Reviews with content warning for Grief - Open Water

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

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

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laurataylor's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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

4.0

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orezevida's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

A lyrical and poetic story about love, but not a love story.

This story is set in South-East London and follows the main character (which I assume is partly based on Nelson) in his day-to-day life after meeting a woman at a party. The book doesn’t really have a plot, as it revolves mostly around the main character and the developement of this new relationship (more like a situationship at first). I loved Nelson’s deep exploration of his main character’s emotions, thoughts and motivations. He explored grief, imposter syndrome, black manhood, masculinity, parentification, love, friendship and so many more topics with immense tenderness and insight. His prose is so beautiful and poetic that I found myself feeling emotional even when he described something as mundane as walking home from a bar. However, I did knock off half a star as I felt it became a bit too flowery at times and I had to re-read the sentence once or twice to grasp what the author was trying to convey.

Nelson writes this book in second person, and without naming the main character or the love interest; they are known to the reader by ‘you’ and ‘she’ only. It was strange at first to read from this perspective, but I quickly grew used to, and even fond of it. The namelessness of the characters helped me feel closer to them, as I could easily insert myself into the story whenever I felt the their experiences, emotions, actions etc closely aligned with mine. And after spending so long reading about characters I could only relate to at a distance, it was refreshing and extremely cathartic to finally read a story in which not only the characters’ skin colours and appearances matched mine, but their education, upbringing, thought patterns etc.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a short but reflective piece with a bittersweet tone and ending which explores love and all its complications, as well as grief, friendship and race (to name a few).

(P.S. For anyone who likes listening to instrumental music whilst reading, the song ‘Abusey Junction’ by Kokoroko from the Open Water playlist is perfect, and captures mood so well.)

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bethancy's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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juliaa03's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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charity_ix's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This writing was so beautiful I couldn't give it anything less than 4 stars. The perspective the author chose to write this in made the book feel more vulnerable like I was in the main character's mind. The romance felt super intense in the beginning and I love reading about a couple who were both black. The small cultural aspects of his Ghanaian background and the discussion about racism in the U.K. that people like to pretend doesn't exist.

With that being said, I couldn't give this 5 stars because, in the last quarter or so, it fell flat.

I think their separation was not as high stakes as I imagined it and while the topics discussed were important, it felt like the book was steering in a new direction that had nothing to do with the main plot. I also just hate the classic miscommunication trope so maybe that was it.

The ending also left me a little unsatisfied. The author probably intended it this way though because in real life there aren't always happy endings.

Regardless, I would recommend this book for its amazing writing and storytelling!

Content Warnings

kyliebloch's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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