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stellahadz's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What an absolutely gorgeous book. The writing is unique and poetic, and the main characters have depth to them despite not even having names. Open Water is a short book, but it packs a real emotional punch. Caleb Azumah Nelson captures the feeling of falling in love so beautifully; the story felt like it was being told through the memories of someone reliving their love. What kind of irony is it when an author writes so brilliantly about what happens when language fails us?
Side note: I loved all the references to Zadie Smith! I haven't read NW yet but added it to my TBR the second I saw it mentioned in this book.
Side note: I loved all the references to Zadie Smith! I haven't read NW yet but added it to my TBR the second I saw it mentioned in this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Police brutality, and Racism
Minor: Blood
kelsreadsthings's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Death
sandwiiche's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
this is a powerful and thought-provoking story. the prose was heartfelt and lyrical, and many of the quotes resonated with me on a personal level. it's also told in second person, which was very interesting because it placed us into the main character's shoes.
here are some of my favourite quotes:
here are some of my favourite quotes:
You have always thought if you opened your mouth in open water you would drown, but if you didn't open your mouth you would suffocate. So here you are, drowning.
It's easier to hide in your own darkness, than to emerge, naked and vulnerable, blinking in your own light. Even here, in plain sight, you're hiding.
There is a difference between being looked at and being seen.
i definitely recommend this -- it will challenge you, open your eyes to the racial injustice that occurs everyday and speak powerful truths into your life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Death, and Racism
Minor: Sexual content
all_yellow's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The prose is stunningly beautiful, more like poetry than a novel. The story is moving, emotional, necessary, raw, and I enjoyed the second-person perspective on the main character. A small complaint but I found some of the dialogue a little hard to follow without attributions, but I forgive it because the book was otherwise so brilliant and really made me feel things deeply.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Racism
Moderate: Death and Gun violence
oz2021's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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: Grief, Death, and Racism
cass_ward's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.25
I had a hard time getting into the second person POV at first, but it was used perfectly. Caleb puts the reader into the shoes of a young, Black man and leads us into an experience of joy, love, fear, and deep sadness and it was, at least in my opinion, essential that the book be written that way. This MC laughed with his friends, and cried alone in the dark. He fell in love and grappled with his reality of “[praying] every day that this will not be the day.” We existed in the fullness of his life with him and that’s important because Black men are never given permission to show these parts of themselves. They are told to be small, to fit a part society wants them to play, to hide away and suppress and ignore and never, ever cry or be weak. And all the while, more Black men and boys are dying, and more pain and grief are accumulating.
I loved that this book has honest depictions of grief and pain and fear, and also joy and love and life in equal amounts. This isn’t just a story of how a Black man endures trauma. This is a story of how a Black man lives in the truth of systemic racism and the hope for joy despite it.
What a stunning story. What an important one.
I loved that this book has honest depictions of grief and pain and fear, and also joy and love and life in equal amounts. This isn’t just a story of how a Black man endures trauma. This is a story of how a Black man lives in the truth of systemic racism and the hope for joy despite it.
What a stunning story. What an important one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Death, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Gun violence, and Murder
Minor: Chronic illness
sakisreads's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
tense
slow-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? No
5.0
✨ Gifted ✨
I am so envious of whoever gets to read this for the first time.
I have no words. None.
Well, okay, maybe a few.
This is honestly one of the most phenomenal books I have read in quite a long time, and I read a LOT 😂 I was slow to read it only because I kept putting it down after crying, screaming, throwing up (or well, gasping a lot) 👏🏼
Caleb Azumah Nelson does an incredible job in his debut novel. I honestly cannot praise it enough. I urge EVERYONE to read it ❤️
Obviously 5 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Racism, Police brutality, Classism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Drug use
nouranato's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I know I gave this book a 3.5 stars but really it wasn't a bad one.
I have expressed my genuine feeling at the start of this book when I said that I feel like this an intimate story it's like I shouldnt be reading this words it feels as if I'm intruding these two.
This is how I felt at roughly the first 50% of this book, it felt like a calm story then it started to get relatively repetitive. Repetitive to the point where one of the characters said something so lame I had to drop a star for that shit.
