Review by chronicallylavender - Freshwater

chronicallylavender 's review for:

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

5.0

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Understand this if you understand nothing: it is a powerful thing to be seen

wow.

this hooked me in right from the start. i did have to take breaks while reading.

this was just a small part towards the end but it meant something to me:

Still, I am very lonely. They help me forget this, but sometimes it shows up like a continent shifting onto my chest. I'm so tired of being empty. I turned it inside out and wore it like a glove, smeared it on the walls until my house shouted empty, empty, empty. I didn't know what to do with it afterward. All I know is that it hurts to be in the spaces between freedom.

[…]

I want to tell him that my heartache is acting up again, but instead I smile and lie and lie next to his body, watching an animated movie flicker across the screen. I take a little comfort in the fact that he chose to be lying here with me. It matters, even though I still feel lonely with him there.

[…]

it reminded me of how long all of this has been hurting. The pain is so old, Yshwa. I don't even have the strength to want anything anymore. I just float and stare at the sky, and when the pain hits, I arch my neck to keep the water from overcoming my face. Months ago, the painter looked at me as we lay in his bed.
"That sadness never really leaves your eyes," he said.

When I was out in Lagos with a group of friends, I met this Somali boy who told me I inhabit a space between depression and happiness, a sweet spot, a brilliant spot. I stared at him and wondered if it was true. If it was, could that spot be more real than either end of that spectrum? It would be a point of perfect balance, I thought.

Content Warnings