The Death of Vivek Oji
Ratings107
Average rating4.1
4.5 stars rounded up to 5. A beautiful touching novel. The ending threw me off in a way I didn't expect, and I wish it had gone a slightly different way. Other than that a great worthwhile read.
Contains spoilers
I really liked many of the themes and concepts in this book. I think the characters were beautifully done, but the incest and infidelity was too much for me on this one.
This is a book I need to sit with for a few days until I can write a proper review. My heart breaks for Vivek and all those touched in this story. Akwaeke Emezi is rapidly solidifying into one of my favorite authors by far.
I picked up The Death of Vivek Oji on a whim while shopping, hoping for a good literary fiction read. I definitely lucked out with this choice. The book is both beautiful and heartbreaking. It is incredibly emotional and leaves a lasting impact on the reader. It feels wrong to say I enjoyed it because the characters experience such turmoil and pain. Instead, I'll say I am glad I read it.
As the story begins, Kavita Oji discovers the body of her son Vivek on her doorstep. People in her life try to tell her that the death was an accident, but she needs answers to be able to move on. She believes Vivek's cousin Osita and friends are hiding secrets from her. Osita is the closest friend Vivek has, and their relationship is developed through flashbacks throughout the book.
One of the most heart wrenching lines in the book are Vivek's statement: “If nobody sees you, are you still there?” Vivek is different
No rating because I don't quite know what to think about this book.
This was definetely a beautiful book but the incest really caught me off guard and I think it just left a sour taste on my experience with this book. I also felt like the ending was very underwhelming.
Heart wrenching, beautiful, human in the best way, but just really not for me.
3.25
What I Liked
* Culture representation was VERY much appreciated - loved reading about other countries' cultures because it plays such a prevalent role in my own life. I enjoyed reading about their lives, the social dynamics between not only nuclear families but also the Nigerwives and their cultivation of familial community and support.
* Vivek's perspective/dedicated chapters - His chapters had the most raw emotional impact because he/the author crafts the way he feels in unmistakably vulnerable language that is beautiful as much as it is heartbreaking.
* The nuance of the relationships Vivek had with family and friends - the points where he showed up in the ongoing narrative of the perspectives of those closest to him were insightful - and at the risk of saying too much - portrayed his transition from feeling weighed down and trapped to recovering and accepting himself bit by bit in a gradual build that crescendoed beautifully from beginning to end and how that rubbed off on those around him (in both good and bad ways).
What I Disliked/Was Disappointing
* The other characters not including Vivek, Osita, and Juju (and by the end, Vivek's parents) - where is the nuance with the characters that surround Vivek? I understand this is most likely intentional - to talk about the events surrounding Vivek's death, obviously - but why does that have to translate to a lack of emotional depth? There's so much in the brief chapters from Vivek - which are more impactful not because of their brevity but because of their beautifully concise yet illustrative writing - that it creates a stark contrast to the lack of significance paid to the rest of the characters' true emotions (besides obvious devastation that Vivek died tragically). What the author showed of the other characters' past was not enough for me to connect to any of them. Their actions were clearly highlighted to portray them in a specific light or craft a judgement the author wanted us to infer because of the events highlighted. Ex. He cheated because his wife ignores him (happened multiple times), hence he's a bad guy. (I don't like Ebenezer's chapter because it felt like a very poorly orchestrated attempt to redeem him rather than just plainly stating he lost his way because he's a man who was tempted by what he couldn't have and therefore sought it out elsewhere.) Ex. She's the beaten first wife who moved across the country for a man who tossed her aside to be with someone else. (Why is that the only thing that we know about Maja? Why is that her entire character? Why include her tragedy for the sole purpose of giving Juju a troubled home life?) Ex. Vivek's friends were obviously important to him and a comfort to him, a safe space. Why didn't we know more about them besides Juju's somewhat in-depth backstory or more than just the clues Osita gives us of his guilt and inner turmoil? Couldn't we have seen more interactions between all of them together instead of random chapters about every older male figure cheating on their wife? Even though Vivek is the main character, he didn't have to be the only character that felt real.
* The ending - This may just be personal preference because the timeline is very fluid throughout but it's clear that we're working towards Vivek's death and the circumstances around it but once we get to it...it was too neat. Not the circumstances surrounding his death but the actual ending of the book...it felt too much like “And this is the moral of the story, the end.”
i didn't think i would cry so much over this book, this book hurt me. this. hurt. me. i will never be the same ever again; there's before readin the death of vivek oji & there's after—my brain chemistry has been permanently altered. i can't believe it took me so long to read this book but honestly if i would've read this sooner i don't think i would've felt as strongly about it, i think this book found me when i needed it most and i am more than grateful for that, i am so very unwell—i felt so connected to this story in so many ways i can't even begin to explain, beautifully heartbreakin. this book encapsulates a part of my soul, i feel as though this book was written for me and me only and it HURTS LIKE HELL
Interesting book, difficult subject. The writing is absolutely stunning, I'll definitely look forward to reading more by this author.
For the aces in the room; there's a few not overly descriptive sex scenes in this book approach with caution if you are also sex repulsed.
Beautiful and heartbreaking. I had no idea this was a queer story going in and am so in love with the way it was written. Emezi is a truly brilliant author.
