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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 against another edition
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).
phalanq's review against another edition
5.0
As soon as I got to the end, I started it over again. A perfect book
girlinf1eld's review against another edition
5.0
I began and finished this in a single night. I got less than three hours of sleep for my (fucking stressful!!!) 10+ hour schoolday because I simply had to finish this. I think that speaks for itself.
carriepond's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
From the first page and the title of The Death of Vivek Oji, we know the what—the story’s central character, Vivek Oji, has died. What this fairly short novel spends its time considering is the gut-wrenching why, which is answered for the reader through chapters that shift between characters and events before and after Vivek’s death.
Learning what happened to Vivek was as sad as I imagined it would be, but seeing the emotional fallout as characters reckon with the ways they failed to see and love Vivek in life was more devastating. Is protecting someone the same as loving them?
I loved this book.
Learning what happened to Vivek was as sad as I imagined it would be, but seeing the emotional fallout as characters reckon with the ways they failed to see and love Vivek in life was more devastating. Is protecting someone the same as loving them?
I loved this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
Moderate: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
lorbach's review against another edition
3.0
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
3.5/5 ⭐
This book, honestly, was a hard read for me. Not due to the writing but because of the subject matter. As a mother of a son who is off doing his own thing, I imagined many times how the mother of Vivek felt. And then I cried.
This is a heartbreaking but somehow beautiful story. A good read to be sure.
3.5/5 ⭐
This book, honestly, was a hard read for me. Not due to the writing but because of the subject matter. As a mother of a son who is off doing his own thing, I imagined many times how the mother of Vivek felt. And then I cried.
This is a heartbreaking but somehow beautiful story. A good read to be sure.
knotemnels's review against another edition
5.0
Devastating & beautiful. Finished in a day because I couldn’t put it down.