Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Acquadolce by Akwaeke Emezi

24 reviews

decie's review against another edition

4.75

i wish there were more books like this. i loved reading about multiplicity from a depathologized lens, and entirely from a system's pov. 

note: definitelyyy check the trigger warnings on this one, friends.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Abandonment

Minor: Body horror

elmo_isnotmyname's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

This was a dense ride. Through abuse, rape, self-harm, loneliness, mental illness, migration; spirituality.
The protagonist's 'fractured selves' spoke more than the protagonist themself -- though: what even is a self?, they end up wondering.

Instead of telling a lifetime of traumatic events through the eyes of the person battling against their ensuing 'madness' (as it is called here) -- we follow 'the madness' battling against the human body it is bound to. Outrageous lust and anger splitting the Ada (the protagonist) and their memories into multiple versions. Ultimatly as to protect the Ada.

So this can be read as a story about Dissociative Identitiy Disorder; weaving in tales of Igbo gods, myths, and spirituality.
There are many graphic scence of violence. The latter endeared this book to me (-- I'm sorry, as a reader I'm just craving for mirrors of myself, but I don't want to spoil this work of art by mixing in my own ego.)
I'm looking forward to reading Emezi's other work!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

froggybooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

LOVED LOVED LOVED!!!!

the only issue i had with this book is simply how many times i got frustrated at there being no simple translation for the igbo and it ruined my immersion. but i love it and it wouldn’t be right without it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, and Abandonment

prismatical's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Dysphoria

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

maybe im not spiritual enough for this book, but i find freshwater - despite it being interesting at points - too rambling and 'inward' for me.

i find ọgbanje to be fascinating, but the incorporation of it, or rather the way it's incorporated, in this novel is a lil bit too full of misery. this doesnt mean the book is bad by any means - in fact, i find it to be quite well written - but it purely comes down to my personal taste, which simply doesnt rly click w/ it. and while the lack of a plot doesnt bother me, its long-winded and verbose content that seemingly repeats in countless similar loops does.

the structure and lack of enough info/details also confuse me at times as well, w/ the former jumping around timeline and chronology, and the latter resulting in statements indicating some development or sudden change that the reader isnt previously privy to, making things a bit jarring. i'll still be checking out emezi's the death of vivek oji tho, which hopefully will be better than this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Forced institutionalization

nefariousbee's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Lesbophobia

dakarif's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, and Abortion

snowforest's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Outing, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

whatannikareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

this is one of the best books I’ve ever read ever. I basically read this book in one sitting. Once you wrap your head around the initial writing style and concepts, holy shit you’re hooked. I have never read anything like this and I don’t think I ever will again. It’s such a unique, poetic, dark, intriguing way to handle trauma, grief, loss, love, heartbreak, incorporating the mythology of Nigerian spirituality. The pacing hooked me and i like how things weren’t explained super explicitly; the bad things that happen are revealed as we go on, and it made me stop and reflect on why Ada acted/reacted the way she/they did.

Stunning. Reminds me of The Vanishing Half, as in how can a debut book be THIS fucking good. Like holy shit dude I don’t know if I know what I read but every sentence felt like I could frame it.

MAJOR trigger warnings for rape, suicidal thoughts, mental illness, abuse 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

summerb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail