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christina_andrews's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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? Yes
5.0
Everyone should read this book. I find it breathtaking and read it over 2 days, I just couldn't what to discover more.
aminasbookshelf's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
4.0
salwa15's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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
3.5
ksaratom's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
written in a quiet, understated tone, this book was devastating. the storytelling reminded me a bit of butter honey pig bread with deep, dark family history that affected the characters’ lives. the writing felt haunting and captured the desperation of a mother trying to understand her child. the friend group was quite interesting, but I don’t think I got enough from them to be fully invested. at the end, there was all this buildup to find out what happened to vivek, but it felt very obvious?
overall, I’m glad to have read this story, however, it was told in a confusing, nonlinear way. the changes in pov and timeline were sporadic, making it hard for me to follow.
jaysteady's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, so. I do concede that I read this entirely in nearly one sitting. I had to know how it ends. However, after I was finished, I couldn’t reflect on the no doubt powerful(!) message of this novel, but on how there were some plot lines that were never flushed out or ever answered for me? It made it feel like filler? Also, was incest necessary to the plot or? I feel like it really just scared away a potential audience that this story should have been able to reach. For no reason? I just had more questions than anything. Definitely enjoyed it, but couldn’t rate it more than a better-than-average star rating for me.
P.S. You can bet your bottom dollar that I’m still going to read Freshwater though, so do with this review what you will
P.S. You can bet your bottom dollar that I’m still going to read Freshwater though, so do with this review what you will
bookswithboo's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
mittland's review against another edition
5.0
loved. sort of both a love story and a mystery. will be reading more from this author
bail33's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Best book I’ve read all year without question. Easily a classic in queer literature. No story has ever made me feel the way this one has.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Transphobia, Incest, and Violence
rmceachern's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
3.75
teavani's review against another edition
3.0
3.6ish?
i know my taste in books, and i know i like literary fiction that's set in diverse places, so i had really high hopes for this. Emezi's writing uses a lot of metaphors and analogies, which i personally really like. and it did have an emotional pull, but i think just wanted a little more from the story itself. the ending was not as groundbreaking or worth the leadup. especially when we know what happens already. while it's satisfying going through this character's life without having to uncover some kind of unknown, sinister fate, i'd hoped the journey would be worth it. we get to live his life in an attempt to just understand him, and i'm not really sure i did.
- i wonder how a parent would feel reading this - a story about a child that doesn't feel like he can open up to the ones that are supposed to protect and support him. i'd be interested in that pov.
- while some of the characters served a purpose (ex: (Mary and Chike in exemplifying religious fanaticism and infidelity), they were kind of glossed over. like, i didn't really care that much about them. this goes for most of the characters, except Kavita honestly.
- i would feel weird if i didn't mention the elephant in the room. they're cousins... and i just think that this story would have worked just as well with them being close family friends or something.
- i liked the setting a lot. introduced to lots of new terms, especially different types of Nigerian foods and names. refers to Nigerwives, or women from other countries that settle with Nigerian men. Vivek and his mother, Kavita (a Nigerwife and Indian immigrant), both have Indian names. i think a lot of people don't realize the connections between Nigeria and India (including me, i just know someone that has a Nigerian/Indian background) that stretch back for commercial and economic reasons. and you can see the Indian influence from Kavita - nicknames like beta/beti, bhai. the sunsilk hair ads! and bournvita! and of course, the Ganesh charm. very cool
lines:
It felt safer, as if he wasn't giving any important parts of himself away: not his soul or heart, just his body, which didn't matter anyway (45).
Like they were living in two separate worlds that happened to be under the same roof, pressed against each other, but never spilling, never overlapping (85).
Perhaps I had just become the fulcrum, the point on which everything hinged, the turning (90).
Alone is a feeling you can get used to, and it's hard to believe in a better alternative (112).
I deliberately kept my mind empty, except for him, because I knew as soon as I started to think again, I might go mad from what I had just done (126).
i know my taste in books, and i know i like literary fiction that's set in diverse places, so i had really high hopes for this. Emezi's writing uses a lot of metaphors and analogies, which i personally really like. and it did have an emotional pull, but i think just wanted a little more from the story itself. the ending was not as groundbreaking or worth the leadup. especially when we know what happens already. while it's satisfying going through this character's life without having to uncover some kind of unknown, sinister fate, i'd hoped the journey would be worth it. we get to live his life in an attempt to just understand him, and i'm not really sure i did.
- i wonder how a parent would feel reading this - a story about a child that doesn't feel like he can open up to the ones that are supposed to protect and support him. i'd be interested in that pov.
- while some of the characters served a purpose (ex: (Mary and Chike in exemplifying religious fanaticism and infidelity), they were kind of glossed over. like, i didn't really care that much about them. this goes for most of the characters, except Kavita honestly.
- i would feel weird if i didn't mention the elephant in the room. they're cousins... and i just think that this story would have worked just as well with them being close family friends or something.
- i liked the setting a lot. introduced to lots of new terms, especially different types of Nigerian foods and names. refers to Nigerwives, or women from other countries that settle with Nigerian men. Vivek and his mother, Kavita (a Nigerwife and Indian immigrant), both have Indian names. i think a lot of people don't realize the connections between Nigeria and India (including me, i just know someone that has a Nigerian/Indian background) that stretch back for commercial and economic reasons. and you can see the Indian influence from Kavita - nicknames like beta/beti, bhai. the sunsilk hair ads! and bournvita! and of course, the Ganesh charm. very cool
lines:
It felt safer, as if he wasn't giving any important parts of himself away: not his soul or heart, just his body, which didn't matter anyway (45).
Like they were living in two separate worlds that happened to be under the same roof, pressed against each other, but never spilling, never overlapping (85).
Perhaps I had just become the fulcrum, the point on which everything hinged, the turning (90).
Alone is a feeling you can get used to, and it's hard to believe in a better alternative (112).
I deliberately kept my mind empty, except for him, because I knew as soon as I started to think again, I might go mad from what I had just done (126).