Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

28 reviews

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. 

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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. 

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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

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

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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.

jouljet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Dysphoria, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

summerb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Blood

Minor: Abandonment, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death, Cursing, and Child abuse

botlump's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

boy_topics's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

gagne's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

Gifted to me by a dear friend, this book is electric with its distinctive cast of personalities and easy exchange between the Old World and the New, reminding readers who become captured by the story of the power of the spiritual staring them in the eyes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Self harm

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Car accident, Death, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Rape, Infidelity, Eating disorder, and Drug use