Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

5 reviews

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

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

summerb'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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Biphobia, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Transphobia, Grief, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug use, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

This book broke my heart. This powerful and beautiful story mainly takes place following Vivek Oji's death, and how his death deeply impacted his family and friends. 
No one really knew Vivek during his live, except for his closest cousin, Osita. Now in his death, his mother is grasping to learn everything she did not understand about Vivek. Vivek's mother found his naked body wrapped in fabric, delivered to their home. She just wants to understand how Vivek died, because she assumes there was some sort of foul play. She turns to Osita because he is the one who knew Vivek best. 
This book tackles a lot of challenging issues because Vivek suffers from debilitating disconnections, and he also struggled with his identity. Vivek likes to wear dresses and he likes boys, which is NOT accepted in his Nigeran home. There are also themes of grief and acceptance that were impeccably done. 
I cannot say enough how impactful this read was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Transphobia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Sexual content

davidrb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

2.5

Would have been a solid 4 stars (great writing, nuanced characters) if not for the

incest that goes uncriticized and often romanticized.

Unnecessary and made it a really difficult read for me personally.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Outing