Death of Vivek Oji - Akwaeke Emezi

Thank you @netgalley for this advance copy!
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First of all, by default we readers tend to compare books written by the same author. I enjoyed freshwater more than I did Pet and that got me really excited to read this. This was going to be the tie breaker.
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Set in Owerri,Nigeria, this book explores the life Vivek Oji who was born to a Nigerian father and an Indian mother on the day his grandmother died. Culturally, that’s a bad omen and given the title, you already know Vivek dies and you almost feel like the mystery is gone but the story is just getting started! I thought it was very interesting to start the story with the protagonist dead. You know he dies but you’re left with questions like how did he die, why did he die? IMO, This was a smart move by Akwaeke because these questions got me very curious. I didn’t fully get into this until I was
about 30/40 in. Although I wasn’t particularly impressed with the dialogue in the book, I still found it really enjoyable.

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The story is told from the POV of different characters mainly Vivek and his cousin Osita. Although this felt like a plot driven book, you get a real sense of who the characters are and what they’re capable of . Excellent character development by Akwaeke!

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Themes here were love, grief, family, friendships, sexuality, homophobia, transphobia, and gender identity.
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This story will evoke all sorts of emotions in you and knowing he dies from the first chapter does not make it any easier. Your heart will be broken into tiny pieces at the end of this book. I definitely recommend this to anyone who loves reading books set in Nigeria and what it’s like to live in a very homophobic and transphobic society.

This book was haunting and beautiful. For the most part, it flips between the POVs of those closest to Vivek, both as flashbacks to how they were when Vivek was alive, and present-day after his death.
It's somewhat a coming of age story that's cut short due to Vivek's death, which we spend the whole book trying to piece together and work out.
Despite having a fairly large cast of characters, all were well fleshed out - from a desperate mother looking for answers to the mystery of her son's death to a friendship group with history, grudges and secrets.
With a backdrop of a hot Nigerian summer, this book explores themes of love, loss, sexuality, family, friendship and more. Despite its relatively short length, the setting and its culture were brought vividly to life, even to readers unfamiliar with Nigeria.
The thread of mystery around Vivek's death is woven from start to finish, and pulls the reader through the book in search of answers.
Overall, this book was page-turning and tragic, with a truly bittersweet ending.

Oh my god, just... Oh my god.

I will probably need to revisit this review later, because I'm still too shattered to really speak about this... I actually felt so shaky for the latter part of this read because I felt like each word was cutting into me.

At its core, this is a novel about the pain of not being able to live as oneself. I cannot do that sentiment justice in this review, but wow, Emezi truly paints a portrait of Vivek's soul so intricately. The past and the present are braided together to show the reader how Vivek is created and formed by forces both internal and external. And, hopefully, by the end of the novel, the reader is better able to imagine a better possible future, too.

But Emezi does not stop there; this novel goes beyond Vivek. It is about Osita, and Juju, and Kavita... It is about so many people finding ways to define themselves, finding new ways to see themselves and others.

Emezi's prose is sharp and confident, performing each phrase and turn of the narrative with such clarity.

In my review for Freshwater, I described it as liminal; now, I think Emezi has begun to define the word 'liminal' for me. I still need to read Pet, but wow, Emezi is quickly proving themself to be a new favorite author for me.

I am honored that I was able to read an eARC of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley, Faber & Faber (publisher), and Akwaeke Emezi (author) for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an impartial review. I’ve set my sights on this book since January, when I read Freshwater and Pet, the author’s other books. They did a great job with these books, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on their third book.

I’m extremely glad to say that I wasn’t disappointed. The Death of Vivek Oji is a gripping and riveting tale about the life and death of Vivek, the eponymous character. Emezi did a wonderful job with this one, and I must confess that their storytelling is out of this world. The way they set out the plot, the characters, the suspense, the mysteries, and the events of this book is very praise worthy. We’re introduced to the story before Vivek’s birth, and later to the circumstances beyond his death. We see a mother getting lost in her grief, and then his friends and cousin who are also grieving and closing rank to protect his deepest secret. The dynamics of relationships among friends and family members are explored in depth in this book. It was gruesome to see how much Vivek’s mother was suffering - trying to deal with his death and also trying to piece together what happened to him.

