MixedOpen Letters ReviewIn some ways, this feels exactly like the sort of novel a poet would write: it’s meandering, image-focused and its characters remain vague outlines. But in other ways it’s crafted more like a philosophical or surrealist novel that seeks to defy metaphor and psychologically describes the difficult feelings of the solitary protagonist ... Some of the most effective parts of the novel are the descriptions of Mr. Field’s new relationship to music ... This is a deeply meditative novel whose curious tone teases out tantalizing questions about how we position ourselves in the world and about the gap between our inner and outer realities. The story knowingly resists any form of logical plot or certain conclusions. It’s a book that readers will most probably find either richly engaging or frustratingly tedious.
Joseph Cassara
RaveLonesome ReaderCassara's style of storytelling is somewhat choppy in how it portrays scenes from a particular time period, often introducing readers to new characters and then tunnelling back to give his characters' backstories ... Nevertheless, it's an enthralling experience following these queens' powerful stories and I love how Cassara has dynamically brought them to life.
Akwaeke Emezi
PositiveOpen Letters Review...this courageous and inventive novel challenges Western assumptions about identity ... It’s refreshing how Emezi approaches a story of fractured national and racial identity quite differently from recent books that deal with similar themes ... Less convincing is that fact that the novel doesn’t deal with morally complicated aspects of the Nigerian culture that Ada eventually identifies and reconnects with ... despite these reservations, the impassioned point of view and inventive writing in Freshwater is something worth celebrating.
