Reviews tagging 'Death'

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

209 reviews

sian_lucy's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

2.5

The narrative of this book is overly descriptive in a really repetitive fashion and doesn’t never goes anywhere that captures your attention. Besides a couple of quotes that resonate it’s forgetful. 
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ketsia_1412's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

3.75

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baielleebooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

Really magnificent at the sentence level; lyrical, moving and referential. A sonorous love story coloured with vital renderings of trauma, masculinity, and tenderness, and a poignant exploration of what it means at the soul level to inhabit a Black body in a world made hostile and prejudiced. 
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grxcequinn's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

3.0

Not a huge fan of the writing style, it was definitely very poetic, just too repetitive. Very like a Frank Ocean song (he even got a little reference!) 
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biobeetle's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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

4.5

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matmatmatty's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

This is so beautifully written, I genuinely am in awe.

It is slightly difficult to explain what this story is about - this is the story of two people, black and living in London. 

This both is and isn't a love story, but i feel this has a lot to say about the black experience and does it so well. I found some of the writing difficult at points, but so much of it was so beautiful it flowed off the page, almost like poetry. I bet listening to the audiobook would be a great experience.

Would recommend this one for sure!
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laceyfearon's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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bibliomich's review against another edition

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emotional 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

I'll start by saying that Caleb Azumah Nelson's writing is absolutely beautiful, and I would happily read more of his work. Because of the beautiful prose, I enjoyed much of Open Water, though overall there was something about the pacing that didn't quite work for me. The book felt like it either needed to be a shorter novella that really honed in on the themes or a longer book with more plot points. It fell somewhere in the middle, and I found myself both wanting more and also feeling like there were scenes that didn't quite fit. I know lots of readers loved this one, and I can absolutely see why. Overall I would recommend this book if you're looking for a poetic piece of literary fiction.
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adrianascala's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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fengxin's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

i went into this book knowing absolutely nothing and i was very surprised, but delighted, to find out it's in second person pov. what a beautiful story, i never wanted it to end. the prose kept taking my breath away, i was highlighting one sentence in nearly every paragraph, or even whole paragraphs really. the immediate and yet organic chemistry between our two mains? beyond stunning. the romance was so tender, i adored every moment. the way the author wrote about race, prejudice, and all that comes with being black was just stunning and still very real. the repetition of certain phrases made the book even more beautiful in my opinion, the whole thing felt like a poem. the ending devastated me, this story made me feel every emotion under the book and i'm so grateful it exists and i was able to experience it.
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