Review: Freshwater, by Akwaeke Emezi

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Fantasy

Goodreads

Ada’s father wanted a girl child so much he prayed – and his prayers were answered. By another god altogether than the one he prayed for – and thus the children of the snake goddess Ala, bloodthirsty and merciless, were born in the body of Ada, driving her insane little by little.

This is a dark, gritty and delicious fantasy. I was hooked from the beginning! There are several fantasies out there with gods, but a lot of times the stories are rather tame. Freshwater is not tame at all – it makes you feel like you are going through all the dark thoughts Ada is going through, like you could understand the limitation a god feels in human flesh. It was so, so interesting a read.

I had issues with sometimes having to re-read sentences or entire paragraphs to make sure I hadn’t misunderstood things. Some characters are presented in a not entirely clear way, meaning that you have to keep reading to find out if you should know them by now or not.

I adored the myth representation in this book. It’s wonderful to read fantasies set or inspired by myths that aren’t the usual things we’re used to reading, and I loved this one very much. I particularly liked the parts when other gods make an appearance, how different and yet similar they were to each other.

This book reminded me a bit of Middlegame in terms of being a dark story about gods and the consequences of having human flesh but a god-like mind. In terms of mythology and being gritty, it reminded me of Black Leopard, Red Wolf. So if you liked those particular aspects of this book, I think these two will make great follow-up reads!