Reviews tagging 'Incest'

La morte di Vivek by Akwaeke Emezi

392 reviews

abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Blood, Transphobia, Homophobia, Grief, Death, and Infidelity

Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death and Physical abuse

thepassivebookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Incest, Blood, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

sundayfever's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

Beautiful, heartbreaking. Very well written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Incest, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Infidelity, Grief, and Sexual content

aubreycc123's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

This was my first time listening to an audiobook, and I really enjoyed it. The narration was perfect. The writing itself is beautiful, and I enjoyed seeing such complex relationships explored.

Nnemdi ❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Incest, and Homophobia

aweekinthelife's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.25

a beautifully written reflection from multiple perspectives and timelines about the death of Vivek Oji. a story about transness, queerness, community, and family.

hard to review, but content warnings might be good to check on this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Incest

Moderate: Homophobia

flashandoutbreak's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Death, Animal death, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Outing, Sexual content, and Transphobia

tea_kettle's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.75

amazing story, beautifully written, and one i would read again despite the heartbreak. However, the mildly (and later very graphically) incestuous themes were pretty uncomfortable to get through, and i don’t think they necessarily needed to be that way. Still, it was a great story, and i’m glad it was told, especially by a writer so skilled. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Transphobia, Child death, Grief, Homophobia, and Incest

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity

Minor: Deportation, Sexual assault, Vomit, Child abuse, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Rape

angiepoggi's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

The Death of Vivek Oji not only depicts mourning in a beautyful manner, but also brings us, the readers, into that mourning as well.

Vivek's death is not only about the act of not ever being able to breath anymore, it's about the death of who his family thought he was, and, as well as his birth that was accompanied by grief, about her rebirth.

It's such a carefully woven story that never let's go of the nuances of every decision and thought of It's characters, who, if you told me were real, I would've believed without sparing a doubt. 

Even thought there were some relationships that I have conflicted feelings about and believe could've been brought here in a different way, I'll still cary this story for life and think about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Drug use, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Animal death, Grief, Mental illness, Infidelity, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Rape

alecerachelle's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

 disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews because I don’t like leaving them. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial 

Well, that was devastating! This story is told by multiple narrators as we get more and more parts of Vivek's story, leading up to his death. The timeline alternates between before and after his death, until we finally receive clarity of how he died at the very end. Everyone he left behind is navigating the aftermath, and this book poses so many poignant questions about sexuality, gender expression, family dynamics, cultural attitudes, and internalized hatred. Vivek's mother Kavita and his cousin Osita are two characters who are especially not coping well after Vivek's death, and a massive part of it is their inability to accept Vivek for who they really were. 

This book was heartbreaking, and Akwaeke continues to evoke visceral emotions from us, and I'm not mad at them for doing it. (I mean, a little because this book hurt, but like, also, wow, what a genius!) Anyway, take care while reading <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Incest, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Outing