Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

58 reviews

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

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

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

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

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

Minor: Body shaming and Pedophilia

nefariousbee's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Lesbophobia

seawarrior's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

Freshwater is a dizzying, original tale of a young woman who comes of age with gods trapped within her mind and her flesh. Emezi's writing is cutting and clear, conveying the messages of Ada's divine residents with precise expression and violent, glittering imagery. While the chronology of the book was disorienting at times, I never felt lost. The way events were revealed made sense in context, and furthered our understanding of the characters' thought processes. I am not familiar with Igbo onotology, or metaphysical theories in general, yet my lack of knowledge did not make the story hard to follow, thanks to Emezi's direct style and explicit metaphors. However, I would not recommend this book to people triggered by or vulnerable to depictions of sexual violence and self harm. A key plot development in the book is the arrival of a vengeful and hedonistic god summoned to protect Ada from the realization she has been raped. Even before this, Ada was self harming to provide her gods with the blood they craved, yet this event accelerates the self destructive behavior her gods encourage. Though deeply unsettling, I did enjoy reading this novel. I've never encountered another story like it, and look forward to reading the unique and divergent works Emezi felt inspired by. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide, Transphobia, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Outing

Assault scenes are present but not extremely graphic; aftermath and results are covered more extensively than events themselves, though there are frank descriptions of rape and (C)SA.

snowforest's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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: Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Outing, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

whatannikareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

this is one of the best books I’ve ever read ever. I basically read this book in one sitting. Once you wrap your head around the initial writing style and concepts, holy shit you’re hooked. I have never read anything like this and I don’t think I ever will again. It’s such a unique, poetic, dark, intriguing way to handle trauma, grief, loss, love, heartbreak, incorporating the mythology of Nigerian spirituality. The pacing hooked me and i like how things weren’t explained super explicitly; the bad things that happen are revealed as we go on, and it made me stop and reflect on why Ada acted/reacted the way she/they did.

Stunning. Reminds me of The Vanishing Half, as in how can a debut book be THIS fucking good. Like holy shit dude I don’t know if I know what I read but every sentence felt like I could frame it.

MAJOR trigger warnings for rape, suicidal thoughts, mental illness, abuse 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

earthbound_edits's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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: Self harm and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault

lilymurph's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

miles's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol