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reading_and_roaming20's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.5
FRESHWATER is a wholly original piece of work. AKWAEKE EMEZI does a masterful job weaving together multiple perspectives to give a sense of the whole of Ada, a girl born with a foot in another world and god inside of her.
Their writing style is direct yet poetic. I couldn’t get enough. Fans of THE DEATH OF VIVEK OJI who have not yet grabbed this one should absolutely make sure it’s on their lists.
To really grasp what EMEZI has done here, I’d highly highly highly recommend you do a bit of reading into ọgbanje. The most concise definition I’ve found is within @book.ishkary’s review of FRESHWATER ::
“Creatures of God with power over mortals…they are not subject to the laws of justice and have no moral scruples, causing harm without justification.”
The story is a dark one, touching on many difficult topics. What made it all the more heavy to read was knowing that EMEZI believes that they are ọgbanje. With this in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but wonder how much of this work of fiction is a recreation of EMEZI’s life experiences. That thought made this an even more emotional read.
I definitely needed to be in the right mindset to dive into this and I’m grateful that I picked it up at just the right time. This book will certainly stay with me.
NOTE :: Please be sure to look into content warnings prior to reading.
Their writing style is direct yet poetic. I couldn’t get enough. Fans of THE DEATH OF VIVEK OJI who have not yet grabbed this one should absolutely make sure it’s on their lists.
To really grasp what EMEZI has done here, I’d highly highly highly recommend you do a bit of reading into ọgbanje. The most concise definition I’ve found is within @book.ishkary’s review of FRESHWATER ::
“Creatures of God with power over mortals…they are not subject to the laws of justice and have no moral scruples, causing harm without justification.”
The story is a dark one, touching on many difficult topics. What made it all the more heavy to read was knowing that EMEZI believes that they are ọgbanje. With this in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but wonder how much of this work of fiction is a recreation of EMEZI’s life experiences. That thought made this an even more emotional read.
I definitely needed to be in the right mindset to dive into this and I’m grateful that I picked it up at just the right time. This book will certainly stay with me.
NOTE :: Please be sure to look into content warnings prior to reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Eating disorder, Suicide, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
hailskp's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Outstanding. Once again Akwaeke Emezi is an author everyone should read. The prose of the gods is bone chilling and as Ada comes into their own it is beautiful. Reading the memoir first was a great idea and I loved the story. This tragic story of embodiment, of being a god in human bones, of loving oneself and the power within.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
kaiyakaiyo'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? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Transphobia
talonsontypewriters's review
challenging
dark
emotional
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Sexual assault, Rape, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Body horror, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Blood, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Car accident
Moderate: Grief, Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, Transphobia, Pedophilia, Suicide, Death, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Child abuse, and Abandonment
Minor: Homophobia, Fatphobia, and Outing
Assault scenes are present but not extremely graphic; aftermath and results are covered more extensively than events themselves, though there are frank descriptions of rape and (C)SA.brookejessopx's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Rape
briannameinecke's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Rape
katienotgavin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Self harm
charbck's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
i have problems with this book. the we narration was the most boring which sucked because it was most of the book. imo, and this may be personal, but i think if i was the editor i would restructure the book so it was told from adas pov mostly, bc her chapters were outstandingly better than the others, and then sprinkle in chapters from asughara and we and maybe vincent too. also, for a book meant to be more about ada’s struggles with herself, there was way too much attention on her dealing with the shitty guys she was dating instead of her laundry list of traumatic experiences. each traumatic experience is just, mentioned? and then never mentioned again? or in passing briefly??? i really think this book would benefit from at least another 100 pages and some serious reworking. obviously this author can write well and this concept is really great but it could be so much better
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Violence
didireadthat's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Rape, and Death
merin_aran's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
I came to this book after reading The Death of Vivek Oji, and Emezi did not disappoint.
Emezi's writing, as always, is stunning and so poetic. The plot and characters were complex, interesting, and deeply thought-provoking. I loved seeing mental health through the lens of African spirituality rather than the traditional western trope and enjoyed the queer representation.
Having not much understanding of Igbo spirituality and beliefs, I did have to stop after 40 or so pages to research ogbanje and figure out what was going on. This was totally on me though, and I don't think the author had any obligation to make the book more accessible to a western audience by explaining a more about ogbanje.
I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read the rest of Emezi's work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia