Book Review: Little Rot
Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi was remarkable! The psychological thrill of it met the balance of believably dynamic and complex characters in a way that I have been needing to read lately. As I always say, I often write better about a book than I talk about it lol so enjoy both. (You can watch my book reflection on Instagram, and an extended version on TikTok.)
The central theme of this novel is the juxtaposing crosshairs of sexuality and religion. Emezi doesn’t shy away from the sexuality spectrum in Little Rot, allowing fleeting moments and one-off encounters to tip the scales of sexual exploration and allowing the characters to be fluid. Never truly harping on an absolute of heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, and so forth. For that - I applaud them for writing about it as evidently, and simply complex as it is. Religion is never too far behind the conversation of sexuality, inserting itself and appearing when it doesn’t truly have to be present, and occasionally being contradictory and predatory when it’s unfortunately weaponized for personal gain. I think the two can exist, but as I saw from the characters in Little Rot, it will look different from person to person.
I’m not naive enough to assume that this is the standard livelihood of everyone who has a hand in the sex-working industry, but I’m conscious enough to open my mind to its various forms of dangers. Directly and indirectly. Patrons and masters. Willing workers and those forced (by economic need or coercion or any other reason). I’ve read only a few other novels on sex work and to see how it plays out for those who are higher up in the ranks of wealth and power revealed the aching entitlement and dismissal of the bodies that are doing the work.
Little Rot does not hide the dangers of sex work, nor does it hide the dangers of denying yourself the ultimate pleasure to exist in this world the way that you genuinely want to. How the over-compromising and burying of one’s self can lead to a damning spiral.
Little Rot was entertaining and complex, a hell of a weekend if I’ve ever read one, and it’s the work of a mastermind. A part of me wants to know the grit that went into researching and writing such a story, but I know that’s probably another book all on its own. Without a shred of doubt, Little Rot will be the talk of the summer!
You can purchase a copy of Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Bookshop, or anywhere else books are sold. It releases on June 18th, 2024.
(By purchasing from the Amazon & Bookshop links above, you will be supporting Intro to Eclecticism through affiliate links. Thank you in advance — it helps keep the blog going.)