Reviews tagging 'Deadnaming'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

77 reviews

sundayfever's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

Beautiful, heartbreaking. Very well written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Incest, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Infidelity, Grief, and Sexual content

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

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

 disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews because I don’t like leaving them. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial 

Well, that was devastating! This story is told by multiple narrators as we get more and more parts of Vivek's story, leading up to his death. The timeline alternates between before and after his death, until we finally receive clarity of how he died at the very end. Everyone he left behind is navigating the aftermath, and this book poses so many poignant questions about sexuality, gender expression, family dynamics, cultural attitudes, and internalized hatred. Vivek's mother Kavita and his cousin Osita are two characters who are especially not coping well after Vivek's death, and a massive part of it is their inability to accept Vivek for who they really were. 

This book was heartbreaking, and Akwaeke continues to evoke visceral emotions from us, and I'm not mad at them for doing it. (I mean, a little because this book hurt, but like, also, wow, what a genius!) Anyway, take care while reading <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Incest, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Outing

emilybacher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, and Transphobia

Moderate: Animal death and Deadnaming

quinnjuliac's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

This book was a wonderfully absorbing read, although it was very heavy. It is about children growing up in Nigeria, and one of them just doesn’t seem to fit in. Later in life he finds some safety and community in his childhood friends, but the world at large is dangerous for him. It is a story about grief and parenting a child who is different, and the joys of found family. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Transphobia, Sexual content, Outing, Grief, Mental illness, Incest, Death, and Deadnaming

Minor: Violence, Hate crime, and Domestic abuse

tinyjude's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

I liked the writing style and the ending felt powerful and fulfilling despite it's tragedy after wondering so bad what happened to Vivek.

I wish that instead of seeing Vivek/Nnembi from everyone's points of view, we got more from her inner world and how she felt in those final months. Especially with all the gender fluidity and sexual identity that could have  been explored through her lens. My biggest complain is the incest like WHAT THE FUCK? they could have been childhood friends and that would have made this so much more enjoyable, but making them cousins... I hated every second of it. Also, why is everyone fucking everyone without their partners' knowing? WHY ARE YOU CHEATING AND SAYING YOU LOVE YOUR GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND???? I DONT GET IT.
After so much transphobic comments from his parents, I am glad that his mom accepted him, even though it was too late and her reactions at first hurt so much to read.
The grandma was my favourite character. She rules even after death, she would have loved Vivek/Nnembi so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Death, Grief, Incest, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Transphobia

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

noonan's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Homophobia, Death, and Incest

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