Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

15 reviews

ce_read's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing

If this weren't written by a trans person I'd be a lot more mad about the ending

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Vomit, and War

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

3.5

I have some very conflicting thoughts about this book. One on hand the writing is beautiful, and I was engaged in the story, and the unraveling of what had happened. However, some aspects that people seem to find beautiful are just not it for me.

This story mainly follows the point-of-view of Vivek's mother, Kavita. We follow her questions and her grief as she tries to find the truth about her sons death. I found her to be a very real character, and she is the backbone of this book. I do wish we had seen more from Vivek's PoV though. We see his world through the eyes of others, but rarely from his own. Even just one or two more chapters from his PoV would have been perfect.

Some things that just felt weird in this story was the incest, and how the friends all had sex with each other. I have heard this book being highly praised multiple times, but no one has talked about this. Vivek and Osita are cousins who consider each other brothers, yet all of the characters are just a-ok with them becoming lovers. It just felt jarring when so much of the book is about acceptance, and being who you are.

Reading a book about a culture that detests anything that differs from the norm was heartbreaking. I found myself getting so angry with some of the characters, which is exactly the point. It felt so raw, and knowing that this is what people's lives are in reality is rough. 

Unfortunately, I found the "reveal" to be lacking. You see it coming from the very beginning, and it doesn't quite feel like the period at the end of a sentence that I was looking for. However, the last chapter is just perfect, and is a fantastic way to end the story of Vivek Oji. Overall, this is a gorgeous, tragic story, but it just isn't quite for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, and War

Minor: Infertility and Abandonment

emliza's review

challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Transphobia, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Religious bigotry, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

starla's review

challenging hopeful reflective 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

4.5

This was a breathtaking novel. The characters are rendered beautifully and sympathetically, without shying away from their flaws.  It was very quick to read but rich with detail about the characters and their lives. Be warned though, it is emotionally heavy and there is an absolute gut-punch of a twist right at the end of the novel.  The final scenes made me cry. The only thing I can say is that I wish it were longer.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Blood

Minor: Death of parent