Reviews

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

glorianakafu's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

dan047's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.75

mdarkwah99's review against another edition

challenging 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

2.0

The book is rated low because of the incest love story. No thank you.

amillacay's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-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

4.5

reyastray's review against another edition

4.0

very good, very sad, added many content warnings

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Murder, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Hate crime

amdonn8's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

3.5

Beautiful writing but I never got fully hooked into the story. 

eegrasse's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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

readbyashleyd's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

5.0

happylilkt's review against another edition

Abandoned at the halfway point. The plot quickly became predictable and the characters were flat and one-dimensional—no surprise as I feel like the author tried to challenge every taboo she could think of in fewer than 300 pages! Very ambitious! Add to this explicit sex scenes and I was done. I did like the Nigerian setting especially the multi-cultural marriages depicted with the Nigerwives. Instead of reading this may I suggest the following literary novels?
- [b:Transcendent Kingdom|48570454|Transcendent Kingdom|Yaa Gyasi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1571925550l/48570454._SY75_.jpg|73528567] - Nigerian American novel examining religion and truth
- [b:The Vanishing Half|51791252|The Vanishing Half|Brit Bennett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1577090827l/51791252._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73423787] - examines a boatload of issues (race, LGBTQ+), but with much more effective character development and the sex scenes are not overly descriptive.
- [b:Half of a Yellow Sun|18749|Half of a Yellow Sun|Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327934717l/18749._SX50_.jpg|1651408] - historical novel of Biafra (Nigerian civil war)

I was really disappointed with this one. The actual writing style is not bad, my complaint is in the construction of the novel and characters and the choice to include graphic sexual content.

littlebitalexiss's review against another edition

4.0

3.5⭐️/5⭐️
This story is tragic and beautiful!
I didn’t love their writing at some parts and the timeline got a little confusing for me. BUT Vivek’s story is so heartbreaking and beautiful, I still liked the book overall!