Reviews with content warning for Vomit - The Death of Vivek Oji

This book was unspeakably sad and bleak. Like, I recognize that no book owes anyone a happy ending, but given the subject matter of gender expression and identity, I was expecting for there to be some moments of joy or transcendence, even if you know the subject is going to die at some point. Before Vivek dies, you know, I wanted to see them live. Instead, there's barely a single moment of respite, it's just one traumatic "reveal" after another.

Spoiler: And, yes, the narrative builds up to the death scene as if it's a "reveal," in a manner that I honestly found to be in poor taste. Like, there's this powerful moment where Vivek finally says, "My name is Nnemdi," and the omniscient narrator begins using "she/her" pronouns to describe her... and not even a page later, she trips and falls to her death?!? Doesn't this outcome undercut her entire character arc? Doesn't that say to readers that the minute Nnemdi becomes her full, authentic self, some cataclysm immediately befalls her?

Anyway, there were some individual scenes I really enjoyed, but certain choices and themes felt underdeveloped.

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andreiaoh's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

This story started off so well for me. The prose was beautiful from the get-go; the varying perspectives, tenses, and the non-linear storyline was super interesting and gripped me. The story, throughout the whole book really, felt rich and alive from the environment to the language to the characters. No characters felt flat or empty; even the very minor and (in my opinion) unnecessary characters came across as fully fleshed out people.

However, from the middle onwards, there was a significant lull. Firstly, I thought there was a lot of unnecessary padding in terms of chapters I found added nothing to the story and characters that didn't need that much page time, for example, I still fail to understand the relevance of Ebeneezer's chapter other than a flawed attempt at foreshadowing. It was even more jarring considering how short this book was and I would have preferred that time spent to be reading about Vivek and the girls' friendships that we really didn't get to see much of.

Second, the major thing of this story that I just couldn't be on board with was the incestous relationship. It was uncomfortable to read and I personally didn't think it added much to the story. I understand Emezi has done an interview that explains their reasoning for this relationship but I don't believe that I have to understand the author's decision for this relationship to be included in this book to enjoy reading it. I understood their decision but I did not enjoy reading it regardless.

Lastly, the ending of this story ruined the book for me. I thought it was a weak ending and to avoid giving spoilers, I wish the mystery unfurled in a more satisfying manner that didn't feel like a rushed attempt at a plot twist.

This started off as a strong read for me but my critiques of the story as a whole did pile up towards the end – a shame, considering I was expecting to love this book. I am still glad I read it, the writing was genuinely stunning, and I did enjoy the read, but I did have personal issues with some of the author's plot decisions.

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skudiklier's review against another edition

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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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