I feel like Akwaeke Emezi brings so much of themselves to this book. Like Vivek Oji they have a Nigerian father and an Indian mother. They both grew up in places where gender and identity weren't fluid, while identifying outside of this binary.

The Death of Vivek Oji is a heartbreaking book. It has such a gradual sadness that slowly seeps into the pages. By the end I was sobbing. It was way past my bedtime but I couldn't go to bed without finishing the last 50 pages.

Vivek is dead from the very first line of the book, yet the book brims with the life of Vivek Oji.

The chapters from Vivek were almost my favourite part of the book. The close friendships that are formed in the second half of the book were very touching too.

The book is about friendship, trust and grief. It's about religion and clashing cultures. It's about queer sexuality, gender identity exploration and becoming the person that truly feels like you.

Apart from Vivek, his mother Kavita was a standout character. She's absolutely wreaked with grief throughout the book. Her grief over losing her child is all-consuming. We see her struggle with letting other people grieve for Vivek. It's an uncomfortable reminder that parents don't own their child. That parents have no control over who their children grow into or who they interact with in the world around them. And like the synopsis says: what does it mean for a family to lose a child they never really knew?

When Vivek's parents spoke about how they expected their son to look, act and behave I wondered how many similar conversations Akwaeke Emezi had overheard or been forced to listen to. And I know this isn't a book about Emezi, but because of their own gender identification every exploration of gender and sexuality is done tenderly and with so much empathy.

This is a stunning and sublime book, full of unforgettable characters and a story that is utterly engrossing.