Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

227 reviews

salemander's review against another edition

5.0

this shit absolutely broke my heart, emezi has such a gorgeous way with words. the way they immerse you into these worlds and make you sit in these feelings of discomfort is absolutely unmatched. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

lizziaha's review against another edition

challenging sad

5.0

AKWAEKE EMEZI YOUVE DONE IT AGAIN!! You ever read a sentence and it’s so good you want to eat it?? 
This book deals with some very complex issues and honestly i felt deeply uncomfortable about some of it. But I think that’s part of what made the book so good. It lets you form your own conclusions alongside the characters. It forces you to wade into the nuance and muddy your own moral compass. 
It’s really impossible to describe this reading experience but i want a physical copy in my hands NOW. A reread is imminent. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Transphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Dysphoria

Minor: Rape

turidt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Grief, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Blood and Alcohol

booksandteatime's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Transphobia, and Grief

maggiemicklo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Incest, Transphobia, Violence, and Grief

ilianreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Outing, and Dysphoria

michaelion's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Ever since this book came out all I've heard is people wahwahwah about the incest when there is a MUCH LARGER, MORE IMPORTANT THEME AND PLOT POINT to the story. AND!!! Emezi says the two books that inspired this one in the acknowledgements!!! They did the work for you and people still didn't get it!!!! You people make me sick. You lack media literacy, reading comprehension, AND critical thinking skills.

Akwaeke Emezi, the person that you are. You've done it yet again. I can't wait to read all their books. They are truly amazing.

In my notes I put Vivek was her grandma reincarnated. The grandma the baby. This may have been intentional but if it's not I'm saying it as fact!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Biphobia, Deadnaming, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Dysphoria

Minor: Confinement, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Vomit, Murder, and Abandonment

katreena's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

From the very first page of this book I thought the writing was breathtakingly beautiful. My opinion on this never wavered as the author used such powerful imagery and expression of emotion.. I was very thrown off by the incest and the language around the relationship did not let that dynamic fall to be forgotten.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Blood

ljpaatan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia and Suicidal thoughts

katewhite77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow, just wow 

This book tells the story of a tragedy. The clues in the name, but how did we get here?

Set in Nigeria, it tells the of a family through the eyes of two generations. The story has an interesting structure, and one I can't remember reading before in that we hear from 3 points of view, but  one of these is an omniscient narrator which allows us to zoom in and zoom out  all the time. 

Themes here include how changing social attitudes can manifest within families even in an oppressive society  Gender identity and what children can teach their parents 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Islamophobia