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Freshwater

Akwaeke Emezi

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An extraordinary debut novel, Freshwater explores the surreal experience of having a fractured self. It centers around a young Nigerian woman, Ada, who develops separate selves within her as a result of being born “with one foot on the other side.” Unsettling, heartwrenching, dark, and powerful, Freshwater is a sharp evocation of a rare way of experiencing the world, one that illuminates how we all construct our identities.

Ada begins her life in the south of Nigeria as a troubled baby and a source of deep concern to her family. Her parents, Saul and Saachi, successfully prayed her into existence, but as she grows into a volatile and splintered child, it becomes clear that something went terribly awry. When Ada comes of age and moves to America for college, the group of selves within her grows in power and agency. A traumatic assault leads to a crystallization of her alternate selves: Asụghara and Saint Vincent. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these selves—now protective, now hedonistic—move into control, Ada's life spirals in a dark and dangerous direction.

Narrated from the perspective of the various selves within Ada, and based in the author's realities, Freshwater explores the metaphysics of identity and mental health, plunging the reader into the mystery of being and self. Freshwater dazzles with ferocious energy and serpentine grace, heralding the arrival of a fierce new literary voice.

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Posts about this title from Mood Reads

Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Jan 16 2025

January Mood Check

Everything I've been reading, watching, and listening to so far!

19 books

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Posts about this book from across Bindery

Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\ \ Alex (he/him/his)\ \ • Jul 1

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\ \ Join for free or login](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/item/WDwnf00vRaSu76W1l69f/)

July Book Club Theme - "Water" (Recommendations & What I'm Reading)

9 books

Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\ \ Alex (he/him/his)\ \ • Jun 28

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50+ trans book recommendations 🏳️‍⚧️

Over 50 trans book recommendations for the Trans Rights Readathon and Trans Reading Challenge ranging from memoirs, nonfiction, romance, contemporary, YA and middle grade, and some SFF.

69 books

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2-Spirit Bookshelf\ \ (@Indigenousbookshelf)\ \ • May 6

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Hey Bookish comrades!\ \ It’s Mental Health Awareness month! If you are familiar with my IG, you probs know I have my fair share of MH struggles. I have had a hard time my entire life. I've tried all the pills, all the therapies, all the groups, the treatments, the detoxes, the hospitals, the cultural things, etc. But Every day is still a struggle for me. Medical trauma and stigma is SO real. I've experienced so many horrors in hospital. But I've been lucky to have people who care and have held me in my darkest hours. Now, some days the pain is paralyzing, others I can be ok! I’m just trying to do the teeniest tiniest things to push through. Showering, walks at night, tending to my plants, crafting, reading, sitting outside with a tea.\ \ Below is a list of books I recommend that deal with different mental health conditions. And If anyone has suggestions for books on other mental health issues I’d love to hear!\ \ Mental Illness/ Developmental Condition Rep:\ \ A Mind Spread Out On The Ground - Alicia Elliott | Memoir / Depression, Anxiety(*Indigenous author)\ \ Things In Nature Merely Grow- Yiyun Li | Autobiography / Suicidal Depression\ \ Almond - Won-pyung Sohn | Litfic / Alexithymia\ \ Get Me Out of Here-Rachel Reiland | Memoir, BPD\ \ Interesting Facts About Space - Emily Austin | Litfic / Anxiety\ \ Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh | Litfic / Addiction\ \ Rough Magic - Miranda Newman | Memoir / BPD\ \ The Autistic Survival Guide to Therapy - Steph Jones | Self-Help / Autism (recognizing\ \ Girl interrupted - Susanna Kaysen | Memoir / BPD\ \ Making Love With the Land - Joshua Whitehead | Memoir, Essays / Eating disorder (*Indigenous author)\ \ Giovanni’s Room - James Baldwin | Litfic / Depression\ \ The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath | Litfic / Depression\ \ Furiously Happy - Jenny Lawson | Memoir, Humour / Depression, trichtillomania, anxiety,\ \ You Better Be Lightening - Andrea Gibson | Poetry / Depression\ \ Betty - Tiffany Mcdaniel | Litfic / Various MH issues such as addiction, trauma/PTSD, psychosis, suicidal depression, etc(*Indigenous author)\ \ What My Bones Know - Stephanie Foo | Memoir / C-PTSD\ \ A Two-Spirit Journey - Ma-Nee Chacaby | Memoir/ Addiction, PTSD(*Indigenous author)\ \ An Anthology of Monsters: How Story Saves Us from Our Anxiety - Cherie Dimaline | Autobiography, Essay / Anxiety(*Indigenous author)\ \ Krik? Krak! - Edwidge Danticat  | Litfic / Various MH issues such as Depression, PTSD, Psychosis, etc(*Indigenous author)\ \ The Crying Book - Heather Christle | Memoir / Depression\ \ Fire Song - Adam Garrett Jones | YA / Depression , etc (*Indigenous author)\ \ While You Were Out- Meg Kissinger | Memoir / Various MH issues such as Bipolar, Depression, Anxiety, Addiction, etc\ \ My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh | Litfic / Depression\ \ All the Bright Places - Jennifer Niven | YA / Bipolar disorder\ \ Everything Here Is Beautiful-Mira T. Lee | Litfic / schizoaffective disorder, psychosis\ \ Shred Sisters- Betsy Lerner | Litfic / Bipolar, addiction\ \ Freshwater - Akwaeke Emezi | Litfic / DID (if framed by a western lens)(*Indigenous author)\ \ Pitiful - Brandi Bird | Poetry / Eating Disorder, Depression, Psychosis, OCD (*Indigenous author)\ \ Notes of an Indigenous Futurist - Cliff Taylor | Memoir / Depression, Addiction (*Indigenous author)\ \ Boy Swallows Universe - Trent Dalton | Litfic / Addiction\ \ Building a Life Worth Living - Marsha Linehan | Memoir / BPD\ \ Join for free or login

