Short review: Fantastic book.

Longer review: A couple of years ago I read (and loved) Freshwater so I was looking forward to the second adult book by Emezi and this absolutely did not disappoint. This book changes perspectives but follows mainly Osita and Kavita (Vivek's cousin and mother respectively) and the events leading up to Vivek's death. It's not easy to maintain tension in a book when the ending os not only told in the very first chapter of the book but in the title itself but Emezi definitely delivers. The writing is gorgeous and it has beautiful imagery, I look forward to rereading in a printed version that I can actually underline, and it creates emotion perfectly making you believe the characters. This is not an easy book to read, there is a lot of violence and uncomfortable conversations but it's worth it because the characters are so real that you will want to continue reading just to accompany them. I loved that the ending didn't entirely go where I was expecting and that it was in a way hopeful.

I can't wait to see what they come out with next.


I received this book as an Ecopy from Netgalley, thank you to them and to the publishers. All opinions are my own.

Despite the title, this isn’t a book so much about how Vivek died as about how Vivek lived. The story is unlike any other out there. It’s rare that I say a book is beautifully written, but this one truly is. The characters were all interesting & although I enjoyed the multiple perspectives, I wish Emezi hadn’t kept switching between first-person & third-person. Just using first-person from different perspectives would’ve told the story just as well. I also feel like finding out that Vivek’s death was a simple accident was a letdown. There was also a completely extraneous chapter about characters that were never seen before or after that disrupted the flow of the story. Despite these issues this was an enjoyable read that I didn’t want to put down.

Kavita is sure the death of her only son Vivek is a murder. Why else would he have turned up on her doorstep, dead from blunt force trauma to the back of the head, in the middle of the night, naked? She's even more certain of this fact when she can't find the little Ganesha figurine that he always wore around his neck, a protection pendant gifted by a family friend when he was a baby. So Kavita spends the days and weeks after his death questioning everyone who knew him, searching for answers. After all, the death of a child is a most unnatural thing, and she needs to know why.

What readers learn along the way is that there are hidden secrets leading down a road his parents did not expect. His friends are closer to him than Kavita could ever realize without being let in on the picture. This style of family/friend drama, with secrets being hidden until they have to come to light is my kind of book.

I felt a full course of emotions through reading this book. When you can connect to emotions deeply, no matter how different a person's story is than your own, you can empathize. Emezi's book gives readers that emotional voyage to connect to each of the characters within these pages.Trans representation in the most beautiful and honoring way. Pain from friends' traditional views not allowing them to understand a person's gender, and reconciliation when those friends realize it shouldn't matter, realize that it should be valued and honored. Joy from choosing to live one's truth, and finding ways to appreciate one's own beauty. Joy at finding companionship, and people willing to keep your secrets. Grief from loosing a child when that child had just reached adulthood. Confusion about how to reveal a dead friend's truth. Grief from loosing a romantic partner, a friend, a companion.

This is a powerful read. Each of the people in Vivek's life confronts themselves to discover if they truly helped Vivek live the best life possible. Elements of the culture they live in or their personal lives kept them distracted, kept them from loving and supporting Vivek through the dizzying blackouts Vivek experienced and Vivek's journey to gender expression. This is a story of grief and loss, but it is also a celebration of a life.

I finished this story a day ago but it's taken a full 24 hours to process how moving a reading experience this was. The writing in "The Death of Vivek Oji" is incredibly lyrical and beautiful, in spite of (trigger warning) some very graphic sexual assault scenes in the early part of the story. The "dust jacket" synopsis -- that a Nigerian couple discover their beloved but troubled son delivered dead on their doorstep during a time of riots, with no way of knowing he died or even who he really was while alive -was effective. It did its purpose to hook readers while revealing close to nothing about the story. I loved this, as I was able to revel with unadulterated surprise in the turns of the story. Although - harking back to my earlier mention that there are some graphic violent and sexual scenes in the book - I also did a lot of my reading with one hand covering my mouth in shock.

Without delivering spoilers, the novel is at heart about the internecine relationships in a multi-generational family, whose two brothers and their wives each bear an only son. The relationship between the cousins, Osita and book namesake Vivek, is at the heart of the novel. They become as close as can be, spending their childhood together and lounging in the "boys quarters" of Vivek's home, with the more socially aware, strong, handsome and capable Osita often taking care of the scrawnier, awkward Vivek in childhood, protecting him and the secret of what he is becoming, from Vivek's own parents. Later female friends join their circle and also become embroiled in covering up secrets, both for the two cousins and also of their own. Vivek's mother and father, never recovered from the loss of Vivek's beloved paternal grandmother decades ago, fall deeper into a chasm of grief over their only son.

The revelation of the cause of death is withheld until the final chapters, and the reader has spent most of the book learning who Vivek was and wondering what could have led to such a tragic outcome. I could not turn the pages fast enough and when I discovered the cause, my reaction was "but of course this is how it had to happen".

