Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Eau douce by Akwaeke Emezi

11 reviews

orlagal'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Racism, Misogyny, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Grief, Homophobia, Stalking, Body horror, Colonisation, Drug use, Mental illness, Biphobia, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Medical content, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Child death, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

nicjmorrow's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

A very challenging book with hard subjects matter. I don't know that I'm the right person to have read this book and gotten the most out of it. The reading however was gorgeous. The spiritual subject matter is beautiful. And the realistic view of trauma is painful but true. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Self harm, Vomit, Abandonment, Sexual content, Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Blood

grandiose_r's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Rape, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Car accident, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Self harm, Addiction, Blood, Medical content, and Body horror

Moderate: Death, Lesbophobia, Infertility, Racism, Gaslighting, Transphobia, Cultural appropriation, and Homophobia

Minor: Outing, Vomit, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Confinement

elmo_isnotmyname's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

This was a dense ride. Through abuse, rape, self-harm, loneliness, mental illness, migration; spirituality.
The protagonist's 'fractured selves' spoke more than the protagonist themself -- though: what even is a self?, they end up wondering.

Instead of telling a lifetime of traumatic events through the eyes of the person battling against their ensuing 'madness' (as it is called here) -- we follow 'the madness' battling against the human body it is bound to. Outrageous lust and anger splitting the Ada (the protagonist) and their memories into multiple versions. Ultimatly as to protect the Ada.

So this can be read as a story about Dissociative Identitiy Disorder; weaving in tales of Igbo gods, myths, and spirituality.
There are many graphic scence of violence. The latter endeared this book to me (-- I'm sorry, as a reader I'm just craving for mirrors of myself, but I don't want to spoil this work of art by mixing in my own ego.)
I'm looking forward to reading Emezi's other work!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gore, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Car accident, Eating disorder, and Panic attacks/disorders

lycheejelly's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Cursing, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Dysphoria, Vomit, Biphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, and Homophobia

Minor: Outing, Transphobia, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Religious bigotry

lilymurph's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Transphobia, Vomit, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, and Eating disorder

summerb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Blood

Minor: Abandonment, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death, Cursing, and Child abuse

laurenleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I was already amazed by Akwaeke Emezi after reading The Death of Vivek Oji, but I am now in complete awe after reading Freshwater. Emezi is a transcendent author. This semi-autobiographical novel was definitely dark and hard hitting (message me or check out my review on the StoryGraph for content warnings), but there is also so much life and light to be found here. This book gave me valuable insight into neurodivergence and gender exploration, while also teaching me about Igbo ontology. While western medicine would almost certainly diagnose this main character Ada with some kind of psychosis or bipolar disorder, there is an Igbo concept of “ogbanje,” a kind of malevolent spirit that lives inside certain children. Emezi envisions these spirits (who live inside Ada well past puberty) as inner Gods that have passed over from the other side, living inside their human form. Having these multiple selves certainly had a splintering effect on Ada, causing a lot of pain and struggle. But as they grow up, Ada also finds strength in these versions of themselves, learning and relearning their identity in all its multiplicity. As Ada begins to discover more about their Nigerian and Igbo ancestry, they can begin to see their inner demons in another light. I am SO glad the Queer Lit readathon picked this for the group read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Vomit, Medical content, and Homophobia

bookswhitme's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

biblioleah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

this was a beautiful, difficult book. i look forward to rereading it in the future, and seeing what more i can get from the marvelous story.
update: i was right it is so much better on the reread. it’ll stick with me for a long while, and emezi has since the first read become a favorite author and artist of all time. no one can do it like they do. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Violence, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Vomit, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia