First published in my Patreon newsletter: March 2023
Before reading Freshwater, I was already a fan of Emezi’s raw, vibrant and poetic storytelling, showcased particularly in The Death of Vivek Oji. And like the latter, the blurb of Freshwater entices but leaves out the intricacies of Emezi’s narrative focusing often on identity, the body, and the ego. I thoroughly enjoyed The Death of Vivek Oji but Freshwater is undeniably the best I’ve read of Emezi thus far.
This novel follows The Ada, as they are named by the ogbanje within them, and their coming-of-age from newborn, to adolescent, to a young person deeply aware of the feminine and masculine rooted within them. While the blurb speaks of Ada’s madness, the novel itself explores the marble of Ada’s mind and the forces at work within it. Forces spanning Igbo and Nigerian faith, Christianity, and atheism. Through the exploration of how these beliefs clash and mingle, Ada’s inner conflict is reflective of a generation growing up surrounded by transgressions and transitions. An environment in which the question ‘Who am I?’ feels unanswerable.
Emezi’s choice of multiple narratives to portray Ada’s coming-of-age brought theatre to mind with asides and soliloquies. By giving voice to the many parts of Ada, Emezi provides all readers with a complex and startling portrait of identity, how it lives, breathes, dies and is reborn again within us. Freshwater helped me further understand identity and even sexuality on a spectrum, or a sliding scale. This is why I adore and always recommend Akwaeke Emezi’s work, Emezi is gifted when it comes to enlightening the reader and it is a pleasure to receive it.
Kristiana Reed 
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