Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Vivek Ojin kuolema by Akwaeke Emezi

70 reviews

nannahnannah's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-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

3.0

Pet was my introduction to Akwaeke Emezi, and I fell in love with their creativity. Here, their prose has matured in leaps and bounds (which makes sense in a way, since Pet was YA), and they’ve included themes that I’ve found very challenging. Even if it wasn’t a book I particularly enjoyed, I found it a rewarding read.

Representation:
- most characters are Nigerian, and several are biracial
- Vivek is Nigerian and Indian, as well as gay and gender fluid
- Osita is a closeted gay/bi man
- other secondary characters are sapphic

Vivek Oji was born the day his grandmother died, and he carries the same starfish-shaped scar on his foot that she did, a possible sign of reincarnation. He grows up experiencing strange mysterious blackouts and periods of dissociation, but the only one who knows about it is his cousin, Osita.

Even as he gets older, more reclusive, more strange to his parents, and befriends the daughters of the “Nigerwives”, the foreign-born women who, like his own mother, married Nigerian men, he and Osita have the closest bond. But when their relationship deepens and transforms, and Vivek decides not to hide who is anymore outside of the home, his life is cut short.

The book is told in multiple PoVs, through the eyes of Vivek’s loved ones. It uses Vivek’s point of view maybe once or twice, when the emotional impact is highest. Even then, it’s maybe a few sentences. He’s meant to be a kind of enigmatic figure, his ambiguousness manifested through his illness that is neither named nor ever explained, the possible reincarnation, and his “odd” behavior that’s described by each PoV character.

Although I understand the reason for his mysteriousness (that he’s possibly the reincarnation of his grandmother), I don’t necessarily like the fact that part of it has to include an illness. But there could be cultural factors here that I’m not aware of, so that will be all I’ll say on it.

I’ll get to the incest in a bit, but one thing that did really bother me was the treatment of Elizabeth. Something happened to her when she was younger that was largely Vivek’s fault

Vivek literally watched her and Osita have sex, without her consent, and then came into the room.

. Vivek is considered blameless because he has those blackouts, but he still chose to spy on them! Then, much later, when they’re all older and Elizabeth is dating a woman (and it’s hinted at that she became a lesbian due to trauma, which is a mood), Vivek makes a dismissive comment about how Elizabeth should just be better or less traumatized from that childhood event. It’s weird how the book makes a sort of sinless being of Vivek, when we the readers can see, or at least I hope everyone is seeing, that he’s actually quite flawed.

But that might be the point. Even though everyone in the book seems to see him as a sort of angelic, larger-than-life creature, we can see him as a complete person--a completed picture through the eyes of everyone who loved him. 

Everyone in this book is flawed, actually, and I love that. Osita in particular has flaws by the bucketful, and even though I didn’t really like him, I very much appreciated him as a character. He was written very well.

However, the wonderfully crafted characters hit a little bump when Vivek’s friends shows his parents pictures of him as he truly was, Vivek and Nnemndi, a gender fluid person.

That night, Vivek’s mother denies it completely. She says things like, “he was sick”, “that’s not my son”, etc., but then the next day she has this passionate speech to her husband about trans rights. She then chips part of Vivek’s gravestone off with the hoe (is that even possible?), to include the name Nnemndi on his grave.

Okay, now before I end this thing, I’ll touch upon the incest. It’s a major part of this book. I’m not sure why, other than I remember seeing someone say that the author wanted you to be uncomfortable with it while you were reading and to almost examine that feeling a little bit. Well, they succeeded. I was definitely uncomfortable. I’m not sure, though, why incest is more normalized in the text than same-sex attraction. I know in other cultures that romance between first cousins isn’t considered incest, but I don’t think that’s the case with Igbo people (also side note, but WHAT was the deal with the leads having anal sex using spit as lube ??).

Despite my criticisms, this is a very good book. It just wasn’t an enjoyable one for me. However, I was so ecstatic to read a nonlinear plot! I was just talking to a friend about how much I needed that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Incest, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny

mladd28's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, and Transphobia

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

will_meringue's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Somewhere, you see, in the river of time, I am already alive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Incest, and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual assault

blackcatkai's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

CW: sexual assault, death, violence, trans/homophobia, sexual content, infidelity, grief, religious bigotry/xenophobia, abuse, animal death, ableism, sexism

this is such a heartbreaking & difficult story about grief as well as sexual & gender identity. Emezi's writing is outstanding.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Transphobia, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Hate crime, Murder, Religious bigotry, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Ableism, and Toxic relationship

morganperks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

did not appreciate the emotions this book made me feel. I was crying by the end (when am I not tho?)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Outing, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Medical content, Self harm, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Alcoholism, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, War, Death of parent, Transphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Child abuse, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Blood and Drug use

eanna's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

samdalefox's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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? No

4.5

I think it's much better to go into this book without knowing too much. The story unfolds relatively evenly and the developments and realisations are more powerful if you don't know them beforehand. The absolute minimum information you need to know is that this is a book about frienship, family, and Queerness in southeastern Nigeria. It is heartbreaking in a sad and a happy way. I definitely recommend reading it. I particuarly enjoyed listening as an audiobook due to the excellent performances and accents. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Grief, Rape, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Biphobia, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

Describes absence seizures or dissociative fugue states and the difficulties accompanying them.

sonyareadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and Rape

drlove2018's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

One of those books that makes you extra sad when you turn the last page because it is just so good. I wanted to spend more time with these people, especially the title character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

marisa_n's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Gore, Death, Incest, Transphobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Infidelity, Bullying, Sexual violence, Outing, and Incest