As a debut novel, Freshwater is impressive. It comes out swinging and doesn't let up. There's a ton of really raw, intimate content here (the transitioning passage made me feel like I was reading the author's journal).
I have a few issues with it, and they primarily concern the pacing. At first, it reads like classical mythology. Then it shifts into a more generic, coming of age novel. Then it lurches into really dark territory. Towards the end it becomes a blend of all that came before it. It didn't quite gel together for me.

I suppose that I'm a bit to blame here. I was far more interested in the mythology and the way the ogbanje functioned. I found it interesting that I could spend the first quarter of the book reading about how spirits took warped a twisted a little girl without paying it much mind, but when she was raped, THAT was when I was unsettled. The spirits that possess Ada each have their own unique voices and different ways that they both inflict and help her deal with trauma. There's so much trauma here. Passages about self harm and an unhealthy relationship with sex. I wonder if I would have read it over a longer period of time if I would have liked it more. Towards the end, I was tired of reading about Ada being abused.

It's a book that merits discussion, that's for sure. How much of it was evil spirits? How much of it was a young girl trying desperately to deal with a history of abuse? How much of it is to be read literally? Unfortunately, I think that a lot of the powerful emotions and ideas are hidden below layers of myth, symbolism and a forever shifting timeline.