Reviews tagging 'Death'

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

20 reviews

nytephoenyx's review against another edition

emotional sad 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? No

4.75

Under the Udala Trees made me feel an extreme range of emotions. At times, there was joy for fresh young love. At others, there was anger at an unjust world. The strongest emotion I remember this book evoking is fear. Near the middle to end of the book, a once neutral relationship deteriorates into an extremely emotionally and sexually abusive one, and it is the imprint of those scenes that have left me with a raw, unsafe echo of a feeling in my chest. It’s not my favorite emotion to carry with me after I finished reading a book, but it means that the book made an impression.

And how could it not?

Ijeoma’s story is one of heartbreak and denial. Growing up during and after the Nigerian Civil War, Ijeoma remembers the pain of her country. A similar turmoil lives within herself as she fights to love freely in a society that would rather stone her to death than abide a same-sex relationship. Through Under the Udala Trees, we watch as Ijeoma discovers her sexuality and falls in love only to have her heart broken time and again. We watch as those closest to her try to cast the devil out, and those she once trusted betray her in the worst ways. We also watch as she loves, dances, and thrives within the quiet moments of her personal joy. I wish I could say Under the Udala Trees is a well-balanced book of joy and sorrow, but I would be lying. There is a lot more hardship in this book than there are triumphs, but it’s Ijeoma’s strength that impressed me through the entire novel.

This is a character-driven book, which means there was no particular plot but instead we follow Ijeoma as she grows up. As such, the pacing could be a bit slow at times. Okparanta’s writing never falters, and I found she has an intense ability to dunk the reader into a trough of emotions. Okparanta does an excellent job of stringing the world together in the background and still bringing it vividly to life. It was easy to become engrossed in Under the Udala Trees, and I was surprised how quickly I finished it. I spent so much time feeling a mixture of fear, regret, and foolish hope that the book flew past.

Unfortunately, acceptance of a variety of sexual identities is still not recognized in certain countries, including Nigeria where this book takes place. Situations identical to Ijeoma’s remain common. It is important to be educated and to fight for the rights of members of the community in countries that are less understanding. From an American perspective it’s easy to forgot that other countries are less excepting of members of the Pride community here, and even in our own culture, we still fight so many homophobic people. Under the Udala Trees reminded me to be grateful for the freedom I have to be a member of the LGBTQIAP+ community without fear prosecution.

This book overwhelmed me with emotion, although I really appreciated it’s scholarly approaches as well. If you have a chance to pick up a copy, I recommend reading Under the Udala Trees some lazy August afternoon. While it is by no means a “feel good“ book, I’m glad I read it once.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment and Grief

narbine's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Torture, War, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia

Moderate: Death, Lesbophobia, Violence, Death of parent, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

mbichaela's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

ENG
exquisite writing, powerful story and i've learned about nigerian civil war. this book is also special to me because i have annotated it for my friend for her birthday (hopefully she will like it as much as i did).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, and Homophobia

Moderate: Death and Child abuse

gm_vak's review

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

fruya's review

emotional 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexism, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, and Medical content

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, and Child abuse

enbylibrary's review

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexism

Moderate: Death and Xenophobia

matmat's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, and Hate crime

Moderate: Miscarriage and Domestic abuse

lameyloser's review

dark emotional slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

bexh's review

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

mangeusedelivres's review

emotional sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The book was hard to read, I couldn't get into it at first but then the characters got developped more and I was on board ! It's definitely very slow paced and nothing much happens. The writing wasn't outstanding (though I did read a French translation). 
The biggest discussion there is is the interpretation of the bible (in Nigeria, wich is the second most religious contry in the world !). This was very interesting and I liked to see the differents approaches of religion.
It's not the greatest book ever but I was glad to read about lesbians in Nigeria in the 70's.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death and Hate crime

Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual violence