A review by whatannikareads
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

challenging dark emotional informative 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

3.5

I reaaaaaally wanted to like this more than I did; I liked the ideas that were being thrown out—talking about being a Black man, incorporating his love for music, the modern love story, photography, etc. But I think they didn’t actually connect with each other and ended up just being their own little bubbles that didn’t flow well. And the writing style is really beautiful and poignant at times, but at others it got too descriptive that I felt myself zoning out. So I went through waves of mixed emotions while reading. Writing in second person was an interesting choice; again, I think it either hit or it was a bit obstructive in the process of comprehending the reading as it had me trying to visualize myself in the situation but also seeing it from a Black man’s perspective as intended, so it took more effort for me to process. 
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