The story resembles two individuals meeting for the first developing not feelings but some sort of an intimate understanding of each other. The book highlighted the police brutality against black people as well as the sickening sticking judgement that they face without even opening their mouth. How danger equals black and how crime is the black people's logo.
It had mentions of death multiple (here's your TW) and how one deals with it. It talks about what it is to be looked at and to be seen and I quote:
"It’s one thing to be looked at, and another to be seen; you’re scared that she might not just see your beauty, but your ugly too." And that:
"To be you is to apologize and that apology comes in the form of suppression. That suppression is indiscriminate. That suppression knows not when it will spill."
This book served as reflection of what is forced on us in life, in our environment and our community and what is that we force ourselves to indulge.
How that if you keep everything bottled up you'll end up spilling over yourself and others (AND OTHERS) you'll feel unbearable to live with and here I don't mean the people close to you no, I mean you won't be able to handle yourself, you'll keep on closing up further and further until you are left alone because it's easy to punish yourself when others aren't there, so severing ties serves as an excuses for you to torment yourself more and more. Or really this was my own thoughts ? I don't know
What I disliked was the writing from that 4th pov or so because it was confusing at some time as well as the repetition and a very lame line that annoyed me sm I had to drop an entire star from the book (Also this is my 3rd book or so on kindle YAY)
I have expressed my genuine feeling at the start of this book when I said that I feel like this an intimate story it's like I shouldnt be reading this words it feels as if I'm intruding these two.
This is how I felt at roughly the first 50% of this book, it felt like a calm story then it started to get relatively repetitive. Repetitive to the point where one of the characters said something so lame I had to drop a star for that shit.
The story resembles two individuals meeting for the first developing not feelings but some sort of an intimate understanding of each other. The book highlighted the police brutality against black people as well as the sickening sticking judgement that they face without even opening their mouth. How danger equals black and how crime is the black people's logo.
It had mentions of death multiple (here's your TW) and how one deals with it. It talks about what it is to be looked at and to be seen and I quote:
"It’s one thing to be looked at, and another to be seen; you’re scared that she might not just see your beauty, but your ugly too." And that:
"To be you is to apologize and that apology comes in the form of suppression. That suppression is indiscriminate. That suppression knows not when it will spill."
This book served as reflection of what is forced on us in life, in our environment and our community and what is that we force ourselves to indulge.
How that if you keep everything bottled up you'll end up spilling over yourself and others (AND OTHERS) you'll feel unbearable to live with and here I don't mean the people close to you no, I mean you won't be able to handle yourself, you'll keep on closing up further and further until you are left alone because it's easy to punish yourself when others aren't there, so severing ties serves as an excuses for you to torment yourself more and more. Or really this was my own thoughts ? I don't know
What I disliked was the writing from that 4th pov or so because it was confusing at some time as well as the repetition and a very lame line that annoyed me sm I had to drop an entire star from the book (Also this is my 3rd book or so on kindle YAY)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
_abii__'s review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
Open Water is a book about what it feels to love, what it means to be honest with your partner, to share experiences, to achieve freedom. It deals with Blackness and how it can be beautiful and exquisite, but also sufocating and burdensome. All of this is told from second pov.
Going into this i thought it was simply a love story, two people knowing each other intimately, learning to love. From the prologue alone I could tell this was going to be a different kind of love story. This book gives so much more. It details the pleasures in the small things such as music and photography and literature and how each of them have the power to impact our lives.
"You’re like a pair of jazz musicians, forever improvising. Or perhaps you are not musicians, but your love manifests in the music. Sometimes, your head tucked into her neck, you can feel her heartbeat thudding like a kick drum. Your smile a grand piano, the glint in her eye like the twinkle of hands caressing ivory keys. The rhythmic strum of a double bass the inert grace she has been blessed with, moving her body in ways which astound. A pair of soloists in conversations so harmonious, one struggles to separate. You are not the musicians but the music."
Without art forms culture is dead and without culture we, as a society, as humans, are dead.