Set in Nigeria, this is Vivek's coming of age story, a bittersweet exploration of gender identity, familial relationships, and the nature of love, and of loss. I am so completely in love with Akwaeke Emezi's writing. It is magical. This is an important book, one that should grace the shelves of every high school library, and be read by every parent of a trans or non-binary child <3
An utterly devastating and glorious book. I was so deeply captivated by every character. This story was told with love and care and nuance. Cannot recommend it highly enough.
It's been a few minutes since I finished reading and I can't stop crying. It was beautyfully written and really sad.
Note: “beautyful” is a nod to the book
am i crying? i'm crying i'm a mess
family is a tough word for me to define, especially in this day and age, and i think this book really highlights exactly why. your prescribed family is one you do not choose, one that is supposed to love you unconditionally, and one you can never really shake. they raise you and give you life on their terms. but your chosen family, the friends you keep close, the ones who actually love you unconditionally, and the ones who may come and go but will alway have a special place in your heart, are the ones who accept you as you come, and thus are the family you have on your own terms. the stark contrast of these families and the effects each has on us is highlighted so beautifully in the death of vivek oji that your heart is sure to break by the end of it.
beautiful prose, amazing characters, and a story i won't forget for a long time
This book is full of juxtapositions. One minute it is steamy. The next it is disturbing. Soul destroying and then epically poignant. The characters constantly straddle a line between shame and acceptance, desire and disgust, expression and repression.
Vivek Oji is a a gay man who likes to wear drag and lives in contemporary Nigeria where just being gay is a death wish. Against all odds he manages to hide his secret and his sexuality from his parents but comes out to his friends and his cousin who agree to keep his secret. But his blissful bubble bursts and somewhat inevitably we start the novel with his death.
This started of as a slow burn but by chapter three, I was engrossed. Following a mystery set up of who killed Vivek and why? We traverse time periods, from Vivek's childhood, to his death and then from the perspectives of his loved ones, particularly his cousin following his death. These time periods are not chronological so we only get all the pieces of the puzzle at the end of the novel which I found satisfying and compelling.
This book will haunt me for a while. The sadness imbued as a reader by knowing and accepting Vivek's identity but knowing the Nigerian community never would, is painful. The pseudo sexual incestual relationship between the two cousins also made for extremely uncomfortable reading. I loved both characters and wanted them to be happy in their own skin but found their familial and sexual feelings for one another disturbing.
This story is complex and the relationships between characters are gnarly and deeply hidden. Emezi is an extremely talented storyteller and this novel is well layered and multifaceted. Vivek will stay with me. An incandescent character. I am very impressed with this novel and will be going back and reading this authors other works. A sweeping and bittersweet story of love and loss.
Thanks to Faber and Faber, the author and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Death of Vivek Oji begins with the day when the market was fired and Vivek was dead to the story describing Vivek's life. The body of Vivek was found in the veranda with blood stains and his mother was trying to find out how he died and who kept his body in the veranda. Vivek wants to live a different life but he felt his parents won't accept it so he doesn't say anything to them and only happens in his life was his friends. Vivek's mother is an Indian and they have a community called Nigerwives which is for the women who married Nigerians and living there.
I loved reading it and I felt pity for Vivek. When I came to how he died and his cousins love for him I felt so sad.
People don't live the way they want because of society and their parents are not open-minded and don't have acceptance. Parents should be open-minded to treat their children as friends and try to know what's going through them and accept them. If Vivek can trust his parents he may have existed in the world and lived a happy life.
Similar to [b:Freshwater 35412372 Freshwater Akwaeke Emezi https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500884500l/35412372.SY75.jpg 56785192], this novel is a wild and hypnotic swirl of sexuality, gender, reincarnation, and cultural identity. More plot-driven than it's predecessor, it unspurls the tale that led to the death of beautiful and troubled Vivek. Son of a Nigerian father and Indian mother, Vivek is passionate and unashamedly different. I found some of the plot points were teased out and kept a secret unnecessarily long (Vivek liking to crossdress, in those photos). And after all the buildup towards his death, I found the actual cause a bit of a letdown.
The Death of Vivek Oji tells the story of those touched by Vivek in his life and death. For how intense and heavy this book and its content are it was one that I didn't want to stop reading. This book is incredible. I need to pick of the rest of Emezi's work.
3.5 stars. Emezi writes a heartfelt tale of transformation and love, heartbreak and friendship set in Nigeria. It's difficult for me to discuss what I loved about this book and what I didn't because of possible spoilers, but here goes... I loved the description and handling of Vivek's metamorphoses, the raw emotion felt by his family (especially his mother) and the setting of the story in Nigeria.
I liked the glimpses into the lives of the Nigerwives and their more progressive children.
Yet I still struggled to feel a real connection to the characters.
“I felt heavy my whole life.
I always thought that death would be the heaviest thing of all, but it wasn't, it really wasn't. Life was like being dragged through concrete in circles, wet and setting concrete that dried with each rotation of my unwilling body. As a child, I was light. It didn't matter too much; I slid through it, and maybe it even felt like a game, like I was playing in mud, like nothing about the slipperiness would ever change,not really. But then I got bigger and it started drying on me and eventually, I turned into an uneven block, chipping and sparking on the hard ground, tearing off into painful chunks.” (Emezi)
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