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A review by chandler_lane
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
4.25
Freshwater was a truly amazing and tense book from the first beat.
Taking the form a an ogbanje narrator in the body of a girl named Ada the story starts off explaining how Ada is not really of herself but belongs to a god named Ala.
The ogbanje living inside of her could represent dissociative identity disorder from past traumas. We see the "birth" of her three ogbanje in the book called We, but only later learn of how they appeared from her traumas.
As we read more of the story we see the birth of Asughara, the "beastself" that protects Ada from the pain of her sexual assaults and sexual encounters.
We see Ada struggle with cutting, depression, body dysmorphia and more as she struggles to reconcile the multiple selves that exist inside her and her place in this realm.
Pulling from Ogbo spirituality the story does represent the other selves as true ogbanje and not as a representation or imaginative creation of Ada's
The story ends with Ada reconciling the importance of all the parts of her brain that live inside her, finally in control, and setting her place in the world.
Beautifully written and incredibly tense! I was surprised at how much chaos and strife was packed into such a short book from the get-go. It was also a really touching view of how these fractured selves protect people who have been through trauma and while maybe not healthy, that they do serve a purpose
Taking the form a an ogbanje narrator in the body of a girl named Ada the story starts off explaining how Ada is not really of herself but belongs to a god named Ala.
The ogbanje living inside of her could represent dissociative identity disorder from past traumas. We see the "birth" of her three ogbanje in the book called We, but only later learn of how they appeared from her traumas.
As we read more of the story we see the birth of Asughara, the "beastself" that protects Ada from the pain of her sexual assaults and sexual encounters.
We see Ada struggle with cutting, depression, body dysmorphia and more as she struggles to reconcile the multiple selves that exist inside her and her place in this realm.
Pulling from Ogbo spirituality the story does represent the other selves as true ogbanje and not as a representation or imaginative creation of Ada's
The story ends with Ada reconciling the importance of all the parts of her brain that live inside her, finally in control, and setting her place in the world.
Beautifully written and incredibly tense! I was surprised at how much chaos and strife was packed into such a short book from the get-go. It was also a really touching view of how these fractured selves protect people who have been through trauma and while maybe not healthy, that they do serve a purpose
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Suicide attempt