Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

23 reviews

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

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

ranjanireviewsreads's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Incest, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting

one_womanarmy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.25

Heartbreaking sorry of gay, lesbian, queer and trans identities growing up in a mixed class and mixed-ethnicity set of family systems in Nigeria. I cried through nearly half the book, swept up in the loneliness of performing ourselves for family alongside moments of the stunning beauty of tender, inescapable young love.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Self harm, Transphobia, Grief, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

canascorner's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Dysphoria

emzjams's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

i was really excited to read this but i think the description gives it a different vibe than it has. i still really liked it, it has beautiful writing and i really wasn’t expecting the ending. the main relationship was a huge ick for me but it didn’t take away from the story.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, and Violence

chekwube's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

This book was wow…just wow.
Started and finished it in the same day, not just because it’s a shorter book but because it was that good. The plot kept thickening, we kept learning more about the characters and it just altogether built in such a beautiful way. Akwaeke really keeps you on your toes throughout itching to understand the characters more and understand what exactly led to the death of Vivek Oji. It was amazing.
It was also very challenging because you rarely ever find books that make you really think about issues critically and challenge your set-in-stone ideals. This was one of those books and the whole time, I felt like I could relate with and connect to the characters.
Also the ending was literally spectacular. Like wow. Everyone should read this book. One critic said you leave the book feeling wiser and empathetic and I definitely agree. 
This book made me think a lot about the things people are going on beyond the surface that we really don’t see.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

sha's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Physical abuse, Violence, and Blood

angievansprang's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

Wow. I absolutely loved this. A gut-wrenching ode to queerness and love, this book and these characters will be with me for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Incest, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Moderate: Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Mental illness, and Dysphoria

Minor: Animal death, Infertility, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail