Reviews

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

boobearr's review against another edition

5.0

i loved this book. one of my fave reads so far this year. the author has that simple writing style that’s both quietly beautiful and brutal.. cuts you before you even know what happened.

ps- check out the cw. i suspect the author wanted the reader to feel the discomfort and desperate secrecy associated with taboo experiences.. if the queerness doesn’t make you feel that way then 1. good for you and 2. the romantic relationship between two of the main characters will

minnenina's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

suspencebooks's review against another edition

4.0

They are one hell of a writer, I immediately want to reread after finishing even though it crushed my heart

noetherboltzmann's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

A very emotional book. Told almost completely from the perspectives of people surrounding the main character.  It brings some empathy and awareness to the complexity of loving someone in the midst of not understanding them, and even hurting them because of it.  

jossenoynaert's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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

5.0

liagiba_abigail's review against another edition

5.0

from a review i read: "We know right away that Vivek dies, but Emezi writes him with such loving detail that you can’t help reading on, just in case he’ll survive after all"

lucaswilliams's review against another edition

dark inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

absentjuls's review against another edition

3.0

beautifully written but started strong just to go down really fast, way too many characters and side stories that do not matter, the real "pick a struggle" and the incest part,,,, girl what was that? um chile anyway so

astronutty's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

file this under: books that made me uncomfortable, books that made me cry, books that I think people misunderstand, books that I wouldn't recommend to people because of what it might say about me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

sarahvankuiken's review against another edition

5.0

Beautiful. Heartbreaking. Important. I have no other words.