Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

6 reviews

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

 Akwaeke Emezi is a masterful storyteller and writer. Every book they write is a gift to experience, and this one is no different. The last 20% of the story, in particular, made me sob. The entire novel has such a a deeply lyrical and emotional story about the way we relate to others and how well we know the peiple we live. I think we can all see ourselves in the characters with their emotional depths. Akwaeke is so talented at describing grief and making that raw, difficult emotion something they can communicate through their stories. It is such a talent.

The book is heavy in many ways, so please be mindful of the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Sexual content, Grief, Medical content, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Animal death, Religious bigotry, and Death

For context on the incest tag:

The incest takes place consensually between cousins.

anushka_17's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Infidelity, Grief, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Homophobia

Minor: Animal death

morganperks's review against another edition

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

summerb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Sexual content, Child death, Death, Grief, Incest, and Infidelity

Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Biphobia, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Outing, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Vomit

miachalupa's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Death, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

blakethebookeater's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.0

Oh boy.

I did not like this book.

While I did appreciate the themes in this book, and Vivek's exploration of gender and sexuality...it just fell flat for me.

And actually it was worse than than in some areas, because this book depicts a loving and "beautiful" incestuous relationship between cousins. It was extremely unnecessary and uncomfortable, given there are also MULTIPLE sex scenes between the two young boys.

There were some aspects in the back half that I did enjoy, such as the mystery around how Vivek died, but at the end of the day once the incest started, I just didn't care about any of the characters anymore. I'm sorry, I REALLY wish I could have loved this book as much as everyone else does, but it was just really not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Homophobia, Incest, and Transphobia

Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Deadnaming and Domestic abuse