The story was told over multiple timelines - the present, after Vivek’s death; and various points in the past as Vivek, his cousin, and his friends navigate life from childhood to adulthood. There were so many instances of self discovery and self acceptance in the story. Apart from the plot and the mysteries to uncover, the author paints a very vivid picture of life in Nigeria, especially as a queer person.

Everyone needs to read this, so ensure you get your copy when this book is released on the 20th of August, 2020. It’s a story that will suck you right in, and you won’t be able to put it down till you read the very last word.

Akaweke Emezi is such an amazing storyteller who is an old soul destined to fill us with the ways of the gods.

After reading their first two books; freshwater and pet and loving it, it was no surprise just how easily I embraced this one too.

I like that they keep us attached the our ways, mixing the old and the new, giving us fluidity, otherness, having us sitting at the edge of our seats itching to know how Vivek died and craving for more of Vivek.

It is such a compelling book that you have to look past the all the things we see and term as normal and feed our eyes with things that should be. It is so thoughtful that it takes so many of the things happening in society and shows it to us, the power that is behind identity, the various faces we put on just to have others feel comfortable.

Definitely one of my best reads for 2020

I really wanted to enjoy this, but I didn't feel like any aspect of it particularly impressed me...

The Death of Vivek Oji is a compelling novel in that its narrative is very much readable, largely because of the mystery element of the novel--the big question being, of course, how did Vivek Oji die? Emezi weaves in several points of view throughout the novel, introducing you not only to Vivek himself (in fact, you get very few chapters from him), but to the community surrounding him: his mother, his cousin, his friends, and even minor characters who seem only tangentially related to Vivek.

Nothing about this novel is especially bad, but I wanted more from it. The writing was fine, the character work was fine, the dialogue was fine. Having finished it only 2 weeks ago, though, I can't say that much from this novel has stuck with me. Sadly, The Death of Vivek Oji was mostly a forgettable read.

It is hard to say that I enjoyed this book, it almost seems inappropriate however this book is an enthralling thing of beauty which will haunt me for a very long time.

Centered around the death of one of the main characters, Vivek, this book looks honestly and explicitly at pressing issues including gender identity, sexuality, loss and acceptance. It will certainly enlighten even the most open-minded. A must read of 2020.

I’m not going to lie, this was a tough read and the heartbreak suffusing these pages is almost tangible. But there was also so much love and friendship and loyalty to be found here and I’m grateful I got to experience all these emotions along with the characters. Because I didn’t know anything about the author other than what I found out during a quick Google search, I didn’t know what to expect and I’m glad I was led by them along this path of discovery, not only for their characters but also for me.

This is a book about growing up and friendship, about finding out who you are and whether or not there’s a place for you in your world. From family and friends to the furthest reaches of the community, finding a place of comfort and security is never easy. And yet Vivek, Osita, Elizabeth and Juju have to work extra hard trying to uncover the right balance between fitting in and staying true to themselves. What to keep hidden from their friends and family and what to show off to the world.

I don’t want to give too much away as I think this book needs to be experienced with a fresh mind but I want to say that the depiction of Vivek’s mother’s grief over her son’s death (no spoilers here, that one’s a given!) is absolutely heart-rending. Her pain is jumping out of the pages and I found myself suffering alongside her as I haven’t done with any literary character in a while. Her desire, no, her feral need to protect her son by all means possible, even if it means stifling his true self, is a sentiment that rang so true for me and is one that I’d guess any parent is only too aware of.

What an important and beautiful book. I hope it receives the attention that it deserves!!!

The body of Vivek Oji is found by his mother on her doorstep. Vivek is naked but for the Akwete material swaddling him. Across the city smoke rises from the market amidst a feverish riot. At Vivek's home, a mother's life is shattered, a father dissociates and friends reel from the tragedy.

