Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

54 reviews

michaelion's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense 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

4.5

Ever since this book came out all I've heard is people wahwahwah about the incest when there is a MUCH LARGER, MORE IMPORTANT THEME AND PLOT POINT to the story. AND!!! Emezi says the two books that inspired this one in the acknowledgements!!! They did the work for you and people still didn't get it!!!! You people make me sick. You lack media literacy, reading comprehension, AND critical thinking skills.

Akwaeke Emezi, the person that you are. You've done it yet again. I can't wait to read all their books. They are truly amazing.

In my notes I put Vivek was her grandma reincarnated. The grandma the baby. This may have been intentional but if it's not I'm saying it as fact!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Blood, Incest, Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Colonisation, Dysphoria, Gore, Sexual assault, Deadnaming, Sexual content, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Rape, Gaslighting, Violence, Outing, Physical abuse, Biphobia, Mental illness, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Animal death

Minor: Murder, Confinement, Hate crime, Vomit, Miscarriage, and Abandonment

mirandyli's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

A beautiful story about transness and queerness in Nigeria. Very sad and will probably make you cry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Incest, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Transphobia, Infertility, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Outing

katreena's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

From the very first page of this book I thought the writing was breathtakingly beautiful. My opinion on this never wavered as the author used such powerful imagery and expression of emotion.. I was very thrown off by the incest and the language around the relationship did not let that dynamic fall to be forgotten.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Mental illness, Homophobia, Grief, Death, Incest, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Minor: Blood

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

4.25

The ending of this def made me cry a little. It was also a reveal I wasn't expecting. I really enjoyed this book for the complexities of the characters and how the story was structured. I also listened to the audiobook as I followed along with the physical book and the narrators were great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Transphobia, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Animal death, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Blood, and Suicidal thoughts

midnightreads1803's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Ableism, Mental illness, Dysphoria, and Incest

Moderate: Hate crime

kjofalltrades's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Violence, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Homophobia, Outing, Mental illness, Infertility, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse

barium_squirrel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

Moderate: Mental illness, Homophobia, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Outing, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

sara_berlin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

I found this book to have a less avant-garde style than some of Akwaeke Emezi's other books, but still with their unique flair, which I always love. It also fit into my accidental reading trend of gravitating toward perspectives that I don't often hear, which definitely applies to mainstream American literature and queer Nigerians. For both of those reasons, I really enjoyed the story, despite it's clear tragedy. The Death of Vivek Oji deserves to become a classic. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Sexual content

Minor: Infertility, Death of parent, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Transphobia

flashandoutbreak's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Death, Animal death, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Outing, Sexual content, and Transphobia

tea_kettle's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.25

amazing story, beautifully written, and one i would read again despite the heartbreak. However, the mildly (and later very graphically) incestuous themes were pretty uncomfortable to get through, and i don’t think they necessarily needed to be that way. Still, it was a great story, and i’m glad it was told, especially by a writer so skilled. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Death, Grief, Child death, Incest, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Hate crime, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Deportation, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Vomit, Infertility, and Rape