An absolutely incredible book that gives immense empathy and compassion ti each character. A novel that weaves in many differing perspectives and approaches Vivek Oji’s death. One of the most exciting 2020 releases!

If, like me, you tried to read Freshwater by the same author and found the writing a little difficult to get into I would highly recommend starting with The Death of Vivek Oji as a route into Emezi's writing style. Many of the themes explored in Freshwater are revisited here such as sexuality, gender and connection with a spiritual/supernatural world, however I found the language more accessible. The added mystery of how Vivek's naked body comes to land on his mother's doorstep brings a sense of pace and I found myself pulled along by the story wanting to know what happened to Vivek, how they died and how their death impacted those who loved them even if they never truly knew Vivek as their full self while they were alive.
When you discover how Vivek dies it is shocking in its swift simplicity. The guilt felt by those left behind, left wondering if there was anything they could have done to prevent it is hard to read and makes you want to reach into the book and comfort them despite knowing that no amount of comfort will ever truly be enough. Grief is dealt with in a way that is impactful without being overbearing. We know these characters are broken and while the ways in which they break may differ there is no denying that they have all been forever changed by the death of Vivek.
I really loved this book and I think I will find myself thinking about it days, weeks, even months after finishing it. There's just something about Emezi's writing that really stays with me and I am definitely going to give Freshwater another try having thoroughly enjoyed this novel. 4.5*s

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

As you read the very first line in this book, you feel the dread creeping up your spine. And then there's rage. A slow trickle at first that builds into something that's nearly impossible to contain.
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'The Death of Vivek Oji' is a window to a world tainted by injustice, at the centre of which is a bubble, one that offers protection and love, created by friends who want the best for you. Held within its embrace is Vivek Oji, fiercely in terms with his sexuality despite the scorns of the society and the abandonment by the people he loves the most.
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Vivek, the only child to Kavita ('A half-caste') and Chika (a Nigerian), dies mysteriously. His body is found at their doorstep, stripped off his clothes. What follows is a hysterical mother looking for answers, anything that provides her the closure she seeks.
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Vivek grows up with Osita, his cousin and his closest confidante. Over the years he develops these dizzy spells, most likely because he is fighting his sexuality, one that could ruin his world if not handled cautiously and delicately. But the fragile ones are trampled in this world, subjected to violence and sometimes flogged mercilessly ('religious exorcism'), their right to live with their head held high taken away by people who think of themselves as the makers of the social diktats.
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Beyond a coming-out story, 'The Death of Vivek Oji' is an empathic and tender narration of a community where there are the natives and the 'Nigerwives' or the 'Half-caste', ones trying to belong. The clash between the Hausa and Igbo clan, the shifting and fragible family dynamics is another layer added to the story, through a nonlinear, accessible and evocative narration. Thus, what we readers are privy to, is the metamorphosis of a troublesome and curious child into a shy and mysterious adult.
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'The Death of Vivek Oji' chips your heart bit by bit, pieces that you won't mind leaving behind within these pages. It's raw and brutal, but compassionate and hopeful.

The best thing about this book is the stunning and compelling storytelling. It sucks you in from page one. At least for me, from the first page; the first word, I could not drop the book. I was just flipping the pages till I finished.

The Death of Vivek Orji tells the story of queer people's reality, their struggles, their hopes as well as society's roles, parental / family roles in shaping them into being who they want they to be and who they really are. This book highlights homophobia, gender identity, transphobia, grief, love, incest amongst other things and Emezi uses suspense to keep the reader on their toes. Knowing that Vivek Oji died from the beginning does not make the reader feel any better going through the chapters that build up to his death and consequently unravelled the hows and whys they might have.

I gave this book 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars because I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It blew my mind and took me through a journey of myriad of emotions I can't even describe. Reading this has given me the go-ahead to try Emezi's other books sometime and I hope I enjoy them as well.

