Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

11 reviews

midnightreads1803's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Ableism, Mental illness, Dysphoria, and Incest

Moderate: Hate crime

blackcatkai's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

CW: sexual assault, death, violence, trans/homophobia, sexual content, infidelity, grief, religious bigotry/xenophobia, abuse, animal death, ableism, sexism

this is such a heartbreaking & difficult story about grief as well as sexual & gender identity. Emezi's writing is outstanding.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Transphobia, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Hate crime, Murder, Religious bigotry, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Ableism, and Toxic relationship

morganperks's review

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

did not appreciate the emotions this book made me feel. I was crying by the end (when am I not tho?)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Outing, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Medical content, Self harm, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Alcoholism, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, War, Death of parent, Transphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Child abuse, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Blood and Drug use

oliviantoinette's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Death

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual content, and Infidelity

Minor: Bullying

egg_cup's review

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

this book chewed me up and spat me out like a pomegranate seed I cried so hard during the last quarter of this book my eyes were sore and I had to lie silently and stare at the ceiling after I was finished for a while no thoughts head empty reduced to just an absolute shell of a human. 

Vivek I love you; Akwaeke Emezi it is ON SIGHT.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Mental illness, Incest, Grief, Violence, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Death

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Murder, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Ableism, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Hate crime

merin_aran's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

Stunning. Subperb. Sublime. This books is everything! Emezi is an incredibly gifted author and crafts a beautiful story full of depth and complexity. Despite knowing beforehand that Vivek dies (it's in the title) the reader is still left guessing and not knowing exactly what happens at the end. As a queer trans person myself this story hit me hard, it's so heartbreaking and I was left sobbing at the end. The representation of complex queer black characters is so important and Emezi executed it to perfection. One of my all-time favourite books. I will never stop recommending it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Outing, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, and Domestic abuse

epiphylium's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

I finished reading this book last night and I'm still at a loss as to how I feel about it. I wish I had went in with more of an idea as to what this was about -- because I didn't -- and that may be why I'm feeling a bit unsettled.

There were a lot of parts of this book that I enjoyed. I liked the way the author played around with non-linear storytelling. We know from the get go that this novel is about Vivek and that they die, and going from present day POV writing to a retelling of past tense. I think if done correctly, this can create a sense of mystery and tension that is engaging to read and helps pushes the story line. I enjoyed the author's writing style, which was although simple, it was effective. The characters I enjoyed getting to know also.

I really struggled with the incest however. I found that it was completely unnecessary (as it didn't really aid in story or character development) and it would have had the same effect if they were friends without the discomfort of having to read cousins engaging in sexual activities. The only thing I could think of is that it was potentially to build up shame in the characters experiencing it, but it wasn't really ever discussed or focused on so I'm just. We really could've done without it.

The ending can be seen as anti-climatic, but I don't think that lessened my feelings around it. I think it was cool that it left the readers/and the characters guessing,

thinking it could have been suicide, a hate crime, a murder, but it was actually just an accident.

Sometimes life just happens like that and it was a pleasant surprise(?) to see it go down that route.

Either way, I feel like I would tentatively recommend this book to others but only if they asked about it, and I would be very clear about the content warnings before having them pick up the book.

I would say that The Summer That Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel has a similar energy to this, although based in a fictional town in America and goes a bit more in depth on certain issues. It has a vastly different writing style however, written in prose, poetry, and metaphors, which whilst I personally love, I can see not everyone enjoys, so there's that! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Sexual content

lilcoppertop's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

tina94's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, and Transphobia

skudiklier's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

This book was stunning and heartbreaking and beautiful and painful and surprising. I read it for a book club that isn't meeting for several weeks (I always read book club books too early accidentally haha), but this time I'm glad because I want to think about it a lot before I'll know what to say. I'd definitely recommend it though, it's very good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Blood, Xenophobia, Violence, Vomit, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Infidelity, Infertility, Incest, Homophobia, Hate crime, Grief, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Deadnaming, and Bullying

Moderate: Abortion, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Eating disorder, Cursing, and Rape

Minor: Ableism