Mental Health Awareness Month - A Book List

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Sunny's Book Truck\ \ CJ\ \ • Jul 29 2025

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[Hi nerds \ \ Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you may have seen the New York Times latest interactive piece compiling the Top 100 Book of the 21st Century. I, along with some of my bookish peers, immediately noticed a few authors who were snubbed, so I got to work on compiling my personal top 100.\ \ I gave myself a few restrictions, so the below list is made up of only women and queer authors. Translated works post 2001 count, but I also let a few books in that were repackaged recently (re: McNally Editions) that I would argue truly found their readership for the first time in the past 20 years, despite their earlier pub dates. I also limited myself to just one title per author, which was probably the hardest part of this list making.\ \ I also want to note that this isn’t necessarily my favorite top 100 books, nor what I am deeming the greatest. Some I’ve included simply for the cultural phenomenons they’ve become in my realm of the bookish internet.\ \ Finally, I am not a genre or poetry reader unfortunately, so this list leans literary and is restricted to titles I’ve already read. All books have been compiled on Bookshop.org here if you’d like to purchase any of them. The below list is not ranked, I’m not doing that to myself! I’d love to see your own if you make one. Let me know what you think I left off in the comments, I’m ready to fight.\ \ The Top 100 \ \

• Just Kids: the only romanticizing of 1970’s New York I can stand for.\ \
• Boy Parts: finally an American Psycho but for the girlie pops.\ \
• Dancing On My Own: a brand new essay collection I think everyone should read.\ \
• Hunger: my introduction to fat phobia and diet culture.\ \
• Commonwealth: this wouldn’t be a list by me without an Ann Patchett.\ \
• A Room Called Earth: neurodivergent rep at it’s finest.\ \
• The Night Circus: my carney ass loves this fantasy novel.\ \
• The New Me: satirical workplace culture, classic “women vs. the void”.\ \
• The Idiot: a perfect campus novel.\ \
• A Field Guide to Getting Lost: this broke my brain in college.\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
• Dept. of Speculation: vignette perfection!!!!\ \
• Circe: greek myths and witches for grown ups.\ \
• Little Weirds: a tender and perfect essay collection.\ \
• Assembly: a perfect execution of restraint.\ \
• Calypso: again, this wouldn’t be a list by me without Sedaris. I love him.\ \
• White Teeth: what can be said about Zadie Smith that hasn’t already been said?\ \
• The Doloriad: literally the most evil book I’ve read to date.\ \
• Nevada: trans roadtrip narrative, a queer cornerstone.\ \
• Birnam Wood: a perfect sprawling character driven thriller.\ \
• Beautyland: the most earnest novel on this list.\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
• No One Is Talk About This: perhaps the great Twitter novel?\ \
• Sisters: a modern gothic ghost story.\ \
• Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl: queer smut!!!\ \
• Detransition, Baby: queer questioning of what it means to make a family.\ \
• Infinite Country: border politics and big family dramas.\ \
• Bunny: do we think this was the first TikTok book for lit fic? Horror lite.\ \
• Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead: misanthrope representation.\ \
• Real Life: bad friends and bad sex in the Midwest!!!\ \
• The Undocumented Americans: I loved this personal exploration of citizenship.\ \
• Pond: one of a kind, shimmering.\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
• The Glass Castle: one of my favorite memoirs of all time.\ \
• The Friend: dog freaks unite.\ \
• Land of Milk and Honey: food writing!!!\ \
• Martyr!: sad sack artist, diaspora, hidden identities.\ \
• The Rabbit Hutch: Blandine is one of the most memorable narrators ever.\ \
• White on White: an excellent art novel.\ \
• I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness: maybe my favorite desert novel?\ \
