A review by bookscoffeehayley
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

“Sometimes you recognize truth because it destroys you for a bit”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

CW: suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, rape, self-harm, self-destructive behavior, child abuse, domestic violence

This book did, in fact, destroy me for a bit… Akwaeke Emezi has quickly become an auto-buy author for me. After reading their sophomore novel, The Death of Vivek Oji, I needed more of this brilliant writing.

I’m yet again blown away by Emezi’s writing in Freshwater, their autobiographical debut novel. The way they write about the exploration of self, trauma, spiritual identity, the soul’s strategies of protection, self-destruction, rebuilding. There’s a lot to unpack in this novel; a lot of aspects of Ada’s story resonated with me and my own mental health journey.

I highly recommend this one and I will be moving Emezi’s YA debut, Pet, to the top of my TBR!
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