I love a good love story. So few novels about love get the right balance between poetic feeling and poignantly rendered realistic detail. But Caleb Azumah Nelson confidently combines these elements to produce a debut that's beautifully distilled yet expansive in what it's saying. It's about two young black British people who meet in a pub in South East London. Their relationship starts as a friendship and tenderly eases into romance. They're in their early-mid twenties and trying to maintain their artistic aspirations while earning money. He's a photographer and she's a dancer. Nelson narrates the story in the second person to focus on his perspective. This gives the compelling effect of being at a distance at the same time as being privy to his innermost being. It's like the act of being photographed itself where you feel curiously both inside and outside yourself at once. There's a lot in this book about the act of seeing which develops in nuance and meaning with the impactful refrain: “It's one thing to be looked at, and another to be seen.” There's a freedom in truly being yourself but there are consequences that come from such vulnerability. “Open Water” powerfully captures the longterm effects of two specific people who really see each other as uniquely beautiful and endearingly flawed individuals.

The story references and pays tribute to the influence of current writers like Zadie Smith and Teju Cole – in the case of Smith through a literal meeting with her at a book signing. As well as giving a sweet nod to these figures it makes complete sense that the male protagonist is guided by these writers' words as he ponders what it really means to inhabit a black body. It's powerful how his story shows the complicated formation of his masculinity as he's expected to be both tough and sensitive, grateful for his opportunities as well as resigned to the knowledge that he's undeservedly feared. Momentary respite from these pressures is elegantly captured in fleeting encounters with other individuals at Carnival Sunday or in a barbershop where there's a shared understanding of this ever-present burden. There's a swirl of experiences described in brief, emotionally charged chapters from getting a takeaway after a night out to a joint being shared with a near stranger to tearfully watching the film of ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ to the sobering intrusion of being stopped and searched by the police. And there's also the heat and romance of this young man and woman alternately finding and losing one another. This is such a short book but I feel the resonance of all these moments and sensations like memories.

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson is hands down one of the best books I’ve ever read, and one of the best books I will ever read.

Thank you to @vikingbookuk for the audio version, which was read by the author, which made it that bit extra special. I couldn’t fault the audiobook at all and I feel so in love that I pre-ordered the physical copy so I can underline and annotate to my heart's content. There’s so many quotes and passages that I never want to forget or let go of.

If you’re a fan of lyrical and tender writing then I’m sure you’ll love this book as much as I do. The vulnerability and intimacy throughout Open Water kept me up at night and lingered on me during the day. I can’t get it out of my head, and I don’t want to.

Open Water follows the relationship of a photographer and a dancer, focusing on themes of racism, police brutality, masculinity, the impact of trauma, whilst centering around their love.
It’s an extremely strong and achingly evocative piece of writing, somehow packed into 150 odd pages, or four hours on audio.

This is the strongest debut I have ever read, which is a strong statement but one I stand by. I’m also not one for a romance or love story however Open Water was the easiest 5 stars I have ever given to a book. It’s tender vulnerability within a contemporary setting, full of realism and incredibly important, relevant issues and topics makes it such a powerful read with a lasting impact.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

It is incredibly difficult to put into words how beautiful, poetic, and sad this story is, because the words within the novel are so much better than anything I could say!

A very heartwarming and heartbreaking love story that shares some difficult truths about the black experience in Britain. A short novel that packs a punch - something I need to read more of.

The audiobook is a fantastic listen. Narrated by the author which is simply the best type of audiobook.

If you’re thinking of picking this up, please do.

Oh my- this was FAB! The author, Caleb Azumah Nelson narrated this himself and it was the most soothing delivery - such dulcet tones! 😍 The second person narrative was beautiful and the audiobook version was the perfect way to read this book (in my opinion) as the voice really gets in your head and you can put yourself in the shoes of the characters.

As I begun this, so much of the writing style and character story reminded me of Baldwin’s ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’. The film/book has such a special place in my heart, and I found it such a relatable story about young people navigating love and life. Azumah Nelson’s Open Water left me feeling similarly - the two characters trying to find their footing in life, set against a very familiar London background. The film Moonlight is also mentioned in the book, and I absolutely love how this was incorporated in the narrative. Both Beale Street and Moonlight had such an affect on me when I watched them - these comparisons and the narration meant this book really got inside my head; the characters were real people.

Their career choices: a dancer and a photographer, is another element I could highly relate to. The struggle of starting careers like these, especially whilst the cost of London is keeping you on your toes. The witting for this was honestly beautiful - the metaphors were so descriptive and wonderful. It’s such a beautiful book, and it’s a short little one, so no excuses not to read it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for a audiobook version of this.

Brilliant and wildly lyrical. Absolutely adored. Thank you for the opportunity. One to watch for 2021 releases.