Told in a combination of chapters narrated in first and third person; through first person we discover the relationship between Vivek and his cousin, Osita. In third person, we meet those characters revolving around Vivek's life including family members, friends and apparent standersby. The story doesn't follow any particular timeline but each page grants a glimpse in to the events leading to Vivek's death.

The combination of varied narratives and a scattered timeline would usually drive me mad but Emezi's skill is immense. The range of narratives enhances the emotions felt by the characters, particularly those of Vivek's mother, desperately trying to piece the story together from the outside of Vivek's life. The growing involvement of apparent side characters highlights the private world Vivek created when entrusting his true self to others. The timeline creates a gripping tension as little by little the mystery of Vivek's death unfurls. The sense of timelessness also allows for a touch of the ethereal and the incorporation of Igbo spirituality that complements the story beautifully.

What made this the best book of 2020 for me so far was the conclusion. Quite possibly the most heart wrenching but perfect ending to a novel I have ever come across.

It is difficult to discuss this story in depth without giving a whole lot away. It is a book that challenges gender norms with stunning rawness and grace and questions what is more dangerous; acceptance or fear of those who are their true self.

A gorgeously emotive novel that left me aching with compassion for the characters and also angry that so much unnecessary anguish can be caused by something as fluid as gendered and sexual identities. This is definitely a book which divides the generations: the traditional parents, the less fettered children.

Emezi writes with understanding throughout and manages to make this both a universal story of families and love, and yet also embeds it within Nigerian culture with attention to speech patterns and language. The world is so vividly written, the characters so rounded, I felt like I was living within this book and read it straight through in a day.

For all the emotional ease with which this is delivered, it's technically superb, too: the seamless weaving of past and present, and different voices, never jar or feel contrived. One of my favourite reads this year - I loved this!

The Death of Vivek Oji is a powerful novel about how the child parents think they know might not be the child they really have, focusing on the childhood, adolescence, and death of Vivek Oji. In Nigeria, a mother finds her only child dead on her doorstep, wrapped in material, and desperately wants to know what happened to them. Mixed in with this story of that of Vivek's upbringing, showing how finding who you truly are may mean keeping secrets from your family, and that love, gender, and sexuality aren't always simple.

Having read and enjoyed both of their previous novels, Freshwater and Pet, I knew I needed to read Emezi's new book, and it didn't disappoint, being a story of identity, personal relationships, and how people's lives were affected by one person. The exploration of identity and secrets is combined with elements of social commentary, around what is spoken and unspoken and how people find community, but the main focus is on Vivek, and on the impact that someone's life and death can have. This is important, as despite the title the book doesn't have a huge amount of Vivek's point of view, but instead uses others' perspectives to get across the different ways of seeing people and the complexity of self in relation to other people.

This is a gripping novel that told an entrancing story, and though the title is about death, the book is also about life, about living as yourself, finding people to be around, and the complexity of emotion.

I doubt anyone that any European readers of literary fiction, who engaged with Akwaeke Emezi’s extraordinary debut novel “Freshwater” did not feel that they were reading something genuinely different to what they had read before – a very different perspective and way of telling a story, a different worldview based around Igbo spirituality, with its multiple self/spirit narrators.

In many ways, this, the author’s second novel, is much more conventional than their first.

It contains many of the same themes – gender fluidity, otherness, identities, prejudice, the interactions of Igbo tradition with an innate (if perhaps Western taught) conservatism, but the more spiritual aspects, while not absent, sit in the background to the novel, rather than largely in the foreground.

The book begins “They burned down the market on the day Vivek Oji died” – and then proceeds to tell the story of Vivek’s life and death, in a series of chapters which are mainly third party omniscient narrator, but interspersed with some narrated by Vivek (including some short chapters narrated by him after his death) and a lengthier series of chapters narrated by his cousin Osita (the only son of Vivek’s father’s brother, Vivek himself an only son).

