Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

106 reviews

workingdaley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

This book made me feel, deeply. It really makes me think of all of the moments of joy that we try to find, even when we are surrounded by tragedy. I am deeply fascinated by the characters and their motivations. Their moments of discovery, their moments of betrayal, their moments of joy, their moments of grief. Each of these characters carry a significant weight on their shoulder, and you can feel it in the way that they move through the world. But you can also feel how deeply they care for one another, and the lengths that they would go to protect one another. This is a deeply emotional story, but I feel like it's so relevant to the times.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, Death, Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Lesbophobia

Minor: Sexual harassment and Drug use

sara_berlin's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

I found this book to have a less avant-garde style than some of Akwaeke Emezi's other books, but still with their unique flair, which I always love. It also fit into my accidental reading trend of gravitating toward perspectives that I don't often hear, which definitely applies to mainstream American literature and queer Nigerians. For both of those reasons, I really enjoyed the story, despite it's clear tragedy. The Death of Vivek Oji deserves to become a classic. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Sexual content

Minor: Infertility, Death of parent, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Transphobia

sundayfever's review against another edition

dark 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

Beautiful, heartbreaking. Very well written. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Incest, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Infidelity, Grief, and Sexual content

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

The Death of Vivek Oji feels like an extended meditation on queerness and transness.  In a country like Nigeria, where these identities are criminalized, it’s especially true for trans people that only they know what is best for them, though this will not stop well-meaning friends and family.  Emezi’s heartbreaking parable invites readers to imagine a world in which a trans person living freely is not “dancing with death.”  A world in which trans people are recognized as otherworldly gifts.  Born on the anniversary of his grandmother’s death, Vivek Oji was destined to be different

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Infidelity

Moderate: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Infertility, Blood, Homophobia, Animal death, Death, and Sexual content

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Violence

tea_kettle's review

challenging dark 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

4.25

amazing story, beautifully written, and one i would read again despite the heartbreak. However, the mildly (and later very graphically) incestuous themes were pretty uncomfortable to get through, and i don’t think they necessarily needed to be that way. Still, it was a great story, and i’m glad it was told, especially by a writer so skilled. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Death, Grief, Child death, Incest, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Hate crime, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Deportation, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Vomit, Infertility, and Rape

angiepoggi's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

The Death of Vivek Oji not only depicts mourning in a beautyful manner, but also brings us, the readers, into that mourning as well.

Vivek's death is not only about the act of not ever being able to breath anymore, it's about the death of who his family thought he was, and, as well as his birth that was accompanied by grief, about her rebirth.

It's such a carefully woven story that never let's go of the nuances of every decision and thought of It's characters, who, if you told me were real, I would've believed without sparing a doubt. 

Even thought there were some relationships that I have conflicted feelings about and believe could've been brought here in a different way, I'll still cary this story for life and think about it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Drug use, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Animal death, Grief, Mental illness, Infidelity, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Rape

triple_m's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A very beautiful story about the complexity of being human and exploring one’s sexual and gender identity in a repressive culture. 

Absolutely loved the writing will be checking out more from this author.

But…. Why the incest? ☹️

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

thisthat100's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious

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

4.0

Highlights

• Vivek Oji: When referencing a death or tragedy of a trans/queer individual, very few instances do the media execute their ideas in a way that respects the individual and the community they represent. Thankfully, this book is an exception. Nnemdi is such a complex character and I loved that when a chapter focuses on her perspective it is short yet written in a way that meaningfully shapes the direction of the narrative.
• Osita: Also a complex character in the sense that he is written in a way that suggests moral ambiguity. He and Oji's perspective are the necessary anchors to the mystery that continues to flesh out as the plot unravels itself.

Aspects that did not connect with me 

• I loved the final chapter where Nnemedi reflects on her death and Osita (probably my favourite part of the book). But I personally felt how the plot twist of her death did not live up to the potential of the smart writing on Emezi's part. I felt that it redeemed Osita too much as a character and would have garnered a greater impact if it was open-ended to maintain Ostia's moral ambiguity.

  • I suspected early on in the novel that Osita's perspective was unreliable. Rather than completely reveal the event of Nnemedi's death, I would have loved if it concealed certain details that allude whether her death was accidental or intentional yet revealed Osita's involvement (Osita having the necklace, their guilt disguised as grief).
  • The harsh reality is that for many deaths involving trans/queer people, there is a lack of resolution as to the nature of their death and would remain unsolved.
  • This would make the Vivek's (Nnemedi) perspective in the final chapter more provoking. They are able to find the resolution within themselves despite their death being made unresolved. 

Overall, I loved Emezi's writing style in this book and how they tackle nuanced characters and themes while also painting a complex portrait of Nigeria.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Religious bigotry

Minor: Hate crime

Vivek Oji's death has been speculated as a likely hate crime

however the ending confirms that it was accidental

masego's review

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault

shoohoob's review

dark emotional tense 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

3.75

Beautifully written book. I flew through it and the characters were fascinating to me. That being said, the incest was really prominent and almost made it DNF. 

I’m not really sure why Vivek and Osita couldn’t have just been close childhood friends instead of cousins. Maybe it was just supposed to add to taboo life Vivek was living, but it was really uncomfortable

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, Incest, and Homophobia

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Blood, Infidelity, and Outing