I tried several times to get into this audiobook and struggled with the narration, pacing and it being written in the second person.
I do definitely want to read it as I’ve seen some great reviews but it’s gonna have to be a physical copy for me!

Low star rating is because I didn’t get very far at all despite trying!

'The two of you, like headphone wires tangling, caught up in this something. A happy accident. A messy miracle.'

In OPEN WATER, two young people meet at a pub in South East London. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists - he a photographer, she a dancer - trying to make their mark in a city that by turns celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in love. But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence.

I don't know how people can write like this - this soulful, aching prose. Wow. Nelson renders his images in intense poetic detail, using language to form evocative vignettes which mirror the author's talent for photography. The novel's references to music, theatre, film and London itself (especially South London) made me double-take a few times while reading to make sure I didn't have my own diary in my hands. The authenticity here is unparalleled and I don't think I'll ever get over seeing my London on the page. This feels like a particular summer I had in my twenties - all heat and motives and vibes.

The novel explores the vulnerability not only of daring to fall in love but also of life as a Black man in Britain. Here, the protagonist's interactions with grief and the police contextualise the idea of what it can mean to love a Black man. A tender depiction of Black masculinity and mental health, it's a vivid portrayal of how we carry our experiences with us, how they mark and reshape our futures.

OPEN WATER is written in the 2nd person, which I found unsettling at first, to occupy the space of the "you" in a story that is so intimate and personal. Beyond the author encouraging the reader to empathise with his protagonist, it feels as though he's talking and writing back to himself (amplified by the audiobook which is brilliantly and hauntingly read by the author) and the deliberate repetition throughout is a confrontation of one's own memories - the act of remembering lives vividly through the narrative structure of the novel.

This is a love song.

Received as an ARC very kindly by the publisher in audiobook form - thanks so much!

Firstly I’d like to start by saying that I think it was a mistake to listen to as an audiobook unfortunately. I imagine I would’ve enjoyed this a hell of a lot more had I read it physically. Unfortunately the author’s voice is quite monotonous and I found myself losing focus.

This book, however, definitely touches on a lot of interesting topics. It follows a mid-20s black, British man and his experience of falling in love, maintaining friendships, work and his blackness. In particular, I really enjoyed the insights into daily racism that occurs and the struggles that causes.

It’s clear from the onset that a lot of thought has gone into word choice and the writing style. The writing is quite poetic and flowery, and it almost felt as if I was listening to spoken word.

There were a few things that put me off the book however. As aforementioned, the reading of the book was quite slow and monotonous. Additionally, the use of the second person lets the reader detach too much from the novel. It was quite jarring at first as the author says “you” and is describing a black man’s experience. It allowed me to disassociate from the protagonist too much as a white woman.

I’d recommend this book if you’d like: Black British experiences, romance, lit fiction & mid-20s crisis lit!

I struggled to get in to the text version of this so I requested the audio book and it was definitely the right choice. Hearing the author narrate his own work gave me a whole new understanding of it, and the poetic aspects of the text were brought out beautifully. I wasn't keen on the second person narration. I understand why it's been used, to try and bring you closer into the story, but it confused me. Perhaps this is a reflection of my difficulty as a white woman to take on the struggles of a black man. And maybe this difficulty shows just how great the difference is, that I am unable to even imagine the struggles he's going through.

Stylistic choices aside, the message in this book is very powerful. It investigates what exactly it means to be a black man, a "black body" and how this affects your life and relationships. Highly recommended, but this book will require your full attention.

A beautifully read audiobook, there’s always so much more feeling where the author narrates the audiobook themselves.

I read this book whilst listening to the audiobook at the same time for an immersive reading experience and it was excellent. The following review applies to the audiobook and the ebook copy I read.

This is a beautifully lyrical exploration of young love interwoven with the mental health impacts of racism and only being seen as a Black body.

The trauma of young Black people’s daily experiences is shown with contemporary feeling but there is also hope and compassion.

The writing is intense yet sensitive but it’s so poetic and will leave you wanting more from this author.

This was a very different audio book to anything I have listened to previously. It is written in the second person as if we are inside the story. The reading is poetic and fluid throughout. Once you adapt to the slightly different style it is beautiful and shows the ever familiar story of getting close to someone only for it to explode. A really enjoyable and beautiful piece of writing. A pleasure to listen to.

This is a review only of the audiobook so please take this in this spirit.

But to me this didn't work as an audiobook. Firstly, the very style of the book requires contemplation, re-reading of the prose and looking up the various artists (photographers. painters, authors, musicians) mentioned, and for me an audiobook is not condusive to that. Secondly, I found the narration itself (albeit by the author) soporofic, with even the dialogue barely departing from a monotone. I suspect that is a deliberate choice of tone but in a book that, on the page seizes the attention, I found myself losing focus on the audio.

