I loved everything about this book. Such a beautiful debut novella. I can't wait to read more from this author. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book.

As soon as I finished this, I went to Nelson's instagram to look at his photos, the pictures he's taken of strangers & loved ones -- it's hard not to want to, when this novel has such a specific, photographic sensibility, suspending impressions & details & movements in time & space, playing with light & shadow & shifting shapes. Even harder not to want to because it ends so beautifully & so poignantly, with an image of what photography can do in moving beyond looking at someone to seeing them, in translating people to each other & to themselves.

The photos I found were beautiful, as moving and tender and attentive and serious and joyful as Open Water -- there's a vulnerability to both, an honouring of the fragile thing that connects the subject to the artist to the audience, image to reality, memory to life.

(I also felt reminded of Zadie Smith's essay on Joy throughout, the difference between pleasure, a comfortable good thing, and joy, which is bigger & more dizzying & shadowed by terror. This novel, thinking as it does about moments of connection and community between black people, of dancing & sweaty nights out & shared passion, of freedom and falling in love, but also about racist violence, the ways that white supremacy manifest self-surveillance & self-suppression as self-protection, the brutality of everyday, conversational dehumanisation -- it's Zadie Smith's joy that I mean when i call it joyful, the terrifying vulnerability of loving & living despite.)

Powerful, thought provoking and it stayed with me long after I switched off.
A great contemporary voice to keep an eye on!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to access an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is not a good book. This is a great book.

A good book wraps you in a warm blanket and tells you a story. It might even show you a new perspective.

This book sucks you in completely, the story is yours the vulnerability, sadness, joy...You are no longer walking someone else's path, it is your own.

Maybe it's because the references are my own. Maybe I found myself in the music, the London accents, the places. Maybe it is because I looked through the narrator's eyes and saw myself. He a black man growing up with the pervasive racism still rife on London's streets. Me a Middle Eastern refugee. We are two opposite ends of a scale, with varying degrees of privilege between us. But our emotions and fears are the same.

That is what a great book does. It rips apart all the walls you have built and forces you to see yourself. Your fears, and vulnerabilities. And t o recognise them in the narrator and everyone else around us.

No. I will never call this a good book. It is a great book, a forever book. A book I reread days after finishing it. This is a book that will become a much read, slightly battered, cherished copy on the shelves.

A gorgeous book. Highly poetic, Caleb has such an amazing way with words which makes you feel like you're part of it.

Trigger Warnings:
Racism, Bereavement and Grief.

‘We were caught up in something. A happy accident. A messy miracle’
Caleb Azumah Nelson, Open Water

Most of the things I want to say about Nelson’s Debut have already been said on the jacket. It’s poetic, powerful, sombre and heartfelt. It’s a Love Song and a Love Story, and it’s delicately written. So, I suppose, all that’s left for me to say about it is why I think it’s all of those things; and trying to artfully explain myself, without ruing the chance for you to experience it for yourself.

Let’s start with the writing style; it takes a strong, careful hand to write in second person. To involve the audience as a direct character, choreographing them through the narrative without making them feel isolated and lost. Nelson wields his prose like a scalpel, carving through the intrigue and plot with fine precision. It’s painful and poignant in equal measure. It often had me feeling like a voyeur, leaning in through an open window, watching something I had no right to spy on. It made me feel shy, guilty; how dare I bear witness to this love story? These vulnerable moments. Especially when, as a white reader, one of the things that links to the two protagonists is their experiences in white spaces, isolated due to their Blackness. How dare I form an opinion of them, in these moments of Black Joy? Nelson describes his own writing best when he says,

‘I never felt unwelcome, but there was always something I didn’t feel privy to.’
Caleb Azumah Nelson, Open Water.

And whilst he is writing about a very different context, it would be impossible for a reader not to empathise.
‘You’ [the main character] are a mid-twenties Black Photographer living in South East London, a character which strongly reflects the creator, Nelson, who is a 26 year old British Ghanaian writer and photographer living in South East London. ‘She’ is a dancer, tall, beautiful, and a dancer. I love the juxtaposition of arts used here; a photographer, constantly on the outside looking in, much as the audience is. The dancer, caught in the motion of the narrative. Never in one place for very long, travelling, living, existing in their own plane of escapism. For such a short read, there’s a lot of delve into regarding their actions, their choreography, and their dialogue. A lot which isn’t said, without it falling into the cliché trap of ‘miscommunication.’

I’ll avoid talking about the disintegration that’s hinted in the synopsis, in an attempt to avoid spoilers; but – in case it was at all unclear from the above – I really enjoyed this novella over all. I couldn’t fault it, in anyway, which is why I’ve given it 5 stars. I hope you reach for it too, it’s worth the read.

Perhaps one of the most talked about novels to publish this year so far, I was dying to read Open Water and I’m so happy I did. The audiobook was fast and seamless. The narrator was also excellent.

This author is certainly one to watch out for, and the story is one I’d really recommend.

