Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Aigua dolça by Akwaeke Emezi

52 reviews

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

maybe im not spiritual enough for this book, but i find freshwater - despite it being interesting at points - too rambling and 'inward' for me.

i find ọgbanje to be fascinating, but the incorporation of it, or rather the way it's incorporated, in this novel is a lil bit too full of misery. this doesnt mean the book is bad by any means - in fact, i find it to be quite well written - but it purely comes down to my personal taste, which simply doesnt rly click w/ it. and while the lack of a plot doesnt bother me, its long-winded and verbose content that seemingly repeats in countless similar loops does.

the structure and lack of enough info/details also confuse me at times as well, w/ the former jumping around timeline and chronology, and the latter resulting in statements indicating some development or sudden change that the reader isnt previously privy to, making things a bit jarring. i'll still be checking out emezi's the death of vivek oji tho, which hopefully will be better than this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Forced institutionalization

qtcarolyn's review against another edition

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Transphobia

Minor: Body shaming and Pedophilia

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

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

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide, Transphobia, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, 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.

gusfring's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

would totally give 5 stars if it wasn't so...confusing? definitely got the hang of it after the first few chapters, and my confusion def is a Me thing and my comprehensions skills. but it takes a minute to adjust to emezi's writing style. after u get it, it is smooth fucking sailing from there. this is a BEAUTIFUL novel. genuinely couldn't put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Car accident, 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, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

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

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

madlads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

laurenleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

I was already amazed by Akwaeke Emezi after reading The Death of Vivek Oji, but I am now in complete awe after reading Freshwater. Emezi is a transcendent author. This semi-autobiographical novel was definitely dark and hard hitting (message me or check out my review on the StoryGraph for content warnings), but there is also so much life and light to be found here. This book gave me valuable insight into neurodivergence and gender exploration, while also teaching me about Igbo ontology. While western medicine would almost certainly diagnose this main character Ada with some kind of psychosis or bipolar disorder, there is an Igbo concept of “ogbanje,” a kind of malevolent spirit that lives inside certain children. Emezi envisions these spirits (who live inside Ada well past puberty) as inner Gods that have passed over from the other side, living inside their human form. Having these multiple selves certainly had a splintering effect on Ada, causing a lot of pain and struggle. But as they grow up, Ada also finds strength in these versions of themselves, learning and relearning their identity in all its multiplicity. As Ada begins to discover more about their Nigerian and Igbo ancestry, they can begin to see their inner demons in another light. I am SO glad the Queer Lit readathon picked this for the group read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Minor: Death, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Medical content

erinsbookshelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, and Car accident