A review by cyberbullet
Open Water, by Caleb Azumah Nelson
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
on love, Blackness, identity, friendship, what gives us purpose
tender, heartbreaking, poetic
———
i could’ve highlighted absolutely everything from this book, but doing so would be like not retaining anything at all.
i have never read such perfect articulation of words — mastery of expression. no line was wasted, which ended up being this book’s greatest strength and only weakness:
sometimes, my reading flow was interrupted or simply not quite /there/ because everything was so perfectly calculated.
in the last few pages, i rushed to finish it even. so it would’ve been great if there was a bit less “concreteness” to this text — and i don’t mean the writing style should change, but more the structure of the story because GOD. i have never FELT so much through words
AND THE FACT THAT THIS IS A DEBUT ???? i can not wait to read more of Nelson’s work
tender, heartbreaking, poetic
———
i could’ve highlighted absolutely everything from this book, but doing so would be like not retaining anything at all.
i have never read such perfect articulation of words — mastery of expression. no line was wasted, which ended up being this book’s greatest strength and only weakness:
sometimes, my reading flow was interrupted or simply not quite /there/ because everything was so perfectly calculated.
in the last few pages, i rushed to finish it even. so it would’ve been great if there was a bit less “concreteness” to this text — and i don’t mean the writing style should change, but more the structure of the story because GOD. i have never FELT so much through words
AND THE FACT THAT THIS IS A DEBUT ???? i can not wait to read more of Nelson’s work
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, and Police brutality