Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Open Water

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

43 reviews

icarusandthesun's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.0

a wonderful book, but simply wasn't for me.

nelson's writing is plain beautiful. lyrical. it sounds like a song, like a poem, like a friend telling you about their woes, like an observation of the world - its beauty and terrors - all in one.

i've never seen anyone describe life and love quite like he did. nelson's portrayal of love must be one of the most comforting, most romantic and rawest portrayals one can find in literature today.
passages heart-wrenching, alternating between joy and grief. appreciation for all kinds of art created by people of color. celebrating it.

nevertheless, i was a little bored. and i want to note that that's totally on me, not the book. since it is a very lyrical piece, it doesn't have a lot of plot. i also found it a little hard to concentrate on some of the passages, kept zoning out, because there were a lot of repetitions (used as a stylistic device and executed beautifully, but alas), long descriptions of memories and photographs of moments to remember. i just couldn't quite find my footing, if that makes sense.

it was kind of like swimming in open water - lyrical and sensitive words flowing all around you, but there was nothing to grasp, nothing that wouldn't immediately seep through your hands again, leaving you with but open water, and no land to be seen.
if you like swimming, that's great, you'll love this. but personally, i'm not one to swim.

but whatever! will this stop me from reading nelson's second book? absolutely not.
even if i won't be staying for the story, i will for the quotes, i know it. because the ones in open water were all gorgeous, filled with dreams and pure truth.

Content Warnings

moriahleigh's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.75

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dannythestreet's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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

That must be one of the most beautiful things I've ever read

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thecatconstellation's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

A beautifully written reflection on love, trauma, and Blackness. Steeped in references to music and art and using language as a precise tool, this is definitely a must read.

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5aru's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

4.0

Very poetically written, Open Water is a moving and well-executed study of a relationship between two marked bodies — bodies marked as Black in a British context, and hence deeply affected by the social perceptions of their Blackness. Nelson effectively illustrates just how deeply this fearful, constrained existence affects the psyche, delivering poignant social commentary while offering a deeply human and quite romantic portrayal of the slow-burn relationship between our two protagonists.

My main complaint is, however, precisely related to the writing style. The author uses a device based on repetition, which does effectively emphasize certain key themes and motifs throughout the novel, and at times also enhances the emotion of certain scenes. However, it is easy to misuse such devices, and this misuse quickly evidences itself: the novel reads repetitive, as some few sentences are recalled and called back again and again, reappearing in sometimes very quick succession (especially since this novella is really quite short). This seems unnecessary, less a poetic device than a "trying to reach the wordcount of an essay" type of situation. I do wish it hadn't been abused as much, though it does not by any means diminish the significance of the book's content.

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