Reviews tagging 'Outing'

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

40 reviews

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

 disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews because I don’t like leaving them. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial 

Well, that was devastating! This story is told by multiple narrators as we get more and more parts of Vivek's story, leading up to his death. The timeline alternates between before and after his death, until we finally receive clarity of how he died at the very end. Everyone he left behind is navigating the aftermath, and this book poses so many poignant questions about sexuality, gender expression, family dynamics, cultural attitudes, and internalized hatred. Vivek's mother Kavita and his cousin Osita are two characters who are especially not coping well after Vivek's death, and a massive part of it is their inability to accept Vivek for who they really were. 

This book was heartbreaking, and Akwaeke continues to evoke visceral emotions from us, and I'm not mad at them for doing it. (I mean, a little because this book hurt, but like, also, wow, what a genius!) Anyway, take care while reading <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Incest, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Outing

shoohoob's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Beautifully written book. I flew through it and the characters were fascinating to me. That being said, the incest was really prominent and almost made it DNF. 

I’m not really sure why Vivek and Osita couldn’t have just been close childhood friends instead of cousins. Maybe it was just supposed to add to taboo life Vivek was living, but it was really uncomfortable

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, Incest, and Homophobia

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Blood, Infidelity, and Outing

quinnjuliac's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was a wonderfully absorbing read, although it was very heavy. It is about children growing up in Nigeria, and one of them just doesn’t seem to fit in. Later in life he finds some safety and community in his childhood friends, but the world at large is dangerous for him. It is a story about grief and parenting a child who is different, and the joys of found family. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Transphobia, Sexual content, Outing, Grief, Mental illness, Incest, Death, and Deadnaming

Minor: Violence, Hate crime, and Domestic abuse

stephmcoakley's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, Death, Blood, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Outing, Sexual content, Transphobia, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, and Injury/Injury detail

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

this book made me so incredibly angry. this book was gorgeous. the writing was phenomenal, and the trans representation was so beautiful and emotional. and then it was all ruined by incest. there is so much discourse about the lgbtqia+ community and trans rights, this story was truly beautiful and could make such an impact on people. it is all completely discounted and tarnished by the incest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Transphobia, Death, Hate crime, Outing, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Sexual content, Bullying, Deadnaming, and Injury/Injury detail

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Vomit, Homophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Death of parent, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Deadnaming, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Alcoholism, and Pregnancy

wetdirtreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Outing

Moderate: Sexual assault

morganperks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

did not appreciate the emotions this book made me feel. I was crying by the end (when am I not tho?)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Outing, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Medical content, Self harm, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Alcoholism, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, War, Death of parent, Transphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Child abuse, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Blood and Drug use

garynoplastie's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Religious bigotry, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Domestic abuse, Blood, Death, Misogyny, Death of parent, Hate crime, Incest, and Infidelity

Moderate: Sexual content, Dysphoria, Homophobia, and Racism

Minor: Animal death

marisa_n's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Gore, Death, Incest, Transphobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Infidelity, Bullying, Sexual violence, Outing, and Incest