This is a wonderful story from a fresh new voice that taught this reader a lot about gender identify in relationships and Nigerian culture, whilst delivering a page turner.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Faber and Faber Ltd publishing, and Akwaeke Emezi for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was well written I just didn't like or enjoy it. I just didn't feel moved by it. I felt we were told about the love and not really shown it. It just felt a bit stale to me. Also, I was disturbed by the relationship between cousins.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Death of Vivek Oji was heartbreakingly beautiful. The story starts out with the death of Vivek and the burning of the village market. As Vivek’s family searches for answers for his sudden death, they soon start to realize perhaps the son they thought they knew wasn’t who he actually was. Perhaps we only see people how we want them to be seen instead of who they are meant to be. The family comes to a hard realization but they also realize that acceptance is the only way they will begin to heal their family after Vivek’s death. This book brought me to tears and the characters will stick with me and haunt me for a lifetime. Such an excellent read.

What a book! I read this novel in one sitting. Beautiful writing, inventive storytelling, and unique and heartwrenching plot. My sense of this book as a subversion of a crime book (which I garnered from some reviews) felt incorrect; I would describe this book, actually, as being about family, sexuality, gender identity, and community, though of course, the death is an ongoing part of the storyline. Either way, I really recommend this book, especially for people who are looking for unique books featuring LGBTQ characters, or LGBTQ stories that are not US-centric.

This book was so beautifully written. I listened to an ALC from Libro.fm and Prh Audio books. The narrators were amazing. I highly recommend the audio version.

This story is told through the eyes of Osita, Vivek, and Cavita mainly. Vivek’s body shows up on his parents’ doorstep. He is naked, wrapped in a colorful fabric and his head has been smashed in. We explore the life of Vivek and the events leading up to his death.

This story has amazing visual details, beautifully written prose, and such a heartbreaking story. I cried multiple times over this one and it is easily one of my favorite books. Best of 2020 so far. A book that speaks on so many diverse topics and issues prevalent in today’s society. This is absolutely a must read. So beautiful yet so devastatingly heartbreaking.

Thank you Faber & Faber for this copy of The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi for review on Netgalley.

I’m not sure there is much for me to say about a book as beautiful as this one. I loved how well you felt you knew the characters despite the pace of the book. The story was told from viewpoint to viewpoint, timeline to timeline, yet you never feel confused or left behind. The pace moves along perfectly and you are swept into this life but only after death. I really can not recommend this book enough if you want to be swept up in a story this summer.

A heartbreaking story that examines how when we lose the person closest to us, it changes us and, leaves us with questions that often go unanswered. This is what we get with the death of our main character, Vivek. The story goes from the past to the present, and we get to see the story of Vivek, and how his death affects his loved ones. It is a story of learning your identity, coming into your own as a person, and finding a safe space to be who you are, which is what Vivek had with his circle of friends.

A feat of a book! Longer review here:
https://bookbarr.home.blog/2020/08/13/making-visible-the-death-of-vivek-oji-by-akwaeke-emezi/

This novel starts with Vivek's death. What follows is an exploration of Vivek's life before he died, the coming of age of him and his friends in a Nigerian society that is restrictive to the LGBTQ+ community. Mainly told by Vivek and his cousin Osita, the story touches on numerous themes like sexuality, mental health, and gender identity.

I could not put this book down from the first page. Starting with the death of the main character adds a mystery element from the get-go, but then the story of how that death came to be is full of complex character development so that by the completion of the book you fully understand all the dynamics of what happened and why. Figuring out which characters were related to each other and how was a little bit difficult in the beginning, but overall this was a powerful story that tore my heart to pieces.

Vivek was murdered and dropped on his parents door step. With other unrest in town his murder goes unsolved and his parents are desperately looking for answers. Told in alternating perspectives of after his death and before, from Vivek’s point of view, we start to understand what happened and get a glimpse into parenting a child who doesn’t fit into typical gender norms that are accepted by the culture.

I enjoyed this book and felt it was well written. I found it to be haunting and sad. It was slightly too heavy for my current circumstances right now but I will think of the characters often. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Riverhead Books for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I also listened to some of the book on audio and felt it was excellent as well. You can pick up your copy now.

This book is pretty exceptional.
I loved how this book kind of played by it's own rules. It didn't have any set structure, it just flowed how it wanted to. It could have been confusing but never was.
The writing is beautiful and visceral. I was fully immersed in the story every time I picked this book up.
This story is about Vivek but it's also about the people who loved them. It's about the community that oppressed them as well as the community who helped them thrive. It's about living a true life.
We see Vivek through the eyes of the people that loved them but we also get a glimpse into how Vivek felt as well. I wish that there was just a little bit more time spent with Vivek but that is my only complaint with this book.
Overall just a wonderful, well written story that I hope many people pick up.

Wow. This was so sad...

The story starts telling that Vivek died. Which is obvious, because of the title. And then we discover that Vivek’s mother found his body in the veranda of their house, with part of his skull smashed and a lot of blood.

And then we follow Vivek’s life, as well as his family, friends, and other people.

I loved this book. The characters were really well made; their relationships were beautiful, sad, and painful at some points. I knew that it has LGBTQ+ representation, and I was expecting to be gay, but it has beyond this.