(I should also say I'm not a massive fan of audiobooks versus their printed/written originals in general, which likely account for the loss of at least one star)

The synopsis of this book drew me in and I thought it sounded like an interesting read. Thank you to @PenguinUKBooks and @CalebANelson for this advanced audio copy of Open Water in return for an honest review. Open Water is due to be published on 4th February 2021 and you can get a copy here.

Description 🔖

Two Black British people meet in South East London and find they have a lot in common. Both attended private school on scholarships, both are artists and both are trying to make it in their worlds. The two slowly fall in love and try to feel their way through their lives together. Except not every couple can make it and as they struggle through working out what it means to be themselves in a world that sees them as something else, they are ultimately torn apart.

General Thoughts 🤔

I have to admit that I did not find this an easy book to read. The subject matter is real, beautiful and ugly all at the same time, but I just couldn’t seem to connect with it. I have some thoughts on why that may be (and I think a lot of it is to do with me, not the book) but I’ll discuss that later on in this review.

Characters 👫👬👭

There were two main characters in the book; both of which remain nameless. The way that their relationship started, grew and developed was really quite beautiful and felt very tender. What started as a friendship turned into something precious.

The main character in the book was like many people I know in life and it was a tug on my heart to have that played back to me. He started off as open and vulnerable with his girlfriend but as he started to struggle with living as a black man in a society that saw him as only that, his walls went up.

Writing Style ✍️

Ok, so this is where I think I struggled, for two different reasons. The first being the writing in second person. I found it really difficult to follow and often had to pause for a few seconds to reset and remember what was going on in the story at that time. I know a lot of people enjoy this kind of writing but unfortunately for me it felt impersonal.

Secondly, the narration. Now this is a funny one. The writing is very lyrical and reads like poetry. I think that if I was to watch this as physical performance I’d have connected with it a lot more but listening to the audio, I couldn’t keep my concentration in the right place. I think that this can be personal preference and therefore would probably place the disconnection on me rather than on the book or the narration.

Conclusion & Scoring 🏅

Although this audio book and I did not get along like a house on fire, there is a lot I appreciate about this book. The prose is stunning and appropriate for the story and subject. I’d like to try reading this book (as in with my eyes not my ears) and I would love to see this performed. Caleb Azumah Nelson is obviously a very talented writer and I hope that his work gets the recognition that it deserves. Maybe Open Water and I can try again in a different format.

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<p><em>Open Water </em>is the debut novel by Caleb Azumah Nelson and tells the story of a young man struggling to accept love in a world that has so often shown him hate through the frame of a slow burning relationship with his best friend.</p>
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<p>I normally avoid literary fiction, I prefer my escapism super commercial and fast paced, but I do enjoy indulging now and again in novels that reimagine the narrative voice. <em>Open Water </em>is written entirely in the second person, a perspective rarely seen in literature and tricky to get right. I love second person narratives. Firstly because it challenges the traditional novel structure and secondly because it translates so effortlessly into audio. Listening to a second person narrative is akin to being submerged fully into another's world view, and creates a level of immersion you can't experience in print.</p>
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<p>Nelson's writing is etched in a poetic sadness allowing you to sample the the burdens his protagonist carries every time he leaves his home. Having anxiety myself (albeit with very different roots and experience) it was refreshing to see some of the things that I struggle with reflected in the story. The feeling of being unsafe in the world, made more difficult by the reality that black men are often not safe in the UK, the past trauma that can be triggered at any time and the devastating mindset that additional trauma can compound. All balanced with the beautiful soul connection found in the girl at the party. A connection built on the kind of understanding you can only experience with those you have known in past lives. Their growing relationship, the safety he feels with her, provides reprise from the daily burdens of mental health and systemic racism, providing a ray of hope that our protagonist will find himself on solid ground once more.</p>
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<p>With such a lyrical way of writing having Nelson himself narrate is fitting for the audiobook creating a delicious blurring of fact and fiction. Nelson's performance is soft and deliberately understated. It demands your attention by drawing you close and making you listen to every word carefully. This adds to the immersive experience, encouraging you to sit and be present (rather than also doing chores as I often do when listening to audio). His delivery forms a gentle lull and found myself on occasion drifting into it's serenity, getting lost in the essence of the story itself.</p>
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<p>I'm intrigued to see what Nelson does next in his writing career and look forward to more of his work. <em>Open Water </em>is a stunning debut and hints at a rich body of work to come. </p>
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Stunning, beautiful, modern. A truly authentic insight into the Black British experience in London that simply blew me away. I have never read, or listened, to a story that manages to convey the nuances of love so perfectly and powerfully. The juxtaposition of power and vulnerability is sublime as is the prose. This is a raw, heartfelt work of art and I cannot wait to read more from the author.

