Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

50 reviews

kaceyjoy's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Infertility

hilarylouise's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Transphobia, Blood, Child death, Homophobia, and Death

Moderate: Violence and Sexual content

Minor: Infertility and Infidelity

micalyia's review against another edition

emotional fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

Truly masterful writing.

I did have a question surrounding the subjects of the romance and why the author chose to write them the way they did. The research didn’t make me feel any more comfortable and as such, though I wanted to root for them ultimately I couldn’t bring myself to. 

Check trigger and content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Violence, and Transphobia

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Infertility

morganperks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

did not appreciate the emotions this book made me feel. I was crying by the end (when am I not tho?)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Outing, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Medical content, Self harm, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Alcoholism, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, War, Death of parent, Transphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Child abuse, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Blood and Drug use

summerb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Sexual content, Child death, Death, Grief, Incest, and Infidelity

Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Biphobia, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Outing, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Vomit

haveyseentis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

This was triggering for me. Obviously it involves the death of somebody and the way that grief is discussed in this book is The most upfront real depiction of grief that I have ever read and the hopelessness and uselessness in the face of grief that is discussed in this book was really upsetting. This is not a book for somebody in for a good time but the commentary on queer life in Nigeria really opened my eyes and I feel enriched after having read this book but still with a deep-seated new awareness of mortality that was scary for me. It was a fast read but it was perfectly paced.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Deadnaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity

Minor: Animal death and Infertility

abooknomad's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense

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

4.5

 This is a hard book to talk about. It’s heartbreaking, it’s tragic, and it’s an eye-opener.

The Death of Vivek Oji is a story told in flashbacks, alternating between first and third-person narration, slowly revealing the events that led to the main character’s death, Vivek. I think this narrative style fits the story and its overall message perfectly because so few people knew the true “I” of Vivek before his parting.

This book was only 250 pages long, but it packed an emotional punch. It’s a story about not only feeling other in the body you were born in (or a body that society only sees one way) and the repercussions of stifling your identity and true self, but it's also a book about life in Nigeria and the different relationships and culture shocks coming with the gathering of people hailing from different places trying to adapt to a new country and how hard it is to break traditional values. It's about a group of young people coming to terms with their identity and sexual orientation. Most of all, it's a book about grief.

This was my first book by Akwaeke Emezi and I now understand why their storytelling and style have received such praise. They say so much in so little and in such a compelling way.

I think it’s important to underline that this book discusses topics and situations that might make some readers uncomfortable and content warnings are needed.

Overall, this was a wonderful and insightful read. I can’t wait to read more from this author.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Transphobia

laurataylor's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Death, Hate crime, Blood, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Grief, Physical abuse, and Transphobia

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Animal cruelty, Grief, Animal death, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Moderate: Eating disorder and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Miscarriage, Infertility, Rape, War, and Vomit

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.5

I have some very conflicting thoughts about this book. One on hand the writing is beautiful, and I was engaged in the story, and the unraveling of what had happened. However, some aspects that people seem to find beautiful are just not it for me.

This story mainly follows the point-of-view of Vivek's mother, Kavita. We follow her questions and her grief as she tries to find the truth about her sons death. I found her to be a very real character, and she is the backbone of this book. I do wish we had seen more from Vivek's PoV though. We see his world through the eyes of others, but rarely from his own. Even just one or two more chapters from his PoV would have been perfect.

Some things that just felt weird in this story was the incest, and how the friends all had sex with each other. I have heard this book being highly praised multiple times, but no one has talked about this. Vivek and Osita are cousins who consider each other brothers, yet all of the characters are just a-ok with them becoming lovers. It just felt jarring when so much of the book is about acceptance, and being who you are.

Reading a book about a culture that detests anything that differs from the norm was heartbreaking. I found myself getting so angry with some of the characters, which is exactly the point. It felt so raw, and knowing that this is what people's lives are in reality is rough. 

Unfortunately, I found the "reveal" to be lacking. You see it coming from the very beginning, and it doesn't quite feel like the period at the end of a sentence that I was looking for. However, the last chapter is just perfect, and is a fantastic way to end the story of Vivek Oji. Overall, this is a gorgeous, tragic story, but it just isn't quite for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Sexual assault, Rape, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Infidelity

Moderate: Animal death, War, Violence, Blood, and Child abuse

Minor: Abandonment and Infertility