The novel goes on a path to correlate these things, the multiple references from musicians and writers help to sustain the main character’s background story, and where he stands in life. It controls and shapes his thinking and his morals and sometimes even how he interprets the situations in his life.
"You have been going and going and going and now you have decided to slow down, to a halt, and confess. You are scared."
At first I was hesitant due to it being narrated in second pov, but there was no need for it. This book uses this narrative device extremelly well, the best i’ve read. It uses it in a way that reaches the reader and takes you into the narrative, into the experiences of the main character. You are able to immerse yourself in the story and feel it.
The prose is astonishingly beautiful and sometimes too clever and pretty for me to understand. It is not linear, it jumps throughout space, grasping concepts isntead of plot. And while it works for most of the novel, at times it felt to abstract to comprehend. Sometimes it needed to be more specific and concise intead of the endless ramblings that, while beautiful, can leave the reader a bit lost.
“Besides, sometimes, to resolve desire, it’s better to let the thing bloom. To feel this thing, to let it catch you unaware, to hold onto the ache. What is better than believing you are heading towards love?”
This at least has given us some gorgeous quotes.
Nelson writes characters that are inherently human, they love, they hate, they fear, they mistrust, they’re selfish, they’re selfless, they cry and they fight. All of that adds up to dazzling characters.
While the love story is the main point in this book I would like to point out two another relationships that captivated my attention.
"This is your brother, your charge, your duty, your son."
Mayhaps this made me weep. Siblings relationships are something so fulcral to one’s being and fundemental to one’s growth. The bond between siblings goes deeper than many people take notice, you raise them and then they comfort you as you go through breakups, and a love is forged, a connection is made that can never be broken. A love and understanding that is so uniquely yours that outsiders will always be estranged to it no matter how hard you try to explain. You love your sibling so fiercely, but they’re also the person you fight with the most. Nelson was able to capture this in ten words, a setence.
"No one has bars harder than your mum as she prays for you every day that this will not be the day."
Black mothers go through a certain pain that I can’t even begin to understand. Nelson describes it better than I ever could.
"You realize there is a reason clichés exist, and you would happily have your breath taken away, three seconds at a time, maybe more, by this woman."
The relationship between our two characters is so tender, so precious but also so fragile and heartbreaking. They understand each other, they know who they are at their core and become a little codependent. However, not in a way that they don’t have space for development, but in a way that incentives that self growth.
Vulnerability is a big theme across this book, and our main character learns how to deal with it. He battles a lot with the question of whether vulnerability is connected to love and what can it mean in a relationship. It also explores how the black experience with police brutality can affect your relationship with your loved ones. Should you be vulnerable about subjects that also affect your partner on a personal level, that being honest with them about how you feel could bring up their own trauma? These are questions Open Water seeks to answer.
The scenes where police brutality is explored are quite descriptive and graphic so be aware of that.
In conclusion i enjoyed this book for its beutiful prose as well as for the love story between the main characters. It tackles interesting topics about the human condition and what it means to enjoy life. While still providing insightful social commentary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Death
katewhite77's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I Get Now Why This Book Is So Beloved.
The way it plays with language to convey meaning is exquisite.
I first started reading this book on the page but could not get into the rhythm of the narrative, and it languished on my 'currently reading' pile for months. However, yesterday, I switched formats to audio and just let Caleb's silky tones wash over me. I listened to the book in two sittings. I don't think this is the sort of book that you should stop start with as part of it's charm is the narrative beat Caleb has created.
The novel tells the story of an unconventional relationship and in so doing, covers themes such as racism, death, grief, and intergenerational trauma but does it in such a gentle, inventive, and beautiful way.
The way it plays with language to convey meaning is exquisite.
I first started reading this book on the page but could not get into the rhythm of the narrative, and it languished on my 'currently reading' pile for months. However, yesterday, I switched formats to audio and just let Caleb's silky tones wash over me. I listened to the book in two sittings. I don't think this is the sort of book that you should stop start with as part of it's charm is the narrative beat Caleb has created.
The novel tells the story of an unconventional relationship and in so doing, covers themes such as racism, death, grief, and intergenerational trauma but does it in such a gentle, inventive, and beautiful way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Racism, and Death