Scan barcode
ollie_again's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Child death, Homophobia, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Incest, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Eating disorder and Dysphoria
sydneybedell's review against another edition
emotional
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Child death, Death, and Homophobia
Moderate: Incest, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death and Miscarriage
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
🔥 The plot: When Vivek Oji arrives on his mother’s doorstep, dead and swaddled naked in akwete material, the mystery of what happened to him sends the reader back many years. Through the day of his birth, through the eyes of his friends and family, through his own interjections, we piece together the glory and tragedy of Vivek’s short life and the love he leaves behind.
Like the character of Vivek themselves, this novel is brief and vivid, thanks to Emezi’s brilliant characterisation. Kavita, Vivek’s mother, was a particularly powerful force - I felt her emotions as though I was in her body, and her story will stay with me for a long time.
What Kavita goes through in the aftermath of Vivek’s death is painful to read, but it’s one of the most masterful elements of the novel, illustrating the tangled nature of grief, and asking the ugly question of who gets to feel ownership of someone who’s gone.
I’ve talked to lots of my friends about “Grief Maths” before: the tendency for people to try and measure griefs against one another, adding or deducting points for closeness, timing, trauma. Emezi shows beautifully both the logic and illogic of this kind of thinking, because they show that everyone’s grief is its own country. Everyone’s trying to navigate as best they can, and everyone knows a different version of the lost person. Emezi isn’t afraid of showing the jagged edge of grief, and I loved that about this book.
I also loved that despite the inherent tragedy of Vivek’s story - one you know about from the beginning and that intensifies unexpectedly at its close - the abiding image I have of Vivek is of a person capable of huge joy and love. The moments of gender euphoria that Vivek experiences shine brightly in this book, and they help to end it on a hopeful note, despite the depth of the pain the novel explores.
♥️ Read it if you like multi-perspective narratives, stories that look at motherhood and parental relationships, and a lyrical prose style.
🚫 Avoid it if you’re not in a place to read novels that deal with transphobia, homophobia, grief, or scenes of violence and sexual assault.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
🔥 The plot: When Vivek Oji arrives on his mother’s doorstep, dead and swaddled naked in akwete material, the mystery of what happened to him sends the reader back many years. Through the day of his birth, through the eyes of his friends and family, through his own interjections, we piece together the glory and tragedy of Vivek’s short life and the love he leaves behind.
Like the character of Vivek themselves, this novel is brief and vivid, thanks to Emezi’s brilliant characterisation. Kavita, Vivek’s mother, was a particularly powerful force - I felt her emotions as though I was in her body, and her story will stay with me for a long time.
What Kavita goes through in the aftermath of Vivek’s death is painful to read, but it’s one of the most masterful elements of the novel, illustrating the tangled nature of grief, and asking the ugly question of who gets to feel ownership of someone who’s gone.
I’ve talked to lots of my friends about “Grief Maths” before: the tendency for people to try and measure griefs against one another, adding or deducting points for closeness, timing, trauma. Emezi shows beautifully both the logic and illogic of this kind of thinking, because they show that everyone’s grief is its own country. Everyone’s trying to navigate as best they can, and everyone knows a different version of the lost person. Emezi isn’t afraid of showing the jagged edge of grief, and I loved that about this book.
I also loved that despite the inherent tragedy of Vivek’s story - one you know about from the beginning and that intensifies unexpectedly at its close - the abiding image I have of Vivek is of a person capable of huge joy and love. The moments of gender euphoria that Vivek experiences shine brightly in this book, and they help to end it on a hopeful note, despite the depth of the pain the novel explores.
♥️ Read it if you like multi-perspective narratives, stories that look at motherhood and parental relationships, and a lyrical prose style.
🚫 Avoid it if you’re not in a place to read novels that deal with transphobia, homophobia, grief, or scenes of violence and sexual assault.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Child death, Grief, and Transphobia
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Blood
ashlynhare's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Sexual content
Moderate: Deadnaming and Dysphoria
Minor: Transphobia
dalmavatai's review against another edition
emotional
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? No
4.0
Such a beautiful story. I wish we'd gotten even more from Osita's and Vivek's perspectives because they were by far the most impactful and heartfelt parts of the book for me. Still, this story is beautiful, tender, raw, and will probably make you cry.
I am SO stoked that Emezi has two novels coming out in 2022 plus a poetry collection, absolutely cannot wait to pick them up!
