Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

102 reviews

jmiles758's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

dinosher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

This is how Vivek was born, after death and into grief.

Went into this book blind but came out with such a heavy heart, it broke me in more ways than one. It's incredible how the author managed to capture the essence of grief in such a tragic yet gentle way. I'm a very slow reader but with this book, I was just so eager to discover Vivek's story that the pages felt like they were just turning themselves. This book is about the death of Vivek Oji, it's about the life he has lead before, it's a story about Vivek Oji. At the same time, it's so much more than that, it's about all the people that love him in their own ways, it's about all the ways they tried to protect him, it's about who they thought he was. 

How could he be gone when he'd overtaken us so completely while he was here?

The combined amount of chapters we get to venture inside Vivek's mind are limited. Instead, we get told who he is through the perspectives of other people. We slowly uncover the truth about the what happened on the day of his death while venturing deeper into all the moments before his death, we get to see all the memories that made Vivek.

They barely understood him themselves, but they loved him, and that had been enough.

All the characters felt like they were jumping off the pages, bursting with their own personalities and stories, you could tell that the author wrote them as individuals and not just side characters. I felt especially connected to the women in the story, they were not just wives, they were also mothers, sisters, daughters and survivors, every one of them were once bright young girls as well. The author really expresses how such a conservative community tears people apart from the inside out in the most brutal way, with beautiful prose. 

I know what they say about men who allow other men to penetrate them. Ugly things; ugly words. Calling them women, as if that's supposed to be ugly too.

Vivek's story was just heartbreaking to read, how he must've suffered when he was forced to hide his true self in such a restrictive community, to hide his happiest side from his parents. The rage when Vivek's mother finally uncovered this side of her child, how was she supposed to deal with the knowledge of having to mourn someone who was so familiar yet so unrecognizable? The way acceptance of Vivek's death was found in in end was just gut wrenching. Vivek was truly loved, no matter who he was.

I want to thank him for loving me.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Violence

Minor: Miscarriage

brynalexa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I went into this book blind but pretty sure I’d love it. Love is the wrong word but it was very easy to get through  (wonderful formatting) and extremely well written. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol

girlreading's review

dark emotional medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

I’m a little conflicted on this one. It was fantastically written and utterly devastating but there were elements that I struggled with, mainly the relationship between Vivek and Osita, that have me settling on a three star rating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Incest, and Transphobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Eating disorder

kjanet's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

 This book was beautifully written. It was so sad.

Vivek at the end began to live as their true self. I wonder though, at the end, if they were willing to die for it. Why else take the risk of being in a dress and going to get puff puff when a riot is clearly starting? I can only take it as them preparing to be accepted or rejected from society as their true self, regardless of the consequences. The love story threw me all the way the fuck off though. I wonder, could it not have been told the same without them being cousins????

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual assault

ingridaleida's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infertility, and Rape

destinied's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is easily one of the most impactful books I’ve read in the last several months. Maybe the whole year. A story of identity, repression, family, grief, and all of the complexities of being human while navigating these themes, The Death of Vivek Oji is about more than just physical death. It is also about the death of how we might view people based on our expectations, and the beautiful juxtaposition against the birth of the person as they are.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Biphobia, Child abuse, Deadnaming, and Blood

Minor: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Torture, and Vomit

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. 

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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. 

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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

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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