Reviews with content warning for Hate crime - Open Water

"Ask: if flexing is being able to say the most in the least amount of words, is there a greater flex than love?"

Second person perspective, my beloved. Never have I read a love story quite so profound and beautifly written and also tragic.

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vanesst's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

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maria_k2000's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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alisonfaith426's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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pkc's review against another edition

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dark hopeful reflective 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

4.0

If I was asked to review this story around the mid way point, it probably wouldn’t have been massively favourable. In fact, I came reasonably close to DNFing but in the last 70 pages, something happened. The core of the story unveiled itself, made itself known in a really profound way that I hadn’t expected. At just over 140 pages I hadn’t expected as much depth as I got from this book. It’s a touching and haunting look at the safety (or lack thereof) of black people amidst the persistent thrumming drumbeat of a system that is built to oppress and violate in equal turns. The second person narrative is so well considered and any reader can become engaged in the unease and feel everything that “you” are supposed to feel. I loved the protagonist and the rich storytelling was poetic, languid and sumptuous at points.

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