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garynoplastie's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Police brutality, and Racism
Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, and Sexual content
vasha's review against another edition
hopeful
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? Yes
3.5
Open Water is a literary love story, the story of a Ghanaian-British man, a photographer, trying to find an authentic, open way to love despite the trauma of repeated encounters with violence and police brutality. I had some reservations about reality of the love story: I was very unconvinced by how the protagonist and his girlfriend (both unnamed, though other characters in the book have names) supposedly became instant best friends when they met. The later stages of their relationship were rather better depicted. Part of the book is also devoted to the protag's interactions with other Black men (and a few women)--I found the sections about his friends interesting. It's quite interior, full of analysis of the protag's mind, which he is self-aware about although barely able to speak his thoughts aloud; also, it spends a fair bit of page space on reflections about being Black.
As befits literary fiction, the literal content of this book is overshadowed by how it's told: its interweaving of metaphors; its frequent flashbacks guided by similarities and emotions; its repetitive, rhythmed prose (which, sadly, was rather undone by the fact that the audiobook was monotonously narrated by the author himself). I like this kind of thing, but I wasn't entirely won over by how it was carried out in this case. Too often, I was jerked out of the reflective writing by the conventionality of a paragraph or the intrusion of banal language into a high-flying passage. A description of playing basketball, a list of physical and emotional experiences each prefaced by "You want to...," ends "You just want to be free" as if this was a climax.
I'm only referring to the narration, because most of the dialogue is impoverished on purpose, the protagonist being reduced to few words or silence at important moments. The girlfriend's verbal skills are something for the protagonist to aspire to. She lyrically describes what dancing is like for her: "I’m making space and I’m dancing into the space. I’m like, dancing into the space the drums leave, you know, between the kick and the snare and the hat, where that silence lies, that huge silence, those moments and spaces the drums are asking you to fill." The protagonist answers less inventively by inviting her to a club where he says there's "an energy that's very freeing, a bunch of black people being themselves."
I'm only referring to the narration, because most of the dialogue is impoverished on purpose, the protagonist being reduced to few words or silence at important moments. The girlfriend's verbal skills are something for the protagonist to aspire to. She lyrically describes what dancing is like for her: "I’m making space and I’m dancing into the space. I’m like, dancing into the space the drums leave, you know, between the kick and the snare and the hat, where that silence lies, that huge silence, those moments and spaces the drums are asking you to fill." The protagonist answers less inventively by inviting her to a club where he says there's "an energy that's very freeing, a bunch of black people being themselves."
Another problem I had with the book is that it's stuffed with talk about other works, mostly music but also literature, film, and visual arts. It felt too consciously academic. Overall, the experience of reading this book wasn't terrible, and it had some real high points (there are passages I'd enjoy quoting at length) and a satisfying ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Cultural appropriation, and Terminal illness
cwatson1234's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Police brutality, Mental illness, Racism, and Violence
katievh's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
relaxing
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Police brutality, Violence, and Racism
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Drug use, Grief, and Alcohol
elizabethgreads's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? No
2.5
2.5 Stars
This book was hard for me to rate and read. The novel is essentially a love story between a young man and women who both struggle with the realties they face because they are black and living in London. Because of the racism they face there is this feeling that London is home however they and their cultures don't fully fit into London completely. Two people are trying to find their purpose and place in the world.
What really pulled me out of the story was the writing style. At time the writing was beautiful and lyrical however when pair with the convoluted way in which the story told felt a bit awkward. At times scenes felt over dramatized (more so the awkward love scenes). While art pulled the two characters together it was the way the art they enjoyed was described that pulled me out of the story a bit. The thing about the book that really bothered me was the second person POV. I think I would have liked the story more written in 1st or 3rd person.
This book was hard for me to rate and read. The novel is essentially a love story between a young man and women who both struggle with the realties they face because they are black and living in London. Because of the racism they face there is this feeling that London is home however they and their cultures don't fully fit into London completely. Two people are trying to find their purpose and place in the world.
What really pulled me out of the story was the writing style. At time the writing was beautiful and lyrical however when pair with the convoluted way in which the story told felt a bit awkward. At times scenes felt over dramatized (more so the awkward love scenes). While art pulled the two characters together it was the way the art they enjoyed was described that pulled me out of the story a bit. The thing about the book that really bothered me was the second person POV. I think I would have liked the story more written in 1st or 3rd person.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Sexual content
sib_reads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Grief, Gun violence, Police brutality, Violence, Death, and Racism
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Animal cruelty, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness, Alcohol, Blood, and Sexual content
leahrosiee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This was art, not a book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Blood, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Drug use
Minor: Medical content
horizonous's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Mental illness, and Racism
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Animal death
Minor: Death
◦ Death (Minor): Grandparent◦ Death (Moderate): Friend
◦ Mental Illness (Graphic): Depression
◦ Mental Illness (Moderate): Anxiety
aweightytome's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
I cried multiple times. It being written in second pov, you immediately feel the intimacy of the characters as well as the writing. The poetic and lyrical writing style can deter you from the story, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
“We all fail each other, sometimes small, sometimes big, but look, when we love we trust, and when we fail, we fracture that joint.”
“We all fail each other, sometimes small, sometimes big, but look, when we love we trust, and when we fail, we fracture that joint.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Drug use
Moderate: Mental illness and Police brutality
Minor: Racism, Hate crime, and Grief
kjulie's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I really wanted to like this.
I was looking forward to it, but it just didn’t connect with me. I think my biggest hang up was the 2nd person narration. The author seemed to be trying to establish a sense of intimacy through that choice (and from the look of some reviews, it absolutely worked for other people), but it created distance during my reading.
I was also not expecting such an dark emotional journey, and that’s totally on me. I thought this would be uplifting (not really sure why, the synopsis literally says: “But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence”), but instead it was a tragic love story and an exploration of trauma and the Black body.
I think that if I ever decide to give this a second read, knowing what it really is, I might understand it better.
I was looking forward to it, but it just didn’t connect with me. I think my biggest hang up was the 2nd person narration. The author seemed to be trying to establish a sense of intimacy through that choice (and from the look of some reviews, it absolutely worked for other people), but it created distance during my reading.
I was also not expecting such an dark emotional journey, and that’s totally on me. I thought this would be uplifting (not really sure why, the synopsis literally says: “But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence”), but instead it was a tragic love story and an exploration of trauma and the Black body.
I think that if I ever decide to give this a second read, knowing what it really is, I might understand it better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Death
Minor: Sexual content