• The Performance: climate change, a book in acts, I loved it.\ \
• Lapvona: this is my favorite Moshfegh, fight me!\ \
• The Life of the Mind: academia woes.\ \ \ \ \
• The Wall: dystopian adventure novel excellence!\ \
• Cold Enough for Snow: what claim do we have to know another's inner world?\ \
• The English Understand Wool: I could have read 1000 pages more of this.\ \
• Hurricane Season: one of kind, relentless, harrowing.\ \
• A Little Life: some call it trauma porn, some call it the book of our generation.\ \
• Girl, Woman, Other: a polyphonic modern classic.\ \
• Convenience Store Woman: lonely and charming.\ \
• Freshwater: a completely effective depiction of dysphoria.\ \
• The Sluts: cursed!!!! I loved it.\ \
• No One Belongs Here More Than You: this changed my teenage brain chemistry.\ \ \ \ \
• I Hold a Wolf by the Ears: surreal, eerie, perfect.\ \
• Luster: women on the verge, art, race, open marriages.\ \
• Indelicacy: I loved this tiny novel. Labor, class, women.\ \
• Pew: hysteria and mass psychosis build in this creepy little gothic story.\ \
• Open Throat: we need to be reading more about gay mountain lions.\ \
• Severance: our great apocalypse novel.\ \
• Motherhood: Heti went inside of my brain to write this.\ \
• Tonight I’m Someone Else: this book reminds me of a heatwave. Desire, youth!\ \
• The Employees: an incredibly singular look at work and consumption.\ \
• A Manual for Cleaning Women: this book smells like cigarettes and windex.\ \ \ \ \ \ \
• The Body Is Not an Apology: an actually helpful guide to radical self-love.\ \
• Pachinko: an intergenerational family epic.\ \
• Burnt Sugar: THE mommy issues novel!\ \
• The Year of Magical Thinking: loss and charting the unknown waters of grief.\ \
• A Minor Chorus: queer Indigenous survival.\ \
• Strangers to Ourselves: I really loved this deep dive into mental health.\ \
• Second Place: my favorite Cusk. Art, marriage, family.\ \
• The Copenhagen Trilogy: a masterful piece of confessional writing.\ \
• Painting Time: for everyone with art school trauma.\ \
• Mona: the third act of this short novel is incredible.\ \ \ \ \ \ \
• Monstrilio: literary horror with a monster metaphor.\ \
• In the Dream House: the most original memoir I’ve ever read.\ \
• Hot Milk: rage, myth, modernity!\ \
• Monarch: cryptic and weird, Jungian and eccentric.\ \
• Death by Landscape: an incredible essay collection about the age of extinction.\ \
• Vanishing Twins: marriage, queerness, LA.\ \
• The Shame: internet obsession and envy.\ \
• Braiding Sweetgrass: sacred Indigenous nature wisdom.\ \
• Sarahland: maybe my favorite short story collection ever.\ \
• The Pisces: classic Broder, still her most memorable to me.\ \ \ \ \ \ \
• Bluets: there’s no one like Nelson, a genre busting legend.\ \
• The Days of Abandonment: unhinged Ferrante is my favorite Ferrante.\ \
• Boulder: motherhood, thankless identities, freedom.\ \
• Emergent Strategy: society-help to craft the collective future we deserve.\ \
• Paradise Rot: horror and wonder, hyper-sensual.\ \
• Dogs of Summer: 90’s queer girlhood expertly depicted.\ \
• The Book of Ayn: radical selfishness and ego-death in our modern age.\ \
• Y/N: the extremities of fan culture, a lucid fever dream.\ \
• Fake Accounts: a precise skewering of internet culture.\ \
• Brutes: girlhood is horror!!!\ \ \ \ \
• Tender is the Flesh: we love a cannibalism plot.\ \
• Something New Under the Sun: a darkly satirical take on our ecological reality.\ \
• Normal People: it was a cultural reset.\ \
• The Hard Crowd: Kushner is one of my favorite thinkers, I love this collection.\ \
• Hamnet: transportive, the only book that could get me to care about Shakespeare.\ \
• Revenge of the Scapegoat: familial trauma, chronic illness, academic labor.\ \
• The Goodby People: post-Manson, pre-Disney Los Angeles.\ \
• The Seas: a perfect, sparkling coming of age novel.\ \
• They: an uncanny depiction of artistic suppression and its consequences.\ \
• The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish: sisters, abuse, mental illness.\ \ \ \ That's all for today! Love you, mean it!](https://sunnysbooktruck.binderybooks.com/item/JJficBy182vkmlZBITvZ/)

