Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi

13 reviews

northernbiblio's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Gore

hannah_and_her_stories's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Dysphoria, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Drug use, and Self harm

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Rape

Minor: Cancer

elizea's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Transphobia, Violence, Gore, Body horror, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

Beautiful. Inspiring. Infuriating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Gore

Moderate: Cannibalism, Infidelity, and Racism

Minor: Sexual assault

imrereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

I don't know where to begin with such a powerful memoir. Author memoirs are one of my favourite types of books, but I don't think I've ever read a memoir quite like this. It felt groundbreaking. Word view shifting. Oh so intimate. I won't ever forget this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Gore

ominous_teapot's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Death, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

laurenleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

4.5

This memoir by Awaeke Emezi is written in letters, as they explore their gender identity, their romantic and sexual partnerships, their  life as an author, and their multiplicity. The epistolary format invites the reader into an intimate space, at times voyeuristic when Emezi gets into some intense detail. Some of these details, mainly relating to suicide and gore, were hard for me to read. I am a strict completionist, but even I had to give up on the titular “Dear Senthuran” letter, which is also rightly titled “Gore.” But I understand, at least to some degree, why it’s important for Emezi to push boundaries. Their life, their embodiment in human form, and in turn, their writing, is all so raw. It’s bursting at the seams with life and intensity. I highly recommend their debut novel, Freshwater, and I especially suggest reading that before this memoir, so you have an understanding of Emezi’s multiplicity and Igbo ontology. It’s all so fascinating to me, and their work is like nothing else I’ve ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Gore, Blood, Sexual content, and Death

Moderate: Violence, Medical content, Homophobia, and Transphobia

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Fire/Fire injury

maryberthelsen's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Medical content, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

merin_aran's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

“I know many people survive, but I also think people glorify resilience a little too much, forgetting that the fragile ones simply die as the world walks on over their bones. There are some things we shouldn’t be boasting about. 

 

TITLE—Dear Senthuran 

AUTHOR—Akwaeke Emezi 

PUBLISHED—2021 

 

GENRE—memoir 

SETTING—liminal spaces 

MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—being a Black creator, being nonhuman, neurodivergency, love & friendship, identity 

 

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

BONUS ELEMENT/S—multiple references to Helen Oyeyemi and her books 🥰 

PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

 

“I remember how it felt, and I know it was true. Maybe not in this life or this dimension, but it was true, and I miss it so much.” 

 

I feel like this isn’t really a book one reviews so much as rereads and recommends endlessly forever and ever amen. My “reviews” exist as endless marginalia and pagetabs inside my physical hardcopy of this book and they’re a mite too personal to share here anyway. ☺️ 

 

Basically this memoir style book is written as a series of letters to people in Emezi’s life, both named and unnamed, friends, other writers and artists, family, influences, enemies, and abusers. They cover themes from friendship to love to Blackness to Otherness to Neurodivergency and to being a Creator. (I highly recommend this book to *all* aspiring creators—*especially* writers.) I particularly (and highly personally) loved the chapters/letters “Deity | Dear Eloghosa” and “Dreams | Dear Katherine”. 

 

Akwaeke Emezi is an inspiration on many different levels but I’m never not going to be amazed by the fact that they have been willing to share themselves and their story and their experiences via such gorgeous and raw prose again and again. I am very much looking forward to everything else they create forever and ever. ❤️ 

 

“Alone, there’s just me, and I see myself clearly.” 

 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

 

TW // suicidal ideation, suicide attempt 

 

Further Reading— 

• Freshwater, and everything else by Akwaeke Emezi
• The Icarus Girl, and everything else by Helen Oyeyemi
• The Bone People, and Te Kaihau The Windeater, by Keri Hulme
• Zami, by Audre Lorde
• The Night Before the Day, by Ailo Gaup
• The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, by Mariana Enríquez
• The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson
• The Nesting, by C. J. Cooke

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Rape, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse