Reviews with content warning for Death - Open Water

Caleb Azumah Nelson has a way with words - just wow. Open Water is written in second person and I think I haven't read a book in that perspective. It works so well and you feel like you are a silent observer in the story which I very much enjoyed!
The story is about a photographer and a dancer. The male MC is going through such a lot of trauma and isn't able to express his emotions it is weighing down that otherwise beautiful love story. The book deals with racism, police brutality, relationships, love and overall what it means and feels like to be a British black man.

“It's one thing to be looked at, and another to be seen.”

This book was absolutely heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. It is only 144 pages long but filled so incredibly beautifully with words and feelings. I highly recommend!

Content Warnings

rosalind's review against another edition

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challenging 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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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nialiversuch's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

Content Warnings

chapstickdealer's review against another edition

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emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

thatenbyisisreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

The constant battle of allowing oneself to be vulnerable in a world that hates you was written poetically in a way that made me take several moments to process. This book was so raw and honest, I highly recommend everyone to read this.

Content Warnings

fynn_jls's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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ktkeps's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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

Content Warnings

jijireads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.25

Maybe I should've shelved this for another time or maybe it just wasn't for me. Idk! There were things I appreciated about this book but also other aspects turned me off completely. For example, I like how the book emphasized that words failed when it came to feelings. As a reader, the MCs feel isolated from the rest of the world, like they’re not supposed to be real people but vessels for the author’s poetry. Because of this, the dialogue is almost always hard to follow.

It's incredibly tense. There was a sharp feeling in my stomach after finishing but some parts lack clarity. I didn't like the "you" pronoun in the beginning but got used to it after a bit.
Towards the end it was really straying away from the main plot and was just plain boring. After only a few months I actually can't even remember how it ends 😅. Aspects of the Black experience were scattered throughout but came together in the end. It really grabs you by the neck and confronts you with police brutality and the condition of the Black body in a society that others them.
But it was nice to see the Black community and our synergy represented in a book. It was cute how the characters found safety in one another.
Sometimes I felt myself fighting to put the book down, being entranced by the writing style. Other times, the repetitiveness was annoying and I was just trying to see the end.
Overall, mixed emotions.

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