Open Water is a beautifully told story of love and friendship written in second person which adds a level of intimacy to the narrative. The book begins as the two meet and then follows the growing friendship and relationship between them, Open Water is slow paced and this works perfectly for the storyline.

Nelson does not shy away from the brutal honesty and pain that love sometimes brings but also highlights the delights and joys that can be found. I enjoyed reading a book about love that is told from the male perspective, this is something I have not experienced before and found fascinating.

If you struggle reading second person narratives I would highly recommend the audiobook, it is narrated by the author and adds a level of truth to the characters.

“Your eyes meet in the silence. The gaze requires no words at all. It is an honest meeting.”


Open Water is an exceedingly lyrical debut. The story, narrated through a second-person perspective (ie 'you') is centred on the relationship between two Black British artists (he is a photographer, she is a dancer). Although their relationship is portrayed through a linear timeline, the narrative lingers only on some key scenes/periods between this will-they-won't-they couple. From their first meeting the photographer ('you') is struck by the dancer who at time is going out with a friend of his. The two become friends but their closeness is complicated by their more than platonic feeling for each other.
Caleb Azumah Nelson renders with poignancy their bond. I loved the way he articulates his main character's vulnerabilities and the role that language itself plays in his narrative. To articulate one's feelings, desires, and fears is no easy feat. Language, as the author reminds us time and again, fails us. There is an emphasis on this, that is on the difficulty of articulating your thoughts or truths. 'You' seems in a perpetual struggle with himself. He's in love with the dancer but there are things that keep him from expressing himself to her. The narrative also touches upon on the idea of being 'seen but not seen'. The photographer, a young Black man in London, has experienced time and again the scrutiny of the white gaze. It is because he is viewed as a danger and a threat that he remains in fact unseen. So, when the dancer sees him, as in truly sees him, he feels understood like never before. But it is this bond that complicates their love story.

At times the story resembled a series of snapshots or impressions: these had a moody often cinematic-feel to them that resulted in some great atmosphere (I can definitely see this being adapted to the screen). Nelson's prose brims with lyricism. With staccato-like sentences he captures those ephemeral feelings which are often so hard to express or pin down. His poetic writing style lends beautifully to the themes he goes on to explore (young love, masculinity and vulnerability, race, creativity).
What didn't quite work for me was the 2nd pov. I'm just not the biggest fan of this perspective. I also had a hard time familiarising myself with our main characters. Their personalities felt almost lost in the midst of the author's lyrical language.
Open Water nonetheless struck me as a confident and deeply felt debut.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to netgally.co.uk for providing me with a free copy of the audiobook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book was kind of an odd one for me, but in a good way. I didn’t feel like I was getting invested in the story. I didn’t think there was much there in terms of story telling however it was the narrator that kept me hooked to the book, the narrator sounded so much like Benedict Cumberbatch to me, I was shocked to find out that the narrator was indeed the author. However the second hand narrative that ran throughout the novel made the narrator sound so detached from the whole thing. However, this book does get three stars from because I thought it was well written, the prose was almost lyrical.

I was kindly provided a free version of the audiobook from the publisher through netgalley.

3.5 stars rounded up to a 4.

I want to start by saying I don't think the audiobook is the way to go with this one. This story is beautifully and lyrically written. I had to pause a lot to just sit with what had just been said. The story is not strictly linear and has a lot to say which means the audiobook is a little hard to follow. I want to reread this with my eyes when it comes out and I think it may result in an upped rating. And many highlights!

That said, gosh I thought this book was incredible. The way it's written is so lyrical and flowing, it's pure poetry really. There was so much to think about. This book clearly has messages that come through powerfully. Every choice the author has made feels meaningful. The book is written in second person. The main characters don't have names. Certain phrases are repeated over and over. There isn't a ton of actual dialogue. I could write an essay on what I think it all means.

The plot, such as it is, is driven by the romance. But really it's about our main pov character. About his family and experience in being black and falling in love. It's very introspective. And very character driven. It's also slow and thoughtful, really packing a punch in this short page count.

While I got a lot of the story the way it's written wasn't one hundred percent for me which is why it's not 5 stars. However I can easily see this being a new favourite for a lot of people.

I was lucky enough to have an early copy of both audio and hard copy of this book for review.
This book has been getting so much hype, and has been stated as 'one to watch' for 2021. I was super excited to listen to the audiobook and read the hard copy of what is set to be 2021's huge hits. I had high hopes!!

However, I just couldn't get into this. The narrator of the audio book was incredibly monotone and boring to listen to so I found myself reading the hard copy a lot more. (although I did dip-in-and-out while doing housework etc.)
I love the imagery within the book, I love that it's set in London and I could picture every location at every moment. However I just couldn't connect to the characters. I enjoyed the writing style, but there just wasn't enough plot for me. Or enough connection to the two central characters.
It was an 'ok' book - but just didn't get the 'feels' that I wanted or expected.