The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! š
thepassivebookworm's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Infertility, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Incest, Blood, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault
shoohoob's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, Incest, and Homophobia
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Blood, Infidelity, and Outing
tinyjude's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
I wish that instead of seeing Vivek/Nnembi from everyone's points of view, we got more from her inner world and how she felt in those final months. Especially with all the gender fluidity and sexual identity that could haveĀ been explored through her lens. My biggest complain is the incest like WHAT THE FUCK? they could have been childhood friends and that would have made this so much more enjoyable, but making them cousins... I hated every second of it. Also, why is everyone fucking everyone without their partners' knowing? WHY ARE YOU CHEATING AND SAYING YOU LOVE YOUR GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND???? I DONT GET IT.
After so much transphobic comments from his parents, I am glad that his mom accepted him, even though it was too late and her reactions at first hurt so much to read.
The grandma was my favourite character. She rules even after death, she would have loved Vivek/Nnembi so much.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Death, Grief, Incest, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Transphobia
bookishauntysteph's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, Incest, Death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexism, Infidelity, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Infertility and Islamophobia
directorpurry's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Biphobia, Blood, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Transphobia, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Xenophobia and Fire/Fire injury
miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Potentially spoilers!!
āSome people can't see softness without wanting to hurt it.ā
āif you didn't tell other people, was it real or was it just something the two of you were telling yourselves?ā
āāIām not sure my belief matters," he says. "If it is, it is, whether I believe it or not."ā
ā No one else could feel that lifetime of loss. No one else had lost him more than she had, yet they cried in front of her as if it meant something. They're still children, Kavita tried to tell herself, not mature enough to do her the courtesy of keeping their tears in their bedrooms, among their own complete families. But still she thought of them as selfish brats without home training or compassion or empathy, and this in turn made her angry at these girls she knew she still loved, somewhere under the rage and pain and the grief that she felt belonged to her and only her.ā
āāWe can't keep insisting he was who we thought he was, when he wanted to be someone else and he died being that person, Chika. We failed, don't you see We didn't see him and we failed."ā
āwhen you've stood on ground and known your child's bones are rotting beneath you, rage and ego fade like dust in a strong wind.ā
Graphic: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Vomit, Miscarriage, Rape, Blood, Homophobia, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, and Violence
30something_reads's review against another edition
5.0
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.Ā
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Dysphoria, Grief, and Sexism
Moderate: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Incest, and Homophobia
Minor: Rape, Bullying, and Blood
bookish_afrolatina's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Incest, Grief, and Domestic abuse
nannahnannah's review against another edition
- 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
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 āNigerwivesā, 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 Vivekās loved ones. It uses Vivekās point of view maybe once or twice, when the emotional impact is highest. Even then, itās maybe a few sentences. Heās 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 āoddā behavior thatās described by each PoV character.
Although I understand the reason for his mysteriousness (that heās possibly the reincarnation of his grandmother), I donāt necessarily like the fact that part of it has to include an illness. But there could be cultural factors here that Iām not aware of, so that will be all Iāll say on it.
Iāll 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 Vivekās fault
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.Ā
Everyone in this book is flawed, actually, and I love that. Osita in particular has flaws by the bucketful, and even though I didnāt 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 Vivekās friends shows his parents pictures of him as he truly was, Vivek and Nnemndi, a gender fluid person.
Okay, now before I end this thing, Iāll touch upon the incest. Itās a major part of this book. Iām 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. Iām 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 isnāt considered incest, but I donāt think thatās 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 wasnāt 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.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Incest, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
tasha_is_dreaming's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Grief, Death, Misogyny, and Homophobia
Moderate: Incest