I am SO stoked that Emezi has two novels coming out in 2022 plus a poetry collection, absolutely cannot wait to pick them up!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Dysphoria, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence
meganniathomas's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Child death, Incest, Sexual content, Death, and Violence
emliza's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, and Transphobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Outing, Religious bigotry, Violence, Infidelity, Infertility, and Animal death
faizoo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Incest, Child death, Death, and Transphobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Outing, and Homophobia
Minor: Infertility and Infidelity
booksandmo's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Incest, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Blood, Deadnaming, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Miscarriage
kelly_e's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Title: The Death of Vivek Oji
Author: Akwaeke Emezi
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3.75
Pub Date: June 1 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Devastating • Moving • Powerful
đź“– S Y N O P S I S
Vivek is dead, and when the lifeless body shows up bloodied and bare on the parents doorstep, a family is sent into the despairs of grief, and yet the mother can't help but question the circumstances and mysteries of the death. A story of friendship and family, of grief and denial, of identity and acceptance, of sexuality and loyalty, of community and cultural clashes that challenges expectations.
đź’ T H O U G H T S
The story starts out with Vivek's death, and his mother finding his lifeless body on her front porch. From there the author takes the reader on a journey back in time to unravel the mysteries surrounding his life and ultimately his death. Akwaeke Emezi has the gift of beautiful language and writing in such a way that as a reader I felt transported into the story. It's written in a non-linear fashion, but the flow is easy to follow. Vivek, is truly an unforgettable character, and probably one of the most powerful and inspiring ones I've come across this year. The unguarded expression of self in the face of so much adversity is admirable. And I wanted so much more of this character and perspective. Maybe I am being difficult, but I truly the felt the power was in Vivek.
This book extends far beyond the confines of its classification as fiction. It's a coming-of-age story rooted in culture and family, acceptance and love, guilt and grief. It is truly a story of embracing human experience, whatever that might be. The Death of Vivek Oji is a necessary yet heartbreaking novel.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• any reader!
• readers who want depth to their story
• reader looking for excellent African LGBTQ+ lit
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I'm not what anyone thinks I am. I never was. I didn't have the mouth to put it into words, to say what was wrong, to change the things I felt I needed to change. And every day it was difficult, walking around and knowing that people saw me one way, knowing that they were wrong, so completely wrong, that the real me was invisible to them. It didn't even exist to them. So: If nobody sees you, are you still there?"
"I'd heard it since secondary school, and I knew what that night was supposed to make me. Less than a man - something disgusting, something weak and shameful. But if that pleasure was supposed to stop me from being a man, then fine. They could have it. I'd take the blinding light of his touch, the blessed peace of having him so close, and I would stop being a man."
Author: Akwaeke Emezi
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3.75
Pub Date: June 1 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Devastating • Moving • Powerful
đź“– S Y N O P S I S
Vivek is dead, and when the lifeless body shows up bloodied and bare on the parents doorstep, a family is sent into the despairs of grief, and yet the mother can't help but question the circumstances and mysteries of the death. A story of friendship and family, of grief and denial, of identity and acceptance, of sexuality and loyalty, of community and cultural clashes that challenges expectations.
đź’ T H O U G H T S
The story starts out with Vivek's death, and his mother finding his lifeless body on her front porch. From there the author takes the reader on a journey back in time to unravel the mysteries surrounding his life and ultimately his death. Akwaeke Emezi has the gift of beautiful language and writing in such a way that as a reader I felt transported into the story. It's written in a non-linear fashion, but the flow is easy to follow. Vivek, is truly an unforgettable character, and probably one of the most powerful and inspiring ones I've come across this year. The unguarded expression of self in the face of so much adversity is admirable. And I wanted so much more of this character and perspective. Maybe I am being difficult, but I truly the felt the power was in Vivek.
This book extends far beyond the confines of its classification as fiction. It's a coming-of-age story rooted in culture and family, acceptance and love, guilt and grief. It is truly a story of embracing human experience, whatever that might be. The Death of Vivek Oji is a necessary yet heartbreaking novel.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• any reader!
• readers who want depth to their story
• reader looking for excellent African LGBTQ+ lit
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I'm not what anyone thinks I am. I never was. I didn't have the mouth to put it into words, to say what was wrong, to change the things I felt I needed to change. And every day it was difficult, walking around and knowing that people saw me one way, knowing that they were wrong, so completely wrong, that the real me was invisible to them. It didn't even exist to them. So: If nobody sees you, are you still there?"
"I'd heard it since secondary school, and I knew what that night was supposed to make me. Less than a man - something disgusting, something weak and shameful. But if that pleasure was supposed to stop me from being a man, then fine. They could have it. I'd take the blinding light of his touch, the blessed peace of having him so close, and I would stop being a man."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Violence
Minor: Miscarriage, Murder, and Rape