content Warnings

_pagesandleaves's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

hachimitsu's review against another edition

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4.0

nadih's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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