Freshwater by Awaeke Emezi

"She was a question wrapped up in a breath.  How do you survive when they place a god inside your body."

Freshwater is a novel unlike anything I have ever read which is something that rarely happens in my reading life.  It took me a long time to really sink into this story due to the fact that there is a lot of dense perspective to get through but I am incredibly glad that I stuck with it because the complexities blended beautifully into a unique perspective of a woman (Ada) with dissociative identity disorder which is narrated by the different personalities themselves.

The slightly disjointed feel to the story would traditionally be a pain point in my reading process but, in this case, it perfectly reflected the fracture of Ada's soul into these unique personalities and it worked seamlessly into the narrative.

This book will take you deep into many trigger worthy issues like sexual assault and suicide so please keep these things in mind before you crack the spine on this novel.  That said, when you let yourself into The Ada's world, you will be afraid that you will not get back out.

Thank you goes out to Grove Press, Akwaeke Emezi and Netgalley for and advance copy of Freshwater in exchange for an honest review.

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian

This novel started off really interesting.  A woman wakes up next to a dead body and has no idea how it died and only a vague idea of how the vodka-fueled hookup could have ended so poorly.  I was hooked for the first few chapters as we followed Cassie's drunken memories and reactions to this unexpected chain of events.  I found myself wondering what I would have done in that situation and how it was going to play out.

Then the middle of the book happened.  We know who killed the dude so there is no mystery of "did she or didn't she", a good 30% of the dialogue centered around Cassie's alcoholism. People admonishing her for drinking too much, her admonishing herself about drinking too much. Even total strangers telling her she drinks too much.

The final third redeemed itself somewhat by providing a slight twist that I didn't really predict but seemed to fit.  Skip the epilogue though...it was unnecessary and kind of made me angry.

So - on my rating scale it ended up a solid three.  I didn't hate it but I didn't love it, but I think there is an audience for it so definitely give it a try.

I'd like to thank Chris Bohjalian, NetGalley, and Doubleday publishing for providing me a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.