This book was beautiful. I had read Freshwater last summer and really enjoyed it so I was looking forward to reading Akwaeke Emezi’s next novel. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of The Death of Vivek Oji and from the moment I opened it, I knew that it was going to be an amazing story. It is quite a short novel (around 250 pages) but there is so much packed into this book. The story follows Vivek Oji and the details surrounding Vivek’s short life and death and the person he believes himself to be.
I really enjoyed all the different perspectives in the novel (from the first person chapters of Vivek and Osita to the chapters with Juju, Kavita and Chika).
This book is about the many different types of love that a person can experience and also about how people have to hide who they truly are to keep some of they people they love.

I would highly recommend this novel.

I really wanted to enjoy the complexities of this book, and it is well written for what it is. The language is incredible, and the sheer breadth of the poetic licence that was taken within was gorgeous. However, it falls down on one major flaw- it is simply not long enough. It's fantastic, but as soon as you settle into the story, it feels like it's done. There was simply not enough to get your teeth into, and this was absolutely devastating based on how well this had been done.

The themes within were huge and sweeping, and all the complexities of the social milieu are set out for everyone to see. There's a lot to see here, and I don't think that there would've been enough to pick up on every single theme in a single read. I think it's a fascinating exploration of so many facets, and there was so much to see. I think I'll have to backdate myself and go back to the author's first novel as I've heard it's something really special- and just a bit longer too.

The Death 0f Vivek Oji starts, as you would, expect, with the body of Vivek Oji turning up on his family doorstep wrapped in a colourful blanket. As his mother cradles Vivek’s body, and starts to question how her only child came to die, we are transported back over the years and months before Vivek died and what led to their death. We see how Vivek’s parents met and fell in love, we see his Aunt and Uncle have their own son and how he becomes Vivek’s best friend and partner in all things. We see the wider Nigerwives community and how they rely around Vivek’s mother in her grief amongst their own family struggles. And at the centre we start to unravel the realities of Vivek’s life, and their hidden true identity.

For a book that is just under 250 pages I found this to be incredible well written and the family characters are all very well developed and described. We get to know a lot of the intricacies of their lives and how they work around Vivek without really seeing them for who they truly are. The prose are wonderfully nuanced and loaded with intent, with descriptions of oppression and prejudice seen within a community that outwardly presents itself as accepting. Vivek is the centre of the story, around which everyone else revolves. They light up the narrative, and I felt a real connection with them as they start to discover who they want to be, and the struggles this then presents. I was also deeply mved by Vivek’s mother and her depiction of grief. I could understand her anger at other people grieving her son and how she believes they have no right to grieve – Vivek was her only son, her life. Grief isn’t always about sadness and reflection. It’s also heavily tied into negative emotions of hurt and anger. I’ve felt that myself, and I thought that was wonderfully depicted here. The conclusion to this also absolutely floored me, and was not what I was expecting. It was so powerful, yet also deeply bitter sweet.

A truly moving piece of literature, I would implore everyone to read to learn about self-acceptance, found families and above all learning to grieve an individual you might have not truly know in life.

I want to first thank NetGalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for giving me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It is honestly hard to know where to begin in talking about this book other than to begin by saying it is a masterpiece. Emezi has the ability to convey so much with so little. There were several times where they conveyed the emotions of characters so deeply, not by describing how the characters felt, but by including a description of physical things and their interaction. And even though it feels like the title tells the reader the end of the story, there were countless moments in the book where Emezi leads the reader down an unexpected path. Even though there was a lot of sorrow and grief within the pages of the story, there were also moments of joy, moments to cherish, moments to celebrate.

Since I don't know a lot about Nigerian culture or language, there were some things in the book I didn't understand, but, none of those things were a barrier to me understanding the story itself. There were a few times as the narrative weaved back and forth in time that I became confused as to when and where the story was at a particular moment. But, those few instances were all in the first half of the novel.

While I cannot recommend this book highly enough, I do feel it's important that people realize that there are some very heavy topics covered within this book, so readers should be careful to chose to read it when they are emotionally and mentally in a place to handle such a heavy and power book.

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.

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!!!

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.