Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Zřídlo by Akwaeke Emezi

433 reviews

breannajanay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

In FRESHWATER, Emezi’s account of Ada’s growing up is haunting. It’s the kind of apparition that sticks to the corners of your periphery, taunting and goading, before finally deciding to reveal itself on its own terms. It’s yet another work that explores hedonistic responses to the discovery of self amidst unspeakable trauma. 

 

FRESHWATER is Ada’s coming-of-age story, documenting her life from when she was an unruly baby to a force nature. As she ages, so do the godlike forces in the marble recesses of her mind, billowing in and out of identity and form. The flux causes confusion, and rash behavior, and it reveals the lengths Ada and the gods she carries are willing to go to recover her own power and her own place. 

 

Emezi explores the question: how does one find oneself, and how does one find help on that journey, in a world where no one fully understands your complexity? How do you live in a world where you constantly feel “away”? The actions, almost ritualistic, that Ada takes steep a certain kind of anxiety that lingers at a very low level and spikes at times outside of your control. And perhaps that is on purpose so that we can feel exactly as Ada does. Only, unlike Ada, we do not step backward so that gods can step forward into our place. We witness Ada partake in a beautiful yet wicked dance of self-salvaging, self-indulgence, but most importantly self-defense. This is a story of discovery, and it is a story of desperate survival. 

 

There are many trigger warnings that come with this book, and it’s because of that that I’d give this book a four out of five stars. This book is not written to be immediately understood by everyone. Witchy isn’t an appropriate enough word to describe it. It’s a deeply spiritual unraveling of one’s sense of self when the self has been transgressed in the cruelest way possible. 

 

It’s a question of -- how we recover a fractured sense of being when, from the start, the foundations were already so fragile? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual assault

naicrix's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia

bookjayda's review against another edition

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Sexual assault

tgij's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Eating disorder

sycomode's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad fast-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: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

sexual assault and trauma

e1095's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Eating disorder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

nylah_danae's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Self harm

cleansky7's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

veggiestrawenjoyer13's review against another edition

The concept was interesting and I was hooked in the beginning. The writing style was just not for me. I can definitely see how people enjoy this book and connect with it though. It’s not a bad book, just not for me. The writing got a little much for me and it was hard to understand what was going on, I started just skimming pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child death and Misogyny

vajaakirjahylly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

I feel like this book needs a reread to be fully understood

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol