Book review: The death of Vivek Oji - Akwaeke Emezi

Title: The death of Vivek Oji

Author: Akwaeke Emezi

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description: One afternoon, in a town in southeastern Nigeria, a mother opens her front door to discover her son’s body, wrapped in colorful 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. Raised by a distant father and an understanding but overprotective mother, Vivek suffers disorienting blackouts, moments of disconnection between self and surroundings. As adolescence gives way to adulthood, Vivek finds solace in friendships with the warm, boisterous daughters of the Nigerwives, foreign-born women married to Nigerian men.  (from goodreads.com)

My opinion:

“The death of Vivek Oji” is a bitter-sweet story of a young man who's trying to find out who he really is. Vivek wants to understand his sexuality, he's struggling with a gender identity. He's overwhelmed by his emotions.

At the beginning he's confused but thanks to his friends Vivek is slowly finding a happiness and true self. He's finally accepted that he's “different” and that's ok. Still, he's keeping his secret from his parents, not wanting to disappoint them.

The book broke my heart more than hundred times. Emezi's writing is so powerful it takes over your body and soul. I just can't get over this book.

It shows there is still so much we need to learn as a society about acceptance. Being gay is still treated as a taboo, a disease or as being possessed.

Vivek's story shows that we often prefer to pretend that problem doesn't exist. Some of us are still following old traditions and believes. Seeing the changes in son's behavior, Vivek parents send him to church for a deliverance. They never try to find out what is the source of his mental breakdown.

Summarizing, it's a very important read and I hope it will get all the recognition it deserve. It's a true masterpiece.