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A review by katiegilley
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
3.0
“I’m not what anyone thinks I am. I never was. I didn’t have the mouth to put it into words, to say what was wrong, to change the things I felt I needed to change. And every day it was difficult, walking around and knowing that people saw me one way, knowing that they were wrong, so completely wrong, that the real me was invisible to them. It didn’t even exist to them. So: If nobody sees you, are you still there?”
This was a gorgeous book set in Nigeria. It opens with a mother finding her 20-something son, Vivek Oji, dead at her front door. We slowly find out what happened to Vivek as the book unfolds and we meet a group of young people quietly and desperately searching for their own identities while living under oppressive circumstances.
I decided to give this book 3 stars on Goodreads. I wanted to give it 4, but felt like there was too much gratuitous sex. There were several scenes that felt integral to the story and just as many that felt unnecessary and over the top. Perhaps I’m a prude – I can live with that!
This was a gorgeous book set in Nigeria. It opens with a mother finding her 20-something son, Vivek Oji, dead at her front door. We slowly find out what happened to Vivek as the book unfolds and we meet a group of young people quietly and desperately searching for their own identities while living under oppressive circumstances.
I decided to give this book 3 stars on Goodreads. I wanted to give it 4, but felt like there was too much gratuitous sex. There were several scenes that felt integral to the story and just as many that felt unnecessary and over the top. Perhaps I’m a prude – I can live with that!