Category: literary fiction

african author, african stories, Black Authors, Fiction, LGBT, literary fiction, Nigerian Author, romance, We Chit Chat

We Chit Chat – Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh

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“It’s one thing to love a child, but it’s an entirely different thing for the same child to feel loved. A home is the last place a child should feel conditionally loved.”

Leggy: I remember seeing this book months ago on Bookstagram. An Asian content creator popped up on my feed talking about this book and I sent it to you and suggested we read this.

Taynement: Yep! It was a book by a Nigerian author being spoken about by a non-Nigerian and it piqued my interest because something I always talk about is wondering how people who aren’t familiar with the culture digest books about Nigeria.

Leggy: This book follows Obiefuna, who was born into a lower middle-class family in Nigeria. His peculiarities make him the black sheep of his family and when his father finds him in an intimate position with another boy, he ships him off to seminary school.

Taynement: To be clear – his peculiarities to them were the fact that he loved to dance and wasn’t particularly good at sports but in reality, he was gay. Obiefuna was a rainbow baby after his mother suffered many losses. He turned out to be a golden child, and his parents attributed their successes to his birth, and he held a special place in his mother’s heart. His father makes the sole decision to ship him off after finding him in a compromising position with a male apprentice without letting his mother know the reason why.

Leggy: This is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I think what makes it so impactful is how quiet and not exaggerated it is. Every time I thought the author was going to make an outrageous choice he always chose something different. And I think the quiet choices make this book even more powerful because you recognize the characters. You know this would absolutely happen in Nigeria. There’s no exaggeration to pull you out of the story and other Obiefuna’s humanity.

Taynement: Yes, it was very realistic, and I agree that it was quiet and not exaggerated. It’s funny because some other books that I have as my faves this year share those same characteristics.

Leggy: What did you think about his experience in boarding school?

Taynement: I think it was true to form. I chuckled when his dad chose that as a form of punishment because it was almost predictable that he would explore his sexuality there. I would say though that I had my heart in my throat the entire time because I kept expecting him to be raped especially when he built a connection with Senior Papilo.

Leggy: Exactly. I was like sending your son to an all-boys school because he’s gay is a choice. That’s something I loved about this book. I thought Senior Papilo was going to rape him as well but that never happened. The author never made any shocking choices and that choice would have been expected.

Taynement: But again, another reason I liked this book is also showing how flawed our parents’ generation was in parenting. They just did not have the tools. His dad thought he was doing his best. Another way that this manifested in the book is when Uzoamaka (Obiefuna’s mother) visited the hospital with Anozie (Obiefuna’s father) and the nurse makes the comment about him being a good man because he accompanied her to the hospital when most men wouldn’t. Anozie loved his family, and he was showing up for his wife.

Leggy: I do believe Anozie genuinely loved his family. He even tried to hide the fact that he found out Obiefuna was gay from his wife because he thought it would break his wife’s heart. When they finally had the discussion in the open and she told him where else would a boy like him be loved if not at home?

Taynement: I do think certain threads were left loose or maybe I did not pick up on their usefulness to the story. The two most prominent were – Ekene’s (Obiefuna’s brother) plot purpose and when Senior Papilo takes him to a brothel.

Leggy: I think Ekene served as a juxtaposition to Obiefuna.

Taynement: I get that, but I don’t know if it was well done. The juxtaposition didn’t seem to have any effect on Obiefuna? Basically, if he was left out of the story would it have affected my understanding of Obiefuna?

Leggy: It was because of him that Obiefuna even came in contact with any traditional masculine things. He would have never gone to the football field if Ekene did not exist. Also, even though Ekene was not that smart he was left in the private school while Obiefuna was moved to seminary school because of his gayness leading the private school to have a meeting with Uzoamaka inquiring why Obiefuna was moved.

Leggy: I also expected Obiefuna’s brother to turn on him at some point because he was portrayed as so macho and being complete opposite of him, but they actually stayed closer than I expected them to. When Obiefuna comes back from holiday and Ekene sings for him to dance. I thought that was such a touching scene.

Taynement: The scene where he tells Obiefuna to dance, do you think it was him acknowledging it? Ekene just seemed to be in the dark about a lot of things.

Leggy: I absolutely think he knew. And I think that scene was a way for him to acknowledge it without having that conversation especially from someone considered traditionally masculine. He was never going to confront it head on.

