Point of View

Emezi’s novel incorporates sections in first and third person from the point of view of several characters. Some sections are narrated in a third person omniscient voice. This voice occasionally encompasses one character’s perspective for an extended stretch of time, and at other times switches between points of view rapidly.

The only two characters who act as first-person narrators are Vivek and his cousin Osita. Vivek’s narrations seem to be spoken from beyond the grave as he reflects on memories of his life. Most of the novel is written in the past tense, cycling between different timelines, but Vivek’s and Osita’s narrations are sometimes written in the present tense, either to reflect Vivek’s posthumous state, in which time does not appear to be significant, or to show glimpses of Osita’s state of mind at various times. For example...