Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

49 reviews

am2ara's review against another edition

Content warning 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Self harm, and Abandonment

Moderate: Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Car accident, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape

thebakersbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

Akwaeke Emezi's debut novel Freshwater was the perfect book to boost me out of a reading slump. The prose is beautiful, the characters full of energy and detail, the experiences visceral. This is a book of sharp and jagged edges that cut to the emotional quick. I don't have the skill as a reviewer to do this story justice, but I enjoyed it a lot, even the painful parts.

It's odd to call such a dreamlike book relatable, but the main character of Freshwater was easy to connect to even when her specific struggles weren't ones I'd experienced. Ada's exploration of gender and sexuality were particularly special to me as someone with similar experiences. I'd be remiss not to mention that intersections of cultural and sexual/gender identity are unique to those who live them; as a white U.S.ian reader, I'm sure much of the nuance of being Black, Nigerian, an immigrant, etc. AND queer went over my head. That didn't diminish my enjoyment of reading it at all, and I hope will add to the richness of the experience for readers who do share those identities as well.

Freshwater is a short book but not necessarily a quick read; it grapples with a number of serious topics including rape, trauma, and grief. Nevertheless, the hints of magic and myth, whether real or allegorical, add a bit of lightness and much-needed distance from events that happen to Ada. There is joy amidst the pain that overshadows much of Ada's life, and the payoff when she eventually begins to understand herself more and come into her own feels like its own kind of magic. This is a story that will stay with me for a long time, a standout as both a literary work and a fantasy novel. I highly recommend this book to adult readers.

Content notes: accidental child injury (graphic); self-harm throughout; rape; eating disorder/anorexia; abusive relationships; drug use; alcohol addiction; gender dysphoria; outing a trans character; mild/brief homophobia; child sexual assault; suicide attempt

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Blood

Minor: Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Outing, and Transphobia

penguiniq's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, and Transphobia

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

A thinly fictionalized account of Emezi's life. Might've been more impressive on its own; having read Dear Senthuran last month, it all piled up a bit too much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Car accident, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Medical content

Minor: Drug use

martinza's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Rape

Moderate: Dysphoria and Eating disorder

lycheejelly's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Cursing, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Dysphoria, Vomit, Biphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, and Homophobia

Minor: Outing, Transphobia, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Religious bigotry

sofipitch's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

I basically read this all in one day and honestly it's not enough to have read it, I need to eat it or smoke it I love it so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual assault and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Eating disorder

macknificent's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Grief, Mental illness, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual violence, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Rape, Transphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Pedophilia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, and Incest

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

maybe im not spiritual enough for this book, but i find freshwater - despite it being interesting at points - too rambling and 'inward' for me.

i find ọgbanje to be fascinating, but the incorporation of it, or rather the way it's incorporated, in this novel is a lil bit too full of misery. this doesnt mean the book is bad by any means - in fact, i find it to be quite well written - but it purely comes down to my personal taste, which simply doesnt rly click w/ it. and while the lack of a plot doesnt bother me, its long-winded and verbose content that seemingly repeats in countless similar loops does.

the structure and lack of enough info/details also confuse me at times as well, w/ the former jumping around timeline and chronology, and the latter resulting in statements indicating some development or sudden change that the reader isnt previously privy to, making things a bit jarring. i'll still be checking out emezi's the death of vivek oji tho, which hopefully will be better than this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Self harm

Moderate: Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Rape, Blood, and Eating disorder

Minor: Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, and Child abuse

qtcarolyn's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Rape, Dysphoria, Biphobia, Car accident, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Homophobia

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Eating disorder, Child abuse, and Death

Minor: Body shaming and Pedophilia