AN ORDINARY REVIEW OF AKWAEKE EMEZI’S THE DEATH OF VIVEK OJI

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Akwaeke Emezi’s The Death of Vivek Oji is an emotional rollercoaster that explores the boundaries or lack thereof of sexuality and gender identity whilst teaching us about a burgeoning incestuous love, one that is surprisingly not milked of the complexities of incest and the emotions involved but left to be what it is – love. Simple love. Love that makes you forget that culture brands incest a taboo. Love that made an anti-romantic root for it.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”327″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]It is a perfect blend of narration and description, and it is done very relatably and seamlessly – there was never a time I had to think, “what are tiger lilies?”, or “what are cassava flakes?”, because there were no tiger lilies or cassava flakes – so that it exposes how the forced seemingly unnatural dialogues Emezi wrote for their characters instead of bringing the story together, punctuated, like the infamous potholes in Nigerian roads, our journey through the story. But Akwaeke should be commended for daring to use colloquialisms like ‘sha’, not under the protection of quotation marks, and in dialogue, but defiantly as a normal part of the text – Chisom would have known if it was a weave-on or not, sha.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]In The Death of Vivek Oji, we see the lives and experiences of biracial children described in a different light, where they do not seem to have been lavished with colorism’s advantages. Rather, their story is told like they have dark skin and flat noses and do not inspire admiration for their exotic-ness. And it was nice to read this narrative. As a matter of fact, Akwaeke Emezi set out to defy stereotypical narratives with this book, as even sex is treated so casually, so ‘un-sacredly’[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”325″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It is definitely something you should read if you’re looking for something fresh that touches you without trying to, and when you reach to dab your face you realize you’re sobbing tearless sobs.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery interval=”15″ images=”328,330,326,331,324″ img_size=”large” onclick=”img_link_large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”custom” style=”double” accent_color=”#a09306″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_message style=”round” message_box_color=”alert-info”]Reviewed by CHI’AZIE (Ghost Writer)[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]