Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Água Doce by Akwaeke Emezi

125 reviews

_darbi_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcohol and Eating disorder

whatannikareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

this is one of the best books I’ve ever read ever. I basically read this book in one sitting. Once you wrap your head around the initial writing style and concepts, holy shit you’re hooked. I have never read anything like this and I don’t think I ever will again. It’s such a unique, poetic, dark, intriguing way to handle trauma, grief, loss, love, heartbreak, incorporating the mythology of Nigerian spirituality. The pacing hooked me and i like how things weren’t explained super explicitly; the bad things that happen are revealed as we go on, and it made me stop and reflect on why Ada acted/reacted the way she/they did.

Stunning. Reminds me of The Vanishing Half, as in how can a debut book be THIS fucking good. Like holy shit dude I don’t know if I know what I read but every sentence felt like I could frame it.

MAJOR trigger warnings for rape, suicidal thoughts, mental illness, abuse 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Car accident, Mental illness, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

khanyamanqoba's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Self harm, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, and Mental illness

nenaveenstra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

This book helped me get an idea of what it's like to have a multitude personality disorder, while also telling me that that's not what it is. It is a non-Western - or better said, Nigerian - view of mental illness and queerness and folklore. It was so interesting. But it was also super dark and I had to put this book down multiple times because I started hyperventilating a little bit. Also the chronology is a bit off but I decided to ignore that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death and Mental illness

Minor: Biphobia

sara_iume's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Blood

Moderate: Alcohol and Child abuse

atalea's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Physical abuse

miles's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Transphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Death, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, and Drug abuse

fionac326's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

summerb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Blood

Minor: Abandonment, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death, Cursing, and Child abuse

merin_aran's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

I came to this book after reading The Death of Vivek Oji, and Emezi did not disappoint. 

Emezi's writing, as always, is stunning and so poetic. The plot and characters were complex, interesting, and deeply thought-provoking. I loved seeing mental health through the lens of African spirituality rather than the traditional western trope and enjoyed the queer representation. 

Having not much understanding of Igbo spirituality and beliefs, I did have to stop after 40 or so pages to research ogbanje and figure out what was going on. This was totally on me though, and I don't think the author had any obligation to make the book more accessible to a western audience by explaining a more about ogbanje. 

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read the rest of Emezi's work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia