This was a bit of an uneven read for me. Some moments gleamed and brought me to tears, especially the grief of Kavita and Osita. I really appreciated how every single character, regardless of their actions, was given some moment of grace, or tenderness, by Emezi. Other moments and characters fell flat. Mostly it read as a pretty conventional contemporary. Which isn't inherently a bad thing, but if you loved Freshwater and were hoping for something similar from Emezi, it might not be quite what you were hoping for.