The language! The scenery! So delicate! It made me miss London and its vibrant atmosphere even more. Excellently read by the author.

I have heard so many excellent things over the last year online from other readers and picked it up with high expectations - and luckily it definitely met them!

I loved this book a lot, it was a complex and brilliant read and the characterisation was flawless

This is an absolutely stunning book about the complications of falling in, and sustaining, love. This is a love story set in South East London which enraptures the reader (or listener in my case!) The audiobook was elevated through a narration by the author. Lyrical, enticing, and heartwrenching. This is the first time I've finished an audiobook and immediately ordered a hard copy of the book. I loved this book.

I am so grateful I had a chance to experience this book as an audiobook. It feels like this book was designed to be read aloud. Beautiful, lyrical and moving, this is one I won’t soon forget. Balances powerful, poignant moments with soft, gentle scenes filled with love. I adored it.

This book is a love story, that is also so much more than a love story.

This book is so beautifully written. I felt that I was floating my way through this book. It made me feel part of the story yet also a casual observer, both intimate yet disconnected. This is a testament to Caleb Azumah Nelson's writing and narration for this audiobook, that he manages to formulate an intense love story, and share it with the reader, yet also maintain the private nature that any love of this type brings with it.

This is a love story but its more than that in the sense it looks at wider issues that impact Black British people, particularly young men, and how this shapes a person and also the people they love. This book was about the intensity of emotion which comes from being in love but also the implications of opening yourself up to this love.

Overall, this was a beautifully written and narrated story, and one that I can't wait to read again. I have a feeling that each read of this book will give the reader a new dimension to explore. This is what a debut novel should be, and I will definitely be purchasing any of Nelson's future books.

I was lucky enough to have an early copy of both audio and hard copy of this book for review.
This book has been getting so much hype, and has been stated as 'one to watch' for 2021. I was super excited to listen to the audiobook and read the hard copy of what is set to be 2021's huge hits. I had high hopes!!

However, I just couldn't get into this. The narrator of the audio book was incredibly monotone and boring to listen to so I found myself reading the hard copy a lot more. (although I did dip-in-and-out while doing housework etc.)
I love the imagery within the book, I love that it's set in London and I could picture every location at every moment. However I just couldn't connect to the characters. I enjoyed the writing style, but there just wasn't enough plot for me. Or enough connection to the two central characters.
It was an 'ok' book - but just didn't get the 'feels' that I wanted or expected.

This book may have been short, but it was incredibly beautiful. Although the second person narrative did mess with my head a little bit, I managed to get used to it and enjoy the story. I don't have too much more to say, all the other reviews on goodreads manage to articulate what I cannot.

Thanks NetGalley for this audiobook.

This is the second novel that I have read consecutively where the second person narrative is used and I am not convinced by it - yet. It is I guess a device to draw the reader in, peer over the shoulder of the author but can sometimes have the opposite effect and feel a little distancing, I find. That notwithstanding this novel is a heartfelt and poetic story of the nameless narrator, who shares the experience of being a black young man in South East London - mainly Catford. The vehicle, that he uses at the heart of the book for sharing his experience, is a burgeoning friendship between the narrator and a young woman, both of whom remain nameless. He is a photographer, she a dancer.

He meets her when she is already in a relationship and she understands that this new friendship is worth pursuing, and so they begin to hang out together, quite coyly at first, very respectful of their mutual needs until they have a secure platform on which to build something further. The author beautifully builds the relationship like a pas de deux, a graceful, blossoming togetherness. As the seasons change so does the rhythm of their relationship.

The author highlights life as he experiences it, the snubs, racist slurs and the ingrained and conditioned fear that rises when a police siren screams along. He is more likely to be a target because of who he is, prejudice accosts him on virtually a daily basis, and vigilance, he has come to understand, is essential. It is sobering to hear first hand some of the trials which face him in everyday life.

There is a great encounter with his barber and a darker period when there is considerable loss for him, the point at which he closes down emotionally. This inevitably impacts the trajectory of the burgeoning relationship.

London is the rumbling backdrop to his story, as his characters rendezvous, eat and seek out their entertainment. Uber taxis feature large, as the characters zip back and forth across the southern reaches and into the centre (I got quite cross with the character, who at one point ordered an Uber and then got engrossed in what he was doing and ignored the driver's attempts to get in touch; the driver presumable eventually drove off without his fare - bad form! 😠)

The poetic style is really quite beautiful, However, I listened to this as an audiobook where the author himself narrates the book. I think Azuma Nelson was not the ideal candidate to read his own work. It was like listening to poetry for a good 4 1/2 hours, there is no undulation and it could feel quite lugubrious.  Many people find audiobooks hard to listen to and claim they fall asleep at the best of times. To be honest the monotone of his voice felt at times quite soporific and I could only listen to it when I was actively on a walk, otherwise I risked my eyes closing and my attention straying.

So if you are tempted by this book, I suggest you read it rather than acquire the audiobook.

A love story like no other.

