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ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
“I know many people survive, but I also think people glorify resilience a little too much, forgetting that the fragile ones simply die as the world walks on over their bones. There are some things we shouldn’t be boasting about.
TITLE—Dear Senthuran
AUTHOR—Akwaeke Emezi
PUBLISHED—2021
GENRE—memoir
SETTING—liminal spaces
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—being a Black creator, being nonhuman, neurodivergency, love & friendship, identity
WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BONUS ELEMENT/S—multiple references to Helen Oyeyemi and her books 🥰
PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“I remember how it felt, and I know it was true. Maybe not in this life or this dimension, but it was true, and I miss it so much.”
I feel like this isn’t really a book one reviews so much as rereads and recommends endlessly forever and ever amen. My “reviews” exist as endless marginalia and pagetabs inside my physical hardcopy of this book and they’re a mite too personal to share here anyway. ☺️
Basically this memoir style book is written as a series of letters to people in Emezi’s life, both named and unnamed, friends, other writers and artists, family, influences, enemies, and abusers. They cover themes from friendship to love to Blackness to Otherness to Neurodivergency and to being a Creator. (I highly recommend this book to *all* aspiring creators—*especially* writers.) I particularly (and highly personally) loved the chapters/letters “Deity | Dear Eloghosa” and “Dreams | Dear Katherine”.
Akwaeke Emezi is an inspiration on many different levels but I’m never not going to be amazed by the fact that they have been willing to share themselves and their story and their experiences via such gorgeous and raw prose again and again. I am very much looking forward to everything else they create forever and ever. ❤️
“Alone, there’s just me, and I see myself clearly.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
TW // suicidal ideation, suicide attempt
Further Reading—
- Freshwater, and everything else by Akwaeke Emezi
- The Icarus Girl, and everything else by Helen Oyeyemi
- The Bone People, and Te Kaihau The Windeater, by Keri Hulme
- Zami, by Audre Lorde
- The Night Before the Day, by Ailo Gaup
- The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, by Mariana Enríquez
- The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson
- The Nesting, by C. J. Cooke
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Emotional abuse, Rape, and Toxic relationship
undertheteacup's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Ableism, Infidelity, Racism, Transphobia, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual assault
catapocalypse's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This book was so bold a creation, so extraordinary an experience. It is essentially a follow up to Freshwater, this time rightfully labeled as memoir. It's their story as a series of epistolary essays. I'd recommend reading Freshwater first, since it will provide additional explanation and context for things like their ȯgbanje identity, the brothersisters, some of their relationship with Yshwa, and more about their childhood and youth (Since I had already read it beforehand, I am not certain how much may need clarification without it). Dear Senthuran touches on those things, but its focus is more on their adulthood as well as philosophy behind their identities, spiritualities, relationships, work, life, etc.
Emezi's goals were to write truly of their personal experiences and to put those ideas out there for Black readers in particular. That said, I strongly urge other white readers not to shy away. We need to read and think about these things with honest reflection. So much of how we've harmed others and ourselves comes out of operating on narrow views and letting bad ideas calcify into accepted norms. Learning that this isn't how things are or should be helps work on dismantling these cages. There is still so much in here to relate to, and a lot that we can also find freeing, if we're willing to listen and think on it.
I would advise being prepared to go into this in the right headspace. It's at least as brutal and breathtaking as Freshwater, with a lot of heavy things covered in heavy detail. There are in-depth looks at depression, suicidal ideation and attempts, death, and a small section including fantasies of cannibalism.
I took my reading slow to let things percolate and avoid being overwhelmed. It was such a rewarding experience. Emezi remains a favorite, and I look forward to their upcoming projects.
Emezi's goals were to write truly of their personal experiences and to put those ideas out there for Black readers in particular. That said, I strongly urge other white readers not to shy away. We need to read and think about these things with honest reflection. So much of how we've harmed others and ourselves comes out of operating on narrow views and letting bad ideas calcify into accepted norms. Learning that this isn't how things are or should be helps work on dismantling these cages. There is still so much in here to relate to, and a lot that we can also find freeing, if we're willing to listen and think on it.
I would advise being prepared to go into this in the right headspace. It's at least as brutal and breathtaking as Freshwater, with a lot of heavy things covered in heavy detail. There are in-depth looks at depression, suicidal ideation and attempts, death, and a small section including fantasies of cannibalism.
I took my reading slow to let things percolate and avoid being overwhelmed. It was such a rewarding experience. Emezi remains a favorite, and I look forward to their upcoming projects.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, and Medical trauma
Minor: Chronic illness, Islamophobia, and Murder
caseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
- Per usual, when I try to sit down to write about an Emezi book, I cannot find the words. Their work is simply beyond my ability to discuss. Each book bends my mind and cracks open the world a little differently.
- DEAR SENTHURAN is a look inside their brain, their heart, their soul. It's an extended discussion of how to deal with a world that does not want you, on several levels. It's the pain and joy and revenge of making space for yourself anyway.
- Even beyond the larger ideas explored, the actual writing and words of this book are expansive, visceral, horrifying and elegant. They are truly a master of their craft.
- Also, I've listed content warnings below: please take them seriously. Emezi does not hold back on some graphic descriptions, particularly about suicide and self harm.
- DEAR SENTHURAN is a look inside their brain, their heart, their soul. It's an extended discussion of how to deal with a world that does not want you, on several levels. It's the pain and joy and revenge of making space for yourself anyway.
- Even beyond the larger ideas explored, the actual writing and words of this book are expansive, visceral, horrifying and elegant. They are truly a master of their craft.
- Also, I've listed content warnings below: please take them seriously. Emezi does not hold back on some graphic descriptions, particularly about suicide and self harm.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment