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isleoflinds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Death, and Incest
penofpossibilities's review against another edition
4.5
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
gio_shelves's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Incest, Physical abuse, and Transphobia
anniereads221's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Transphobia, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, Incest, Homophobia, Hate crime, Grief, Rape, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
lilcoppertop's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
kelly_e's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
Author: Akwaeke Emezi
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3.75
Pub Date: June 1 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Devastating • Moving • Powerful
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Vivek is dead, and when the lifeless body shows up bloodied and bare on the parents doorstep, a family is sent into the despairs of grief, and yet the mother can't help but question the circumstances and mysteries of the death. A story of friendship and family, of grief and denial, of identity and acceptance, of sexuality and loyalty, of community and cultural clashes that challenges expectations.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The story starts out with Vivek's death, and his mother finding his lifeless body on her front porch. From there the author takes the reader on a journey back in time to unravel the mysteries surrounding his life and ultimately his death. Akwaeke Emezi has the gift of beautiful language and writing in such a way that as a reader I felt transported into the story. It's written in a non-linear fashion, but the flow is easy to follow. Vivek, is truly an unforgettable character, and probably one of the most powerful and inspiring ones I've come across this year. The unguarded expression of self in the face of so much adversity is admirable. And I wanted so much more of this character and perspective. Maybe I am being difficult, but I truly the felt the power was in Vivek.
This book extends far beyond the confines of its classification as fiction. It's a coming-of-age story rooted in culture and family, acceptance and love, guilt and grief. It is truly a story of embracing human experience, whatever that might be. The Death of Vivek Oji is a necessary yet heartbreaking novel.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• any reader!
• readers who want depth to their story
• reader looking for excellent African LGBTQ+ lit
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I'm not what anyone thinks I am. I never was. I didn't have the mouth to put it into words, to say what was wrong, to change the things I felt I needed to change. And every day it was difficult, walking around and knowing that people saw me one way, knowing that they were wrong, so completely wrong, that the real me was invisible to them. It didn't even exist to them. So: If nobody sees you, are you still there?"
"I'd heard it since secondary school, and I knew what that night was supposed to make me. Less than a man - something disgusting, something weak and shameful. But if that pleasure was supposed to stop me from being a man, then fine. They could have it. I'd take the blinding light of his touch, the blessed peace of having him so close, and I would stop being a man."
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Violence
Minor: Miscarriage, Murder, and Rape
gm_vak's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Lesbophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Violence
davidrb's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Outing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Violence
solly's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Akwaeke Emezi's writing is absolutely gorgeous. It flows beautifully, is incredibly easy to fall into, and has some lines that'll stay with me forever.
I loved that this was a masterfully crafted book. The fact that we don't get a lot of Vivek's chapters/thoughts really resonated with the rest of the book, the idea that most people didn't really know Vivek fully. It's really a beautifully crafted story.
However, there's a few things I didn't know how to feel about. The incest wasn't one of them, weirdly enough, but I understand that the main romantic/sexual relationship being between cousins is going to be upsetting or triggering to some people, so be warned.
No, what bothered me is that I spoiled the ending for myself before picking it up.
Spoiler
So, spoilers ahead. I didn't know if I could go through a book about a death to transmisogynist violence, so I looked at spoilers and found out Vivek doesn't die to transphobic violence. Which made it easier to read the book, but meant that it didn't always sit right with me that the whole book implies a transphobic death that ends up being an accident. I probably need to think about it more because I can see a bit of what the author was going for with that ending, but I don't really like it. It's probably not the intention but it feels a tiny bit like "hey let's talk about how horrible transmisogyny is all throughout the book and then GOTCHU it was an accident" (though the accident could be further commentary about how being scared/hiding is also dangerous?)I'm just. Really ambivalent about that ending. But I enjoyed almost everything else about the book immensely, so it's really hard to rate it properly. Maybe I'll change the rating when I've thought about the ending some more.
Graphic: Incest, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Grief, Death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Blood, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death
albernikolauras's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
This book was uncomfortable to sit with at times, beautiful, full of pain, full of joy. It was about being yourself and how that can put you at risk. It is a book to sit with or read/listen to when you can focus on it because Vivek deserves that level of consideration.
I am not sure what separates this book from being 5 stars. I just didn't end up quite feeling as connected to it as expected. I think I wanted more Vivek (which might be because everyone wanted more of them). Perhaps it was the discomfort of sitting in the grief of this book. Either way, I would strongly recommend this for anyone.
Graphic: Death, Incest, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Blood, Violence, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Physical abuse
Minor: Miscarriage