Akwaeke fascinates me as a writer and as a person. After all, their debut novel, Freshwater was an invitation into their life as they metamorphised with new additions of selves. Part of my fascination with their writing is in the diversity that they allow me to be a part of. As a half Nigerian, the death of Vivek reads like a nostalgic book as it reminds me of childhood, allows me to see words like the 'Nigerwives' , an association of foreign women married to Nigerian men(of which my late mother was a part of) used casually, to read less pleasant stories of the type of drama that occurred when there were power imbalances between parents in such homes. To just read a story of other mixed race Nigerians raised in Nigeria is not something you read everyday.
Vivek Orji includes similar themes found in Freshwater. Themes of owning one's sexuality and body in a world that is not accepting of its type of expression, of reincarnation, of love that is fluid and of mental breakdowns.
There is a definite pattern in how these things play out in Freshwater and in The death of Vivek Oji. I can only conclude for myself at this point, that perhaps Akwaeke concedes to the fact, at least in fiction that such boldness to live on the edge of society can only come with an unfettered mind which in these two books appear to not be made purely of human material. You need to be inhabited by beings and the other to live like that. So, you need to be insane.
As I read this book, I had a feeling of being enclosed in a space that felt confusing. It felt challenging to accept what many of the characters were indulging in. I still feel shaken by the graphic sexual episodes between Vivek and his cousin Osita. Is this incest? The word is never mentioned. As this story unraveled, many of the questions that sprouted in my mind were answered but one thing I could not put my finger on was why, if Vivek was a sort of reincarnation of Ahunna, would he/she want to live in that body. I might be sounding judgmental but there doesn't seem to be a real logic to how it works except to cause grief to a family you once loved in a past life. I am just not sold on what makes this an endearing event.
I love the way Emezi writes. Every sentence is captivating. Each twist is gripping. Every character is memorable. It will leave you feeling unsettled and forcefully pull you with its current in determination.