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A review by solly
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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? Yes
3.0
3.5 stars
Akwaeke Emezi's writing is absolutely gorgeous. It flows beautifully, is incredibly easy to fall into, and has some lines that'll stay with me forever.
I loved that this was a masterfully crafted book. The fact that we don't get a lot of Vivek's chapters/thoughts really resonated with the rest of the book, the idea that most people didn't really know Vivek fully. It's really a beautifully crafted story.
However, there's a few things I didn't know how to feel about. The incest wasn't one of them, weirdly enough, but I understand that the main romantic/sexual relationship being between cousins is going to be upsetting or triggering to some people, so be warned.
No, what bothered me is that I spoiled the ending for myself before picking it up.
I'm just. Really ambivalent about that ending. But I enjoyed almost everything else about the book immensely, so it's really hard to rate it properly. Maybe I'll change the rating when I've thought about the ending some more.
Akwaeke Emezi's writing is absolutely gorgeous. It flows beautifully, is incredibly easy to fall into, and has some lines that'll stay with me forever.
I loved that this was a masterfully crafted book. The fact that we don't get a lot of Vivek's chapters/thoughts really resonated with the rest of the book, the idea that most people didn't really know Vivek fully. It's really a beautifully crafted story.
However, there's a few things I didn't know how to feel about. The incest wasn't one of them, weirdly enough, but I understand that the main romantic/sexual relationship being between cousins is going to be upsetting or triggering to some people, so be warned.
No, what bothered me is that I spoiled the ending for myself before picking it up.
Spoiler
So, spoilers ahead. I didn't know if I could go through a book about a death to transmisogynist violence, so I looked at spoilers and found out Vivek doesn't die to transphobic violence. Which made it easier to read the book, but meant that it didn't always sit right with me that the whole book implies a transphobic death that ends up being an accident. I probably need to think about it more because I can see a bit of what the author was going for with that ending, but I don't really like it. It's probably not the intention but it feels a tiny bit like "hey let's talk about how horrible transmisogyny is all throughout the book and then GOTCHU it was an accident" (though the accident could be further commentary about how being scared/hiding is also dangerous?)I'm just. Really ambivalent about that ending. But I enjoyed almost everything else about the book immensely, so it's really hard to rate it properly. Maybe I'll change the rating when I've thought about the ending some more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Grief, Death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Blood, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death