Why Open Water is more than a love story 🌊 a book review

[@NettaSelene]

Apologies for my Barry White voice here 😂 I'm recovering from being a bit sick (not COVID)!

[@studybug2010]

What????!!!! I was just about to type a request that you would do a video of your reading at length. Your voice is soothing and makes for easy absorption of what you are saying. I'm sure you are long pass recovering for being sick. I do hope so at least.

[@NettaSelene]

I have recovered, thank you!!

[@marias.5812]

I just finished this book and was completely enthralled. What a talent, what a story, what a gorgeous way to present tender love, fear, trauma, connection, brutality. This book pierced my heart. 💙

[@NettaSelene]

I'm *still* thinking about this book. It's unshakeable!

[@moodreadsandhotcoffee]

I am 40% of the way through Open Water and had to look for others talking about it. I love this book beyond belief. It will certainly keep me going back to it over and over again and is now among my all time favorite lineup. So many beautiful layers. I have to be honest, I didn’t know a lot about it. Had not heard anything at all about it until yesterday. It had me at hello once I read it was about a photographer and a dancer in London. I needed nothing more than that and I am so glad I went in blind.

[@NettaSelene]

It's so good, I'm glad you enjoyed it so far. I know it's been a little while, but have you had a chance to complete it? I'd love to know what you thought overall if so!

[@Holly-yf5ik]

This is such a great book review. Your approach is so thoughtful, sensitive and insightful, and your delivery is so calm and eloquent 👏👏

[@NettaSelene]

Thank you so much, your kind words mean a lot!

[@nicolesherman8974]

This was beautifully said. I just read this book, and now the author is on my list for my favorite Black authors. The way he used the movies Moonlight and Boyz n the Hood as examples of masculinity and vulnerability was well put. I may even buy a physical copy of this book for my collection.

[@NettaSelene]

Exactly, I still think about lines from this book regularly. I just got his latest release and can't wait to hop in!

[@jonathonglover6488]

What a thoughtful and intelligent engagement with the novel. I listened to it as an audiobook, so it was awesome to see you outlining some of the motifs that I was hearing throughout the novel on the page. I really liked how you outlined the use of the 2nd person you, which I noticed throughout (and if you want a novel that takes it tot he next level you should check out ‘If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller’) and the idea of the protagonists not having a name. This makes the novel both an incredibly personal look into love, race, gender and trauma, but also a wider universal experience, as our narrator is all of us. Finally, I like how you pointed out that this novel explores the mundane, but it does it with language with so poetic and profound, with such haunting recurring motifs, that it elevates the mundane to the exceptional. Thanks for the awesome review 👏

[@NettaSelene]

Just added If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller to my list, thank you for that rec! I loved this book, it still sits with me a year and a half after reading and making this video. I just picked up his latest release and can't wait to dig into it! Appreciate your kind words

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Hope you’re feeling better! “Specifically vague” is a great term to use for reviews 😂 I read Open Water last year and really loved it. A very moving and beautifully written book that felt important to me in a way that few do. Great video.

[@NettaSelene]

Thank you! NYC allergies are really coming after me lately. Yes, I think I'm still processing this book tbh, I've never had a book move me in this way. There really aren't enough words to describe…

[@fen5122]

I just wanted to say - what an insightful review of such a beautiful, deeply moving book! You really did it justice :) I recently finished Open Water and was stunned by just how significant of a book it really is. The second person (you, you... you!) as you mentioned was unique and purposeful, making the main character's experiences feel entirely, powerfully real. Somehow, I didn't even notice that the two main characters were unnamed until you raised that! They just felt so three-dimensional, tangible; for the lack of a better word, they felt real. As a white reader living in Australia (where, despite undoubtedly having issues of racism, strict gun regulations make police brutality slightly less pervasive to the degree it is in America) the representation of Black people's constant, as you mentioned, generational fear surrounding police was profound and extremely eye-opening. I will never truly be able to grasp the brutality subjected to Black people, as I have not lived such experiences, but I am grateful to have the privilege of listening to Black voices such as these. The intertextuality too!! I nearly screamed when I saw a Blonde reference in there (I would do anything for Frank Ocean)!!! Such a perfect, beautiful, profound, IMPORTANT book! Thank you for putting such a thoughtful review out into the universe!

[@NettaSelene]

This is such a great comment, thank you so much for taking the time to write this! This book is still constantly on my mind nearly a year later. I can't wait to read his new work!

[@manuldeenanayakkara2068]

i just finished this book and ive never read such an an amazing book. the writing. the characters. the story. i am a whole new person now.

[@NettaSelene]

It's overall perfection, honestly. I can't wait to read his new piece!

[@moonbootman320]

Wonderful, insightful review, Netta! Really enjoyed your words and the way you summed the great beauty of this book up. Thanks for posting. Big love X

[@NettaSelene]

You are so welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed!

[@EstherNjoku23]

Am a little late to the party, but i just discovered open waters, read the first chapter. Its was quite confusing at first, actually still is, trying to figure out who the narrator is. Much love from Germany.

[@NettaSelene]

Never too late to drop by! The narrator is the male protagonist, the entire book is from his perspective. I hope that helps!

[@gabytrevisan]

Love your review!

[@NettaSelene]

I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you!

[@mohamedmakkialderweni2424]

What an amazing review. Keep it up Netta.

[@NettaSelene]

Thank you!

[@M-J]

I watched your short and ran right over here! This books sounds amazing. 👏🏻😂

[@NettaSelene]

Bahaha, yay! Thank you, MJ!! Please do let me know if you decide to read this!

[@M-J]

@@NettaSelene Oh am going to, just need to figure out when. 😊

[@meandpeace123]

Phenomenal video! So well done

[@NettaSelene]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@heathersneddon8866]

Such a stunning writer

[@NettaSelene]

I’m still thinking about this book! I need to read his latest.

[@Robert_Fiori]

The book drips with mushiness, so I couldn’t get into it.

[@NettaSelene]

"Drips with mushiness"! Fair enough!

[@the_creepy_geek]

Fantastic video!

[@NettaSelene]

Glad you liked it, thank you, Gem!

[@GBNGAMUSIC]

Great Vid!

[@NettaSelene]

Thank you!

[@badsaladsadbalad]

Hey, do you think I should read this book? I am 16.

[@NettaSelene]

Hi, this is a hard question for me to answer because I don’t know you! But I will say if you’re interested, give it a try, and if anything makes you too uncomfortable, don’t feel obligated to finish it.

[@Nicholas-Prince-Milverton]

Whilst I rated the ode to our black British culture, the author borrows far to heavily from James Baldwin's style, does far too much name dropping (and reviews in the middle of a story) and all the characters sound the same...

[@NettaSelene]

Hey, you don't have to like it!

[@Nicholas-Prince-Milverton]

@@NettaSelene yes sure. But sharing opinions on a piece of work is important