Other main characters include: Vivek and Osita’s grandmother (who dies on the day of Vivek’s birth and with who his life seems intertwined, beginning with a scar he was born with that matches one of her own); their parents (and their changing relationships); a group of girls they befriend – mainly the son of other (like Vivek’s Indian mother) Nigerwives (foreign born wives of Nigerian men, who form a mutual support group) – the girls including Juju, Elizabeth (whose relationship with Osita leads to an initial break between he and Vivek).

We learn of: Vivek’s blackouts; his increasing (although largely hidden to his parents) gender fluidity; the complex relationships between Vivek/Osita/Juju/Elizabeth (I think 5 of the 6 two-way interactions turn sexual at some point); and as the book develops the circumstances of his death during the riots – a revelation which does seem to be slightly artificially withheld from the reader (who can largely guess it).

Themes/issues such as necklacing, second wives/polygamy, North/South tensions, riots, churches practicing exorcisms, prejudice against same sex relationships and cross-dressing and so on are all included whereas I felt their debut novel, presented an entirely different worldview on what say a Western liberal/atheist might call mental illness – this felt like veering more towards a more conventional take on Nigerian society.

Overall I feel some readers will feel a little underwhelmed by the novel; others may find it much easier to engage with then their debut: many (myself included) may feel a little of both.

My thanks to Faber and Faber Limited for an ARC via NetGalley.

The Death of Vivek Oji is an enthralling novel. Akwaeke Emezi's lyrical prose is by turns evocative, sensual, and heart-wrenching. With empathy and understanding Emezi writes about characters who are grappling with grief and otherness, as well as with their gender identity and sexuality.

The first line of The Death of Vivek Oji informs us of Vivek Oji's death. When Chika and Kavita discover the body of their only child outside of their home, their lives are shattered. While Chika retreats inside himself, Kavita is desperate to find out what happened to Vivek. She urges Vivek's friends to speak out, but they seem unwilling to discuss Vivek with her. While the narrative mostly focuses on Osita—who is Vivek's cousin—and Kavita's perspectives, we are also given glimpses into the lives and minds of Vivek's friends.
While The Death of Vivek Oji follows a formula that isn't entirely original (a novel that revolves around the death of story's central character is dead) Emezi's use of a non-linear narrative and the skilful way in which they inhabit different perspectives (switching between first and third povs) makes this novel stand out.

Nigeria is the backdrop to Vivek's story and Emezi vividly renders its traditions, its idiosyncrasies, its contemporary culture (90s). Emezi's narratives is centred on those who feel, or are made to feel, different. Kavita belongs to the Nigerwives, foreign women married to Nigerian men. As this group of women help each other to navigate their married lives, their children come to form a deep bond.
Emezi recounts Vivek's childhood through Osita's perspective. When one of Vivek's blackouts causes Osita to feel greatly embarrassed, the two become estranged. Over the next few years Osita hears of Vivek only through his parent.
Vivek becomes increasingly disinterred with the rest of the world, hides at home, stops going to university, and Kavita, understandably, is worried. She tries to understand her child but seems unable to accept who Vivek is.
Thankfully, Vivek finds solace in the daughters of the Nigerwives. Osita too re-enters Vivek's life, and the two become closer than ever.

While I found both the sections set in the past and in the present to be deeply affecting, I particularly loved to read of Vivek's relationship with the Nigerwives' daughters. Reading about Osita and Kavita's lives after Vivek's death was truly heart-wrenching as Emezi truly captures the depths of their grief.
I did find myself wishing to read more from Vivek's perspective. It seemed that Vivek's story was being told by people who did not have a clear image of Vivek. There was also a section focused on a character of no importance to Vivek's story (like, seriously, what was the point in him? it felt really out of place). The mystery surrounding Vivek's death was unnecessarily prolonged.
But these are minor grievances. I loved the way Emezi articulated the feelings, thoughts, and impressions of their characters with grace and clarity. Emezi's novel is a real stunner, and if you enjoy books that explore complex familial relationship, such as Mira T. Lee's Everything Here Is Beautiful, chances are you will love The Death of Vivek Oji.

The Death of Vivek Oji tells a compelling story of identity, belonging and grief. As a cultural portrait of Nigeria, in all its complexity, contrasts and frictions, it is particularly good.

