Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

32 reviews

kasarin's review against another edition

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: Death, Homophobia, Incest, Transphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

30something_reads's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

You win again, Emezi.

3 for 3 on the ugly crying. This one probably tops all the others. I'm literally crying right now as I write this. Everything was so beautiful and devastating all at once. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Transphobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Rape, and Blood

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This wasn't a pick for me because I don't love literary fiction because it's usually dismal, depressing, and has horrible things happen for no reason. Of course, with that understanding of both this genre and Emezi's work, I went into this with appropriately low expectations of joy. It seems like an intriguing book and takes a hard look at struggles, especially for women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape

nannahnannah's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Pet was my introduction to Akwaeke Emezi, and I fell in love with their creativity. Here, their prose has matured in leaps and bounds (which makes sense in a way, since Pet was YA), and they’ve included themes that I’ve found very challenging. Even if it wasn’t a book I particularly enjoyed, I found it a rewarding read.

Representation:
- most characters are Nigerian, and several are biracial
- Vivek is Nigerian and Indian, as well as gay and gender fluid
- Osita is a closeted gay/bi man
- other secondary characters are sapphic

Vivek Oji was born the day his grandmother died, and he carries the same starfish-shaped scar on his foot that she did, a possible sign of reincarnation. He grows up experiencing strange mysterious blackouts and periods of dissociation, but the only one who knows about it is his cousin, Osita.

Even as he gets older, more reclusive, more strange to his parents, and befriends the daughters of the “Nigerwives”, the foreign-born women who, like his own mother, married Nigerian men, he and Osita have the closest bond. But when their relationship deepens and transforms, and Vivek decides not to hide who is anymore outside of the home, his life is cut short.

The book is told in multiple PoVs, through the eyes of Vivek’s loved ones. It uses Vivek’s point of view maybe once or twice, when the emotional impact is highest. Even then, it’s maybe a few sentences. He’s meant to be a kind of enigmatic figure, his ambiguousness manifested through his illness that is neither named nor ever explained, the possible reincarnation, and his “odd” behavior that’s described by each PoV character.

Although I understand the reason for his mysteriousness (that he’s possibly the reincarnation of his grandmother), I don’t necessarily like the fact that part of it has to include an illness. But there could be cultural factors here that I’m not aware of, so that will be all I’ll say on it.

I’ll get to the incest in a bit, but one thing that did really bother me was the treatment of Elizabeth. Something happened to her when she was younger that was largely Vivek’s fault

Vivek literally watched her and Osita have sex, without her consent, and then came into the room.

. Vivek is considered blameless because he has those blackouts, but he still chose to spy on them! Then, much later, when they’re all older and Elizabeth is dating a woman (and it’s hinted at that she became a lesbian due to trauma, which is a mood), Vivek makes a dismissive comment about how Elizabeth should just be better or less traumatized from that childhood event. It’s weird how the book makes a sort of sinless being of Vivek, when we the readers can see, or at least I hope everyone is seeing, that he’s actually quite flawed.

But that might be the point. Even though everyone in the book seems to see him as a sort of angelic, larger-than-life creature, we can see him as a complete person--a completed picture through the eyes of everyone who loved him. 

Everyone in this book is flawed, actually, and I love that. Osita in particular has flaws by the bucketful, and even though I didn’t really like him, I very much appreciated him as a character. He was written very well.

However, the wonderfully crafted characters hit a little bump when Vivek’s friends shows his parents pictures of him as he truly was, Vivek and Nnemndi, a gender fluid person.

That night, Vivek’s mother denies it completely. She says things like, “he was sick”, “that’s not my son”, etc., but then the next day she has this passionate speech to her husband about trans rights. She then chips part of Vivek’s gravestone off with the hoe (is that even possible?), to include the name Nnemndi on his grave.

Okay, now before I end this thing, I’ll touch upon the incest. It’s a major part of this book. I’m not sure why, other than I remember seeing someone say that the author wanted you to be uncomfortable with it while you were reading and to almost examine that feeling a little bit. Well, they succeeded. I was definitely uncomfortable. I’m not sure, though, why incest is more normalized in the text than same-sex attraction. I know in other cultures that romance between first cousins isn’t considered incest, but I don’t think that’s the case with Igbo people (also side note, but WHAT was the deal with the leads having anal sex using spit as lube ??).

Despite my criticisms, this is a very good book. It just wasn’t an enjoyable one for me. However, I was so ecstatic to read a nonlinear plot! I was just talking to a friend about how much I needed that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism

mladd28's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, and Transphobia

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

isaarusilor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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: Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness and Sexism

morganperks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

5.0

did not appreciate the emotions this book made me feel. I was crying by the end (when am I not tho?)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Drug use and Blood

samdalefox's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? No

4.5

I think it's much better to go into this book without knowing too much. The story unfolds relatively evenly and the developments and realisations are more powerful if you don't know them beforehand. The absolute minimum information you need to know is that this is a book about frienship, family, and Queerness in southeastern Nigeria. It is heartbreaking in a sad and a happy way. I definitely recommend reading it. I particuarly enjoyed listening as an audiobook due to the excellent performances and accents. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Biphobia, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Grief, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Describes absence seizures or dissociative fugue states and the difficulties accompanying them.

drlove2018's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

One of those books that makes you extra sad when you turn the last page because it is just so good. I wanted to spend more time with these people, especially the title character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Blood

taviarz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Definitely challenged me and had me on the verge of tears. Will definitely stick with me because of all of the uncomfortable feelings it brought up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, Islamophobia, and Sexual harassment