Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

Both a recounting of trauma and its impacts, as well as a retelling of a Nigerian fable. The main character's multiple experiences of trauma are retold and the author unflinchingly explores how they are impacted (e.g., self-harm, dissociation). The character's psychology is viewed through a non-Western lens.

3.5 stars. Beautiful, poetic prose. Interesting concept and insights. Not much plot.

Beautiful and evocative book. Since I don't speak Igbo, if found listening to it to be particularly powerful (I have a hard enough time reading in English).

This was a wild ride and I'm still not entirely sure what I read, it was good though. Emezi's prose is raw and real while also having a dreamlike quality so I would absolutely recommend this book even if it was just for that aspect.

For the ace/sex-repulsed in the room: there's a lot of sex here and you can't avoid it without missing chunks of the story (it's not what I would call erotica though), the writing style didn't make it feel as icky as something that sex heavy normally would for me.

Her writing was rather amazing at the sentence level, and I really appreciated and respected the craft and art of what she created and how she constructed the different voices, but I didn't really like it in the general sense. The only part I enjoyed reading was the narrative with the Ada and Ewan, because it was the most traditional story, not fractured or fragmented. However, I won't forget this book and will welcome chances to discuss it and keep thinking about it. After this, I'm definitely interested in reading her upcoming YA book.