A review by jkreads
Like Water Like Sea by Olumide Popoola

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

The writing in this story was absolutely stunning, genuinely some of the most beautiful and thoughtful prose I’ve read in a long time. The themes in the story were important, hard and messy. All hallmarks of a great story, however this one just missed the mark for me. The vignette-style chapters felt a little stilted which may have been intentional but it made it difficult to connect with the characters at times. I think it needed to be pulled together just a little more tightly, sometimes this felt like an intentional creative choice but other times it just felt like a lack of editing. Overall though, I feel like this was an interesting exploration of grief, family trauma, mental illness and sexuality.