Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

42 reviews

jamie_reads_stuff's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Biphobia, Blood, Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Outing

Moderate: Medical content, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, and Lesbophobia

laynemandros's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

ktkeps's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual assault, Self harm, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Grief, and Medical content

prismatical's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Grief, Drug use, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, and Child abuse

lycheejelly's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Cursing, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Dysphoria, Vomit, Biphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, and Homophobia

Minor: Outing, Transphobia, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Religious bigotry

macknificent's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Grief, Mental illness, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual violence, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Rape, Transphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Pedophilia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, and Incest

aile_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

reread january 2024
read in english, paperback

I understand why 15 year old me was astonished by this. But I didn’t feel as strongly  this time. Maybe I’ve  come in terms with my gender, or more spiritually disconnected. Not sure. This time I didn’t cry once. While I cried all the time the first time I read it. Doesn’t take away the authors’ ingenuity and the books’ amazingness
And I still deeply love freshwater. I know this book has shaped me to the place I am now.

april 2022
read in swedish, ebook

If I could give this book 6 stars I would. Absolutely beautiful. I didn’t understand everything in this book but that do not change the fact that the book is the best ever made. I wonder though if it is a autobiography or not? And my favorite character was Saint Vincent. Going to have to reread it sometime. In english because I read it in swedish. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Moderate: Abandonment, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape

Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, Transphobia, Addiction, and Violence

seawarrior's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Freshwater is a dizzying, original tale of a young woman who comes of age with gods trapped within her mind and her flesh. Emezi's writing is cutting and clear, conveying the messages of Ada's divine residents with precise expression and violent, glittering imagery. While the chronology of the book was disorienting at times, I never felt lost. The way events were revealed made sense in context, and furthered our understanding of the characters' thought processes. I am not familiar with Igbo onotology, or metaphysical theories in general, yet my lack of knowledge did not make the story hard to follow, thanks to Emezi's direct style and explicit metaphors. However, I would not recommend this book to people triggered by or vulnerable to depictions of sexual violence and self harm. A key plot development in the book is the arrival of a vengeful and hedonistic god summoned to protect Ada from the realization she has been raped. Even before this, Ada was self harming to provide her gods with the blood they craved, yet this event accelerates the self destructive behavior her gods encourage. Though deeply unsettling, I did enjoy reading this novel. I've never encountered another story like it, and look forward to reading the unique and divergent works Emezi felt inspired by. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Grief, Death, Homophobia, Medical content, and Transphobia

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring 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

4.5

Freshwater is truly an amazing debut novel! At first, this autobiographical tale is reminiscent of changeling stories; a child is born branded and possessed by spirits. However, this story is so much more than that. Most significantly, Emezi allows readers an empathetic glimpse into what it means to exist as a person who experiences multiple identities. 

Though the book explores very dark topics - please check content warnings - Freshwater is ultimately a celebration of living authentically as your truest self. Freshwater lyrically celebrates suriving trauma, the spectrum of gender identity & sexuality, and embracing your cultural heritage.

I will be thinking about this book for a while, I can tell. I feel like I now have an entirely new and more complete understanding of identity after reading Freshwater.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Grief, and Self harm

Moderate: Transphobia

oconnorlizzy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Mental illness