I’m fast becoming a super fan of audible books. Not just because I can get on and do other things while listening to a book, but because somehow, I can allow the story direct access to my senses. By listening, I feel as if the words are being “pumped inside” me. I can feel the words rather than just reading them.

Open Water narrated by Caleb Azumah Nelson not only has stirred all my senses, but it’s also opened something inside me that I’d (almost) forgotten I had, African heritage. Some reviews have said that Caleb’s voice is monotonous, not for me. Because this book is more like a poem on falling instantly in love, life in London, violence, falling out of love, deep depression, I can’t imagine it being narrated by anyone else except the person who wrote it. Caleb Azumah Nelson has used his African roots to write the storyline in a poetic way, used by Africans through thousands of generations to tell stories. It’s melodic, and the voice used at the end of the day relating stories of importance.

I loved how proud the protagonist is of his African heritage. How proud he is to come from Ghana. At the same time, he portrays how hard it is to be African (or black) in the United Kingdom. Stopped by the police for the slightest excuse. And always having to be aware that violence is lurking just around the corner. How hard it is to explain the feelings of his black life even to his black girlfriend.

If you want to hear just how hard it is to be black in a white society, then please listen to Caleb explain. We all need to learn how to walk in another person’s shoes and feel their pain, their joys, and more about their culture.

Caleb, I can’t wait to hear your next poetic masterpiece. In the meantime, I’ll listen to Open Water again and again.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

Open Water is a tender and moving debut about two young black artists in South London. The story explores their intense connection that blossoms into an epic love story (and how painful love can sometimes be). Nelson wrote this lyrical book it in the 2nd person - so it’s definitely not for everybody but I thought it was such a joy to read. It’s also filled with rich cultural references such as Zadie Smith and the Notting Hill Carnival. A truly remarkable read!

I loved the book but I was not convinced if teh author was the best narrator for it as there was not much of the distinction between parts of the book and the reading was quite flat in palces.

I love a good love story. So few novels about love get the right balance between poetic feeling and poignantly rendered realistic detail. But Caleb Azumah Nelson confidently combines these elements to produce a debut that's beautifully distilled yet expansive in what it's saying. It's about two young black British people who meet in a pub in South East London. Their relationship starts as a friendship and tenderly eases into romance. They're in their early-mid twenties and trying to maintain their artistic aspirations while earning money. He's a photographer and she's a dancer. Nelson narrates the story in the second person to focus on his perspective. This gives the compelling effect of being at a distance at the same time as being privy to his innermost being. It's like the act of being photographed itself where you feel curiously both inside and outside yourself at once. There's a lot in this book about the act of seeing which develops in nuance and meaning with the impactful refrain: “It's one thing to be looked at, and another to be seen.” There's a freedom in truly being yourself but there are consequences that come from such vulnerability. “Open Water” powerfully captures the longterm effects of two specific people who really see each other as uniquely beautiful and endearingly flawed individuals.

The story references and pays tribute to the influence of current writers like Zadie Smith and Teju Cole – in the case of Smith through a literal meeting with her at a book signing. As well as giving a sweet nod to these figures it makes complete sense that the male protagonist is guided by these writers' words as he ponders what it really means to inhabit a black body. It's powerful how his story shows the complicated formation of his masculinity as he's expected to be both tough and sensitive, grateful for his opportunities as well as resigned to the knowledge that he's undeservedly feared. Momentary respite from these pressures is elegantly captured in fleeting encounters with other individuals at Carnival Sunday or in a barbershop where there's a shared understanding of this ever-present burden. There's a swirl of experiences described in brief, emotionally charged chapters from getting a takeaway after a night out to a joint being shared with a near stranger to tearfully watching the film of ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ to the sobering intrusion of being stopped and searched by the police. And there's also the heat and romance of this young man and woman alternately finding and losing one another. This is such a short book but I feel the resonance of all these moments and sensations like memories.

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson is hands down one of the best books I’ve ever read, and one of the best books I will ever read.

Thank you to @vikingbookuk for the audio version, which was read by the author, which made it that bit extra special. I couldn’t fault the audiobook at all and I feel so in love that I pre-ordered the physical copy so I can underline and annotate to my heart's content. There’s so many quotes and passages that I never want to forget or let go of.

If you’re a fan of lyrical and tender writing then I’m sure you’ll love this book as much as I do. The vulnerability and intimacy throughout Open Water kept me up at night and lingered on me during the day. I can’t get it out of my head, and I don’t want to.

Open Water follows the relationship of a photographer and a dancer, focusing on themes of racism, police brutality, masculinity, the impact of trauma, whilst centering around their love.
It’s an extremely strong and achingly evocative piece of writing, somehow packed into 150 odd pages, or four hours on audio.

This is the strongest debut I have ever read, which is a strong statement but one I stand by. I’m also not one for a romance or love story however Open Water was the easiest 5 stars I have ever given to a book. It’s tender vulnerability within a contemporary setting, full of realism and incredibly important, relevant issues and topics makes it such a powerful read with a lasting impact.