In that respect, this novel covers a surprising amount of ground, darting from city to small town to rural village, taking in a range of cultural and religious traditions, small details of daily life and larger ones of conflict and intolerance. The titular Vivek’s mother is Indian, and her social circle consists almost entirely of foreign women—from Thailand, the Philippines, the UK, the USA etc—who have married Nigerian men. The women’s children are thus thrown together and (eventually) forge a diverse group of friends, bonded by their outsiderdom.

In the foreground are personal issues of gender identity and sexuality. Here, the novel’s structure undercuts some of its emotional power. The story of Vivek’s death, and tragically short life, is told from the perspective of those left behind—family, friends, lovers—but this limits how much we hear directly from Vivek, who is by far the most vibrant and interesting character. Emezi also contorts the narrative to make the manner of Vivek’s death a mystery until the very end, which I felt was unnecessary and distracting—a suspense-building contrivance where none was needed.

Emezi’s 2018 debut, Freshwater was as bracing and vital as its name. By comparison, The Death of Vivek Oji almost seems like the work of a different author. More conventional and accessible, it doesn’t quite manage to live up to its predecessor. One book does not a ‘trademark style’ make, but this follow-up lacks the flair and inventiveness that won Emezi so many ardent fans, and even the prose seems less polished. On the other hand, readers who found Freshwater confounding or overwrought may actually prefer this novel’s directness.

“Some people can’t see softness without wanting to hurt it.”

Set in Nigeria, The Death of Vivek Oji focuses on a family mourning for their son. Vivek is found dead on his mother’s doorstep under mysterious circumstances, naked but wrapped in cloth. From there the story is told mostly through the perspectives of his loved ones as they remember his life, come to terms with their grief and try to unravel the events that led up to his death. Vivek’s and his cousin Osita form a close bond during childhood until one day Vivek’s unexplained blackouts lead to situation that Osita struggles to forgive. We already know how Vivek’s story ends, but we get to see his life and what he meant to the people around him.

There is a lot of story packed into these 250 pages but I don’t want to spoil too much of the story for anyone. After being blown away by Freshwater earlier in the month, I knew I had discovered a talented storyteller and needed to get my hands on more of their writing.

Once again Akwaeke Emezi has written a beautiful and immersive tale with characters that feel both vivid and real. As with Freshwater, this is a short novel that packs an emotional punch. Emezi presents topics of identity, belonging, sexuality and gender identity in a powerful way. Equal parts poetic, philosophical, and suspenseful, The Death of Vivek Oji is a beautiful story with an ending that left me reeling.

In short: I loved it! A poignant story of found family and acceptance that I will be recommending to everyone.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

The Death of Vivek Oji is life changing.

It was one of my most anticipated books of 2020 so when I got accepted for an arc I was so over the moon I pretty much just sat down, opened my kindle, and read all day. Let's just say: I was not disappointed.

The Death of Vivek Oji is about the devastating death of titular Vivek Oji, but also, about his life. Emezi's writing and brilliant characterisation paints the life and death of the young genderfluid person growing up in Nigeria, the social otherness, but also (and perhaps more so) the kindness of a chosen family found in young LGBT people coming together and finding spaces to exist. It's about a biological family who realise after his death, they barely knew Vivek at all - and the despair of never getting to see who he would become.

Emezi's prose is unrelenting, at times harsh, and wholly beautiful. From the heartbreaking first page, the way they have depicted both Vivek and the cast of characters surrounding him in such a vivid light effected me so deeply. The beginnings of first love, the devastating grief of losing a child, the trauma of living in a world that does not understand you. There was not a single theme in this book that didn't hit me like a punch to the gut, and I was sobbing as I reached the end.

The Death of Vivek Oji is also a necessary demand for social change - one so poignant and heartfelt and impossible not to empathise with (surely even for those who are not trans readers).
If you think you'd be able to handle the subject matter in this book, please read it. It's rare that I say a book is important, but I truly feel Emezi has written something that rightfully demands your attention.