Sunny's Top 100 Books of the 21st Century

Girls and gays edition

27 books

16

1

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jun 22 2025

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get to know my book taste tag | will we vibe or FIGHT?

get to know my reading taste and see how closely it matches yours! i feel like this could become the new booktube newbie tag, no?! definitely make your own video versions of this tag, but also feel free to sound off in the comment section and share anything you want to about your own reading taste!

12 books

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Apr 26 2025

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Kyle is now on his LAST book on the reading road to rings!

Kyle is now on his LAST book on the reading road to rings - but equally as important, he finally understands why we’re all obsessed with Akwaeke Emezi.

📚 books mentioned: - Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

@groveatlantic @kylewatkinsphotography #readingroadtorings #bookproposal #bookengagement #freshwater #akwaekeemezi #grovepress #literaryfiction #fantasybooks #nycinfluencer #bookstagram #starrysteph

1 book

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Apr 18 2025

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bookish brand trip?!? | shelves and the city los angeles 2025 vlog!

Shelves and the City (the sequel) was just as special as the first. and truly much more exciting for me because I got to hop across coasts!

disclosure things: Shelves and the City a bookish brand trip (centered around BookTok, but most of us are on Bookstagram and BookTube as well) created by HarperCollins, specifically Avon Books, Harper Voyager, William Morrow, and Epic Reads. Our flights, meals, hotel, and group activities were paid for. We were not required to post or do anything in exchange (though of course we all are, haha) - this was a gifted appreciation trip.

📍Locations and things mentioned: - Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons hotel - Reparations Club - https://rep.club/ - Erewhon lol - Fox Studios - LouLou Santa Monica - Playland Arcade on the Santa Monica Pier

☆ featured links ☆ 💫 join me on bindery (celestial - exclusive content, discord, book club, and more): https://celestial.binderybooks.com/ 👗 $30 off of your first nuuly rental (nuuly doesn't sponsor me in any way - this is just a referral link - but boy am i open to it): https://share.nuuly.com/steph4962

↓ find me in more places ↓ 🎵 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@starrysteph 📸 insta: https://www.instagram.com/starry.steph 📚 storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/starrysteph 🦋 bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/starrysteph.bsky.social 📖 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/147956803-steph-starrysteph 💌 email: starrystephbooks@gmail.com more (news articles, discount codes, etc.): https://beacons.ai/starrysteph

☆ resources ☆ 🇵🇸 learn more about the history of Palestine: https://decolonizepalestine.com/ 🇨🇩 learn more about what's happening in the DRC: https://friendsofthecongo.org/ 🇸🇩 Sudan Solidarity Collective: https://sudansolidarity.com/

los angeles book tour | booktok booktube bookstagram | brand trip vlog | harpercollins | shelves and the city | reparations club | bookfluencer trip | book influencer brand trip | beverly wilshire four seasons hotel | erewhon | fox studios lot | lou lou santa monica | playland arcade on the santa monica pier

4 books

2

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Mar 9 2025

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30+ trans & nonbinary book recs | trans rights readathon 2025 prep!

feel free to recommend your favorite trans book in the comment section (or pitch your own if you're an author)!!

let's fill these comments with love so this video doesn't end up on the scary side of the algorithm.

