Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

120 reviews

aellwy's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Sexual assault

macknificent's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Grief, Mental illness, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual violence, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Rape, Transphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Pedophilia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, and Incest

aile_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

reread january 2024
read in english, paperback

I understand why 15 year old me was astonished by this. But I didn’t feel as strongly  this time. Maybe I’ve  come in terms with my gender, or more spiritually disconnected. Not sure. This time I didn’t cry once. While I cried all the time the first time I read it. Doesn’t take away the authors’ ingenuity and the books’ amazingness
And I still deeply love freshwater. I know this book has shaped me to the place I am now.

april 2022
read in swedish, ebook

If I could give this book 6 stars I would. Absolutely beautiful. I didn’t understand everything in this book but that do not change the fact that the book is the best ever made. I wonder though if it is a autobiography or not? And my favorite character was Saint Vincent. Going to have to reread it sometime. In english because I read it in swedish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Moderate: Abandonment, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape

Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, Transphobia, Addiction, and Violence

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

1.5

maybe im not spiritual enough for this book, but i find freshwater - despite it being interesting at points - too rambling and 'inward' for me.

i find ọgbanje to be fascinating, but the incorporation of it, or rather the way it's incorporated, in this novel is a lil bit too full of misery. this doesnt mean the book is bad by any means - in fact, i find it to be quite well written - but it purely comes down to my personal taste, which simply doesnt rly click w/ it. and while the lack of a plot doesnt bother me, its long-winded and verbose content that seemingly repeats in countless similar loops does.

the structure and lack of enough info/details also confuse me at times as well, w/ the former jumping around timeline and chronology, and the latter resulting in statements indicating some development or sudden change that the reader isnt previously privy to, making things a bit jarring. i'll still be checking out emezi's the death of vivek oji tho, which hopefully will be better than this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Self harm

Moderate: Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Rape, Blood, and Eating disorder

Minor: Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, and Child abuse

qtcarolyn's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Rape, Dysphoria, Biphobia, Car accident, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Homophobia

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Eating disorder, Child abuse, and Death

Minor: Body shaming and Pedophilia

ok7a's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective

• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Self harm, and Sexual content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Infidelity

Minor: Rape, Domestic abuse, and Suicide attempt

nefariousbee's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Self harm, and Mental illness

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Biphobia, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Child abuse, and Confinement

seawarrior's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

Freshwater is a dizzying, original tale of a young woman who comes of age with gods trapped within her mind and her flesh. Emezi's writing is cutting and clear, conveying the messages of Ada's divine residents with precise expression and violent, glittering imagery. While the chronology of the book was disorienting at times, I never felt lost. The way events were revealed made sense in context, and furthered our understanding of the characters' thought processes. I am not familiar with Igbo onotology, or metaphysical theories in general, yet my lack of knowledge did not make the story hard to follow, thanks to Emezi's direct style and explicit metaphors. However, I would not recommend this book to people triggered by or vulnerable to depictions of sexual violence and self harm. A key plot development in the book is the arrival of a vengeful and hedonistic god summoned to protect Ada from the realization she has been raped. Even before this, Ada was self harming to provide her gods with the blood they craved, yet this event accelerates the self destructive behavior her gods encourage. Though deeply unsettling, I did enjoy reading this novel. I've never encountered another story like it, and look forward to reading the unique and divergent works Emezi felt inspired by. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Grief, Death, Homophobia, Medical content, and Transphobia

dakarif's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Rape

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Abortion, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Child death

oconnorlizzy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Mental illness