Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

49 reviews

sara_berlin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

I found this book to have a less avant-garde style than some of Akwaeke Emezi's other books, but still with their unique flair, which I always love. It also fit into my accidental reading trend of gravitating toward perspectives that I don't often hear, which definitely applies to mainstream American literature and queer Nigerians. For both of those reasons, I really enjoyed the story, despite it's clear tragedy. The Death of Vivek Oji deserves to become a classic. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Sexual content

Minor: Infertility, Death of parent, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Transphobia

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Death of Vivek Oji feels like an extended meditation on queerness and transness.  In a country like Nigeria, where these identities are criminalized, it’s especially true for trans people that only they know what is best for them, though this will not stop well-meaning friends and family.  Emezi’s heartbreaking parable invites readers to imagine a world in which a trans person living freely is not “dancing with death.”  A world in which trans people are recognized as otherworldly gifts.  Born on the anniversary of his grandmother’s death, Vivek Oji was destined to be different

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Infidelity

Moderate: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Infertility, Blood, Homophobia, Animal death, Death, and Sexual content

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Violence

flashandoutbreak's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Death, Animal death, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Outing, Sexual content, and Transphobia

tea_kettle's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

4.25

amazing story, beautifully written, and one i would read again despite the heartbreak. However, the mildly (and later very graphically) incestuous themes were pretty uncomfortable to get through, and i don’t think they necessarily needed to be that way. Still, it was a great story, and i’m glad it was told, especially by a writer so skilled. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Death, Grief, Child death, Incest, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Hate crime, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Deportation, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Vomit, Infertility, and Rape

shoohoob's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Beautifully written book. I flew through it and the characters were fascinating to me. That being said, the incest was really prominent and almost made it DNF. 

I’m not really sure why Vivek and Osita couldn’t have just been close childhood friends instead of cousins. Maybe it was just supposed to add to taboo life Vivek was living, but it was really uncomfortable

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, Incest, and Homophobia

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Blood, Infidelity, and Outing

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

 Akwaeke Emezi is a masterful storyteller and writer. Every book they write is a gift to experience, and this one is no different. The last 20% of the story, in particular, made me sob. The entire novel has such a a deeply lyrical and emotional story about the way we relate to others and how well we know the peiple we live. I think we can all see ourselves in the characters with their emotional depths. Akwaeke is so talented at describing grief and making that raw, difficult emotion something they can communicate through their stories. It is such a talent.

The book is heavy in many ways, so please be mindful of the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Sexual content, Grief, Medical content, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Animal death, Religious bigotry, and Death

For context on the incest tag:

The incest takes place consensually between cousins.

stephmcoakley's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, Death, Blood, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Outing, Sexual content, Transphobia, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, and Injury/Injury detail

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

this book made me so incredibly angry. this book was gorgeous. the writing was phenomenal, and the trans representation was so beautiful and emotional. and then it was all ruined by incest. there is so much discourse about the lgbtqia+ community and trans rights, this story was truly beautiful and could make such an impact on people. it is all completely discounted and tarnished by the incest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Transphobia, Death, Hate crime, Outing, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Sexual content, Bullying, Deadnaming, and Injury/Injury detail

angievansprang's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow. I absolutely loved this. A gut-wrenching ode to queerness and love, this book and these characters will be with me for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Incest, Transphobia, Sexual content, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Eating disorder, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, and Hate crime

Minor: Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, and Infertility

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Vomit, Homophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Death of parent, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Deadnaming, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Alcoholism, and Pregnancy