Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

54 reviews

gabriella_dorianne's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Body shaming

raneyak's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.75

It got a little confusing at times, but overall this book is a lyrical exploration of trauma and recovery. The main character has traits of some sort of dissociation disorder, but rather than portraying her experience through a psychological lens the book tells her story in terms of her cultural and spiritual beliefs.  

The story is told in a non-linear fashion, jumping back and forth in the timeline while different characters (personalities/identities within the main character) tell stories from their perspectives. This choice worked excellently for the story being told, with story pieces being told not in order of time but instead in order of personal significance. 

This book was quite explicit, though, and while the language was lyrical it still talked about self harm and suicidal ideation. Be very careful reading it if you have a history of mental health issues. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Transphobia, Blood, Child abuse, Rape, Grief, Dysphoria, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol, Medical content, Outing, and Homophobia

poubelleboi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Veramente originale, ben scritto e interessante. "Acquadolce" di Akwaeke Emezi è un viaggio nella mente di una ragazza nigeriana col DDI (disturbo dissociativo dell'identità - se non lo conoscete, prima si chiamava qualcosa come disturbo della personalità multipla ma non è più corretto) che però non è trattato in maniera medica ma spirituale. I suoi alter sono dèi con desideri e obiettivi da dèi. Quando la protagonista si trasferisce negli Stati Uniti, loro combattono per tornare alle loro origini, in Nigeria, e dai loro fratellisorelle. Ed è troppo interessante leggere il loro punto di vista, che è allo stesso tempo esterno e interno. Veramente una lettura da dieci.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Blood, Death, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Abortion, Homophobia, and Infidelity

lizziaha's review against another edition

3.75

This book is no plot, just vibes. And the vibes are good—I love Emezi’s writing style—but I was a bit confused at times. I couldn’t wrap my head around all of it. I didn’t know whether to read it literally or as a metaphor. I would highly recommend reading the author’s note at the end, though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug use, Child abuse, Death, Transphobia, Infidelity, Homophobia, Alcohol, Grief, and Outing

Minor: Religious bigotry

thewoodlandbookshelf's review

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Medical content, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Death, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Abortion, and Pedophilia

bookwormbi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book is beautifully written and its story is fabulously told. I remain such a huge fan of Akwaeke Emezi’s absolutely stunning work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Rape

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia

henriettaenam's review

dark medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Abandonment, Blood, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Toxic relationship

eliakine's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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

4.5

this was a bit of a tricky read! not because it was difficult to read, the narrative voice was so clear, it made actually reading the book feel lovely and smooth. the topics discussed however were very heavy and numerous, so it's definitely not one for the faint of heart. even still, I don't regret picking it up at all, I just know that going forward I should be more careful to familiarise myself with content warnings before starting to read lol

I really enjoyed reading about Ada, and Emezi so skillfully wrote from so many different perspectives and voices this truly was a wonderful time. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Child abuse, Homophobia, and Transphobia

Minor: Physical abuse, Violence, and Outing

lottesuardi's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Homophobia

emily_journals's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

This is a beautifully written partial memoir that I believe will have a strong impact on anyone who reads it. Make sure to check trigger warnings for this one before you pick it up as there is a lot of triggering content, but if you are willing/able to read those triggers this is definitely worth the read. 

I found this to be a very intriguing exploration of identity, gender, and sexuality through the lens of Igbo religion and culture. This book was heartbreaking and profound and is a book that I will be rereading in the future to fully appreciate and absorb everything portrayed in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Rape, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Outing, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Stalking, Transphobia, and Homophobia