Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

32 reviews

blueberrywgin's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i will be thinking about this for a very long time. great writing, great music. a story that needed to be told.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Racism, Drug use, Hate crime, and Police brutality

autismandniamh's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Car accident, Grief, Police brutality, Racism, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content

peggy_racham's review

5.0

"Ask: if flexing is being able to say the most in the least amount of words, is there a greater flex than love?"

Second person perspective, my beloved. Never have I read a love story quite so profound and beautifly written and also tragic.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Alcohol, Drug use, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

sakisreads's review against another edition

emotional inspiring tense slow-paced

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

5.0

✨ Gifted ✨

I am so envious of whoever gets to read this for the first time.

I have no words. None. 

Well, okay, maybe a few.

This is honestly one of the most phenomenal books I have read in quite a long time, and I read a LOT 😂 I was slow to read it only because I kept putting it down after crying, screaming, throwing up (or well, gasping a lot) 👏🏼

Caleb Azumah Nelson does an incredible job in his debut novel. I honestly cannot praise it enough. I urge EVERYONE to read it ❤️

Obviously 5 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Racism, Police brutality, Classism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Drug use

christinaanna's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Police brutality, Racism, Mental illness, and Alcohol

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Filled with quiet, poetic beauty. This is a novel to savour, drink in, enjoy in quiet moments.

I find a second-person narrative always takes a few chapters to get used to. But this lent itself so well to the story; it gives events an inevitability, like the central couple only had so much control over what was coming.

The whole thing is kind of wistful, and the two main characters (whose names we never learn) lead each other in an intense dance filled with emotion and inner conflict about growing up black in London.

I love the showcase the book gives to black art and music, and how that inspires these characters and their relationship. It forms a counterpoint to the racism that's endemic in how they are seen (or not seen), and shows how important it is to continue championing black voices. A really powerful book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Drug use, Murder, and Racism

moriahleigh's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Death

Minor: Alcohol and Drug use

emfield's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Police brutality

Moderate: Murder, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, and Mental illness

tashtasher's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Grief, Car accident, and Racism

Moderate: Classism and Police brutality

Minor: Infidelity, Drug use, and Slavery

dannythestreet's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

That must be one of the most beautiful things I've ever read

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Police brutality, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Classism, Death, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, and Medical content