☆ featured links ☆ official trans rights readathon website (with TONS of resources): https://transrightsreadathon.carrd.co/ PLEASE sign up here to be included in the data: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/2025-trans-rights-readathon 💫 join me on bindery (celestial - exclusive content, discord, book club, and more): https://celestial.binderybooks.com/

☆ everything I mentioned (in order) ↓ - Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi - Dear Senthuran by Akwaeke Emezi - Pet by Akwaeke Emezi - Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi - The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi - You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi - Content Warning: Everything by Akwaeke Emezi - Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi - The Deep by Rivers Solomon - Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon - An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon - Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White - The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White - Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White - The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros - Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros - Bone Weaver by Aden Polydoros - Ring of Solomon by Aden Polydoros - The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey - Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey - Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas - The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas - Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas - Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki - Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness by Da’Shaun L. Harrison - Heavyweight by Solomon J. Brager - The Seep by Chana Porter - The Devourers by Indra Das - The First Bright Thing by J. R. Dawson - The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia - Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo - Station Six by S.J. Klapecki - Junker Seven by Olive J. Kelley - Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto

↓ find me in more places ↓ 🎵 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@starrysteph 📸 insta: https://www.instagram.com/starry.steph 🦋 bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/starrysteph.bsky.social 📚 storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/starrysteph 📖 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/147956803-steph-starrysteph 💌 email: starrystephbooks@gmail.com more: https://beacons.ai/starrysteph

34 books

1

The Inky Phoenix\ \ Kathryn Budig\ \ • Feb 28 2025

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SISTER SNAKE author Amanda Lee Koe’s favorite books

On the last day of February, we’re highlighting SISTER SNAKE author @amandaleekoe’s favorite books, and yes — you’re going to want them all.

Clarice Lispector – The Hour of the Star Han Kang – The Vegetarian Ursula K. Le Guin – The Left Hand of Darkness Carmen Maria Machado — Her Body and Other Parties Bernardine Evaristo – Girl, Woman, Other Andrea Lawlor – Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl Akwaeke Emezi – Freshwater Mariana Enríquez – Things We Lost in the Fire

9 books

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Sapph-Lit\ \ Nina\ \ • Feb 10 2025

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Happy Black History Month from Sapph-Lit 💗

Remember that Black history is also American history, it doesn’t stop & start in just one month. These books are for every month of every year! Read up, open your purse, and buy titles you’re interested in from indie bookstores 🫡✨

48 books

4

Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Jan 16 2025

January Mood Check

Everything I've been reading, watching, and listening to so far!

19 books

2

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Sep 14 2024

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one star reviews of books i loved!

which one convinced you the most? 😭 part sixteen of one star goodreads reviews of books i enjoyed!

10 books

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 21 2024

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green flag books

omg how many books did i even pull for this?? i would have more if i owned physical copies of more of my faves! 🟩 green flag books!

20 books

Sapph-Lit\ \ Nina\ \ • Aug 7 2024

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August Book Poll

Did you know our @bindery_books community decides what books we’re going to vote on each month? 👀 These were the titles they singled out from my August long list! 🔗 in b!0 if you want to join our Bindery Babes for less than a cup of coffee a month 🫡🩵✨ #sapphlit

7 books

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jul 18 2024

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pre-proposal required reading

i got a lot of questions across platforms about the reading list i put together, so here you go! (ps. he’s already read & loved the fifth season - if you know me and you’re wondering why it’s not on here haha.)

7 books

Written Reveries\ \ Krystal\ \ • Apr 16 2024

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\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://writtenreveries.binderybooks.com/item/q712YOhj7C3lQTuxReKj/)

Five Auto-buy Authors

I love all of these authors, and will buy anything they write.

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