step2yagirlbookclub discussion

Questions/Thoughts to be discussed:

I have two aspects of the book I’d like to discuss:

The (lack of) development of the character Mary. She seems to go through an odd transformation from the object of Chika’s affection to a religious fanatic. We only really see her character greatly involved in the plot during these two instances, and I found there to be a puzzling disconnect between them.

I wonder how the book would have read had it been titled The Death of Nnemdi rather than Vivek Oji.

*Death of Nnemdi

Hey guys,

Since I won't be able to make it to the first meeting (it's 2 am for me) I thought I'd just share my thoughts and respond to Emma's previous comment.

- I agree with Emma in that Mary's character was hard to connect with, I think the initial introduction with her being Chika's almost crush was unnecessary given that nothing else happens and there is no reference made to any tension etc. I also thought that there was no build-up to Mary being incredibly religious as there was no discussion of religion broadly. After Mary and Kavita have the falling out we also lose touch with Mary and she only comes up in brief instances which again creates a disconnect with her character.

- Referring to Emma's comment re the title, I actually think that The Death of Vivek Oji makes sense as the story shows that it was not just the literal death of Vivek but the character or persona of Vivek that dies as well. The Vivek that we are introduced to is gone and Nnemdi is the rebirth or the evolution of the character. I think Kavita changing the name on the gravestone embodies that in some way.

- I really enjoyed the fact that when the Osita, Juju and Co were debating telling Kavita the truth we both know something more than Kavita does but at the same time, we also want to know what happened. As a reader, I felt like I was in the know but at the same time there was a lot more we had to figure out.

- I appreciated the changing of pronouns and how significant that was in the interaction between Osita and Nnemdi, I thought it was written very beautifully.

- I would have liked more insight on the incident with Vivek watching Elizabeth and Ostia and how that was internalised by Vivek's character, it could have also helped develop Vivek's internal growth a little bit more.

- I also enjoyed Nnemdi's reflections on what the other characters thought especially after we find out what happened with Osita. Maybe this speaks to what we think about death generally.

- Finally, I thought the plot line surrounding Chisom and Ebenezer to be a bit random for me the only link to Nnemdi/ Vivek was the market place being the centre of Chisom and Ebenezer's final reconciliation when Ebenezer is worried about Chisom, maybe I missed something?

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, I think it took me a while initially to get used to the structure but the perspectives of the different characters works quite well. Can't wait for our next book!

Some questions to discuss:

- What did we think of Vivek's cause of death? What's the significance, if any, of Osita ironically being his "murderer"? Why doesn't Osita tell his friends or his family about his death? Why does he keep his necklace when Kavita wants it :(

- What was the significance of the spasms/spells Vivek experienced as a child/teen? Why aren't these mentioned when he is older? Are they perhaps meant to illustrate that from a young age it was clear that Vivek did not belong in the current world or in his current body?

- Why do you think Emezi chose to have Osita and Vivek be cousins? It makes the idea of their relationship a bit more "uncomfy" and taboo. Why not have them just be friends? Or, does their multifaceted relationship (lovers, cousins, and "brothers" as they often refer to each other as) serve some sort of special purpose?

- Why have Vivek be born on the same day of his grandmother's death and have the same scar that she had? Is Emezi trying to suggest that he embodied her female spirit? I feel like we didn't learn enough about Ahunna to assume anything else.

- Why did Vivek's friends tell Kavita about how he dressed like a woman but not be explicit in revealing his sexuality? Is this implied? Or did they feel that they had to draw a line when admitting the truth to Kavita?

- Do you think Emezi is critiquing Nigerian society? Or merely wants to celebrate LGBTQ characters? Maybe both?

Some of my general thoughts that are probably less productive than my above questions:

- What's with all the sex? Was anyone else a bit surprised when Juju and Osita just had sex after Vivek died? Like, aren't you in a relationship with Elizabeth who just freaked out cuz you made out with Vivek?? I think the author used the Osita-Juju sex scene to show that Vivek still had some earthly connection to the both of them (or perhaps, just Osita, as he felt her presence but Juju did not). It seems Emezi was trying to drive home that Vivek is still watching over his friends and is happy that they are happy, and that he "lives on" through their sex (which felt odd to me). This idea of Vivek remaining "alive" in some sense is also demonstrated when Emezi includes Vivek's mini chapters where he is a narrator and is speaking even when dead. But anyway, if Juju and Elizabeth's relationship isn't important, why include it in the story in the first place?

- This might be a hot take, but I didn't think the story/plot overall was fantastic. I think Emezi is relying a bit too much on the novelty of writing stories about gay/bi/trans characters (esp in a more conservative society relative to the Western world) in order to give the story most of its weight. I'm not saying that the novel's storyline isn't "enough" or is superficial; rather the way it was executed was a bit disappointing. To illustrate, I think when Emezi started calling Vivek "Nnemdi" and "she" she was expecting that transition to be this huge climax - but it just didn't do much for me. Juju and Elizabeth's relationship further proves my point. Their relationship doesn't add much to the story; I perceived it just as "oh, here's another cool same sex couple, this will make the story more interesting." Idk, I wanted more meat to the story and more emotion. Maybe that is just me.

- Going off my above point, I think Emezi focused too much on that novel factor of moving away from hetero characters, and in so doing sacrificed meaningful character development and relatable characters you can grow with as you proceed in the story -- factors that (in my opinion) set good books apart from the average ones. I'd argue that Juju, Elizabeth, Somto, Olunne, Mary (this is touched on in Emma's and Reem's comments), and Ekene hardly develop; Kavita and Chika only "develop" in accepting their son's true identity after his death (Kavita is so laser-focused on her son and his death that she doesn't care at all about her husband's infidelity-why this one dimension to her character?); Vivek develops from a boy who seems to have some sort of medical condition (the frequent spasms) > someone who hides away and grows his hair out > someone who dresses like a woman, has sex with men, loves Osita, and embraces his true identity (this is a big development, yes, but I don't think that journey is really touched on in the story, it just sort of happens). Osita arguably develops the most - but to me it wasn't enough for a satisfying story.

- Why all the shitty straight men? Chika kisses his brother's wife and cheats on his own wife in a particularly grotesque/graphic way as she mourns the loss of their son. Charles starts a whole other family and is abusive towards his wife Maja. Ebekenezer (not sure why he gets his own chapter but regardless) also wants to explore other women at one point. Osita doesn't really seem like the nicest guy until he comes clean about his love for Osita. Is Emezi trying to make a point through these straight, male characters?

Hope some of that made sense and looking forward to discussing! :)