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A review by gabjd
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
3.0
there are many things i liked about this book. the writing was so beautiful and i read it in two days so it was obviously just super interesting. i was dying to know the ending, though i had a bit of an idea of what was going to happen because this book has been compared to “these letters end in tears” which i also recently loved. my guess was pretty close, but the ending was still incredibly tragic.
i will say i wish i had read the trigger warnings for this beforehand because big trigger warning for incest between cousins that i did not expect to be in this book (that being said it’s mentioned very early on but i still did not expect it. and as i was getting into the book i had to circle back and be like “wait. this person is ‘filled with desire’ or whatever for THIS person?!”) i also feel like the story could have been exactly the same if it were a best friend and not a family member for this specific relationship, but that’s just me! i’d also like to know more about why the author made that choice.
i wish we could have seen more of the girls. there are so many characters and this book is relatively short so sometimes it was a lot but i really appreciated everyone. this is not the story of transphobia/homophobia that i expected it to be. it is still a story of both of those things but focusing heavily on vivek’s experience from the points of views of several different people in his life. coming from a black trans author, i really appreciate how their words embodied the voices of those who may have impacted their own life, whether it be for the better or worse.
on the fence between three and four stars, but i think this is worth a read for anyone who will not be triggered by its content!
i will say i wish i had read the trigger warnings for this beforehand because big trigger warning for incest between cousins that i did not expect to be in this book (that being said it’s mentioned very early on but i still did not expect it. and as i was getting into the book i had to circle back and be like “wait. this person is ‘filled with desire’ or whatever for THIS person?!”) i also feel like the story could have been exactly the same if it were a best friend and not a family member for this specific relationship, but that’s just me! i’d also like to know more about why the author made that choice.
i wish we could have seen more of the girls. there are so many characters and this book is relatively short so sometimes it was a lot but i really appreciated everyone. this is not the story of transphobia/homophobia that i expected it to be. it is still a story of both of those things but focusing heavily on vivek’s experience from the points of views of several different people in his life. coming from a black trans author, i really appreciate how their words embodied the voices of those who may have impacted their own life, whether it be for the better or worse.
on the fence between three and four stars, but i think this is worth a read for anyone who will not be triggered by its content!