Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir

Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi

52 reviews

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

Dear Senthuran was a challenging read - and I mean that in the best possible way. One of the things I love about reading is that it lets me walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. In this case it went so much further since the author experiences and perceives life in a way that is totally different to me. It’s not just their experiences that are different but their entire reality. It was a real challenge to my world view but one I gladly accepted and one which was richly rewarded. I loved seeing this strong spirit overcome challenges and adversity - on their terms. Through hard work, determination and staying true to their reality they achieved so much. The sections on buying a house and making it a home were particularly poignant. Glimpses into the publication of Freshwater, the publicity surrounding it and their subsequent career moves were very insightful - and telling of much that is wrong with the publishing world. I felt incredibly blessed by the openness with which they shared their health struggles and also their trans journey, the tenacity with which they pursued the body that fitted their reality, and the obstacles the medical system put in their way. The writing blew me away both in its power, the commanding way it demanded attention, and also it’s vulnerability as they laid bare their struggles and the toll living their reality had taken.

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hogsandwich's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.5

Theyre definitely a genius. Theyre also, I suspect, very difficult to be around.

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dianavdavidson_'s review against another edition

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The narration style felt repetitive and I feel like I got what I wanted to get from the book. About halfway through the memoir I couldn’t follow it as closely anymore.

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divyab's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

4.75

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dre721's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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eslsilver's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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laurenleigh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

4.5

This memoir by Awaeke Emezi is written in letters, as they explore their gender identity, their romantic and sexual partnerships, their life as an author, and their multiplicity. The epistolary format invites the reader into an intimate space, at times voyeuristic when Emezi gets into some intense detail. Some of these details, mainly relating to suicide and gore, were hard for me to read. I am a strict completionist, but even I had to give up on the titular “Dear Senthuran” letter, which is also rightly titled “Gore.” But I understand, at least to some degree, why it’s important for Emezi to push boundaries. Their life, their embodiment in human form, and in turn, their writing, is all so raw. It’s bursting at the seams with life and intensity. I highly recommend their debut novel, Freshwater, and I especially suggest reading that before this memoir, so you have an understanding of Emezi’s multiplicity and Igbo ontology. It’s all so fascinating to me, and their work is like nothing else I’ve ever read.

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