About the ending: I am broken. It was so sad to see what happened and know this happen in real life, when people cannot show themselves and need to hide from others. It was really emotive, I almost cried.

I think that has some things that was unnecessary, but it’s one or two, but in general it is a great book.

One afternoon, in a town in south-eastern Nigeria, a mother opens her front door to discover her son’s body, wrapped in colourful fabric, at her feet. What follows is the tumultuous, heart-wrenching story of one family’s struggle to understand a child whose spirit is both gentle and mysterious.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
Despite the novel’s title, Vivek’s death; the how and why of that single moment, is not the primary focus. Rather, we see snippets of his tragically short life and learn of the distress it causes for those he left behind. Instead of the novel’s driving force, his death looms on every page, acting as a backbone that holds the story in place. ⁣⁣⁣
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As the main characters come of age within their restrictive society, issues of gender identity and sexuality lie at the forefront. Vivek becomes increasingly disinterred with the rest of the world: he hides at home, grows his hair out long, and drops out of university. His parents, meanwhile, struggle to understand what their child is going through. Thankfully, Vivek finds solace in the daughters of the Nigerwives and in his cousin, Osita. Their relationships were sweet, light, and fiercely loyal as they figure out who they are in this crazy world. ⁣
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Through confident, nonlinear storytelling, Emezi masterfully balances different voices and timelines. However, I do wish we heard more from Vivek: the most vibrant and interesting character in the book. His chapters were short but sweet, wrapped up in phenomenal prose and quiet melancholy. Yet, given that Vivek was an enigma to his loved ones, they, and therefore, we, were not able to completely appreciate his essence. Nonetheless, Emezi seamlessly depicts the depths of Osita and Kavita’s grief with grace and clarity, and, despite Vivek’s tragic end, gives us hope through their exploration of the permeable borders between life and death.⁣⁣⁣
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The Death of Vivek Oji is a beautifully emotive and tender novel. "Why are you so afraid? Because something is different from what you know?", Vivek asks at one point – but there are some people who know what he needs: "They barely understood him themselves, but they loved him, and that had been enough."

The title of this book, The Death of Vivek Oji, is a misnomer, because this book is all about the life of Vivek Oji and the impact he has on the people he left behind. The book starts with his death but slowly, page by page, through the vignettes offered by his grieving friends and family, we are shown the life he lived.
Emezi’s simple yet profound prose pulls you into the world of Vivek as soon as you start the book. The narration by Chukwudi Iwuji and Yetide Badaki is so masterful that you can immediately visualise each character in your mind. Emezi succeeds in keeping our focus on the life of Vivek while slowly building up the dread, creeping higher and higher as you get closer to knowing the how and the why of his death. The bewildering grief of Kavita, Vivek’s mother and the heartbreaking despair of Osita, his cousin was perfectly captured in both Emezi’s prose and the brilliant narration.
But what made this book an absolute favourite was of course Vivek. He was tender, fragile, precious yet also fierce. The constant cultural and religious restraints he has to fight through to discover and embrace his self, his burgeoning need to break out of the mould society wants to fit him in, bleeds through each line of Emezi’s evocative yet transparent prose. I wish there was just a bit more of Vivek’s PoVs but that’s my only complaint.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩."

I also loved the beautiful friendships and love stories in this book and how the queer community comes together to create a safe space where each individual can discover and explore their identities.
The death of Vivek Oji, is a bittersweet coming of age story that leaves you with tender hope and lasting ache in your heart.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The title of this book, The Death of Vivek Oji, is a misnomer, because this book is all about the life of Vivek Oji and the impact he has on the people he left behind. The book starts with his death but slowly, page by page, through the vignettes offered by his grieving friends and family, we are shown the life he lived.
Emezi’s simple yet profound prose pulls you into the world of Vivek as soon as you start the book. The narration by Chukwudi Iwuji and Yetide Badaki is so masterful that you can immediately visualise each character in your mind. Emezi succeeds in keeping our focus on the life of Vivek while slowly building up the dread, creeping higher and higher as you get closer to knowing the how and the why of his death. The bewildering grief of Kavita, Vivek’s mother and the heartbreaking despair of Osita, his cousin was perfectly captured in both Emezi’s prose and the brilliant narration.
But what made this book an absolute favourite was of course Vivek. He was tender, fragile, precious yet also fierce. The constant cultural and religious restraints he has to fight through to discover and embrace his self, his burgeoning need to break out of the mould society wants to fit him in, bleeds through each line of Emezi’s evocative yet transparent prose. I wish there was just a bit more of Vivek’s PoVs but that’s my only complaint.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩."

I also loved the beautiful friendships and love stories in this book and how the queer community comes together to create a safe space where each individual can discover and explore their identities.
The death of Vivek Oji, is a bittersweet coming of age story that leaves you with tender hope and lasting ache in your heart.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I read and enjoyed Emezi’s young adult novel, Pet, but this newest one blew me away. I devoured it in one day. The story was emotional and affecting, but the aspect that stood out the most to me was the characters—particularly Vivek and Ostia—who flew off the page and into my heart. This is a must read!

Utterly necessary and so humanistic. Really worth reading, especially late in a summer that seems too hot to bear.