Leggy: Also, about Senior Papilo taking him to a brothel, honestly, I thought Papilo was gay the way he gathered all those young boys to himself, the way he treated them and the way they competed for his attention. So, when the brothel happened, I was confused. I was actually relieved that the boys just went to a brothel. I genuinely thought they were leaving the school to do something more sinister like armed robbery and that Obiefuna was going to get caught up in it. I was so relieved that that wasn’t the case that I didn’t even think about the brothel anymore. But I think it speaks to how straight men initiate younger boys into what they believe manhood is.

Taynement: Interesting. I do think Papilo is gay but wasn’t going to “give into it”. Papilo is one of those Nigerian men who will marry a woman and live a straight life and a part of me wondered if he was giving Obiefuna an out by taking him to the brothel.

Taynement: And something that struck me was up until the end of the book had Obiefuna actually had sex? He mentions touching and rubbing and we never really going into the nitty gritty of his relationship with the artist.

Leggy: They never described his actual sexual relationship with the artist. Only that he did a lot of drugs with him and I was so worried because obviously Obiefuna was depressed and grieving and I was worried about the path he was heading down. But he never had actual penetrative sex with the long-term boyfriend that comes after the artist.

Taynement: Overall, I think that is the beauty of this book. It was written so well, and it maneuvered from topic to topic so deftly and the story just flowed.

Leggy: This book culminates with the 2014 law that criminalized gay relationships with a hefty 14-year sentence. That was devastating to read about.

Taynement: It was a good balance of reality. I liked the fact that Obiefuna found a community because they do exist in Nigeria.

Leggy: And then when one of his friends was kitoed. By the way, this is an actual thing that happens in Nigeria and that’s when straight men pose as gay men on dating apps to lure gay men out and then they get beaten up, videos are made of them confessing to be gay and then they are robbed while law enforcement looks the other way.

Taynement: All in all, this was a fantastic, well-written book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Leggy: Such a fantastic book. I loved it so much and it was an easy read.

Book Related Topics, Fiction, Historical, LGBT, literary fiction, Memoirs, romance, women's fiction

3 for 1 Book Reviews

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It’s been a minute, so figured I’d do a three-fer before the year runs out. The reviews features a beloved author, a memoir and a Booker Prize winner.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid: If you have been a long time reader of the blog then you know how much I love me some TJR, in fact I ranked all her books here. I was excited to read this one but it pains me to say that it didn’t hit the way the other books did. One of the things I like about TJR as an author is how versatile she is and how she doesn’t have a formulaic writing style. This one centered around Joan who is an astronaut. Based in the 80’s it showed how she had to fight to be recognized in her field but it was also a book about Joan’s sexuality at a time when she couldn’t necessarily be loud and proud. In hindsight, seeing how much praise this book has received, I am wondering if I’m the problem. Now don’t get me wrong, the book was not bad at all but I do think it was all over the place. There were so many storylines and timelines and didn’t seem well put together as is typical of TJR. It took me a minute to get all the characters right and remember their respective timelines. It also felt like I was being forced or told what to feel and I’d rather it be organic.

Flesh by Davis Szalay: FOMO got the best of me, and I had to see what all the fuss was about and even after reading it, I still don’t get it. Listen y’all, I am trying to get used to this new wave of abstract writing. The book follows Istvan from when he was a teenager in Hungary where he experiences something traumatic and then we follow him to London as he gets older and lives a completely different life, almost as if the incident never happened. As he gets older and has all these different experiences, I keep thinking they would have some connection to each other but the more there didn’t seem to be one, the more confused I got about what the point was. I do think it is a very character driven book (which aren’t usually my favorite) so that could be the explanation for that but if the character didn’t seem to be processing all the things that were happening to him and doesn’t seem to care, it’s very hard for us the readers to be invested and care as well. The ending felt like walking into a glass door because I didn’t realize that was the end. It was very abrupt. Someone needs to explain to me why this was the winner of the prize.

Accidentally on Purpose by Kristen Kish: Kristen from Top Chef fame wrote a memoir and she is such a lovely person (and a hottie) and that was probably most people’s motivations for reading this book and unfortunately it was just okay. I know everyone wants to write a memoir but if you are not willing to be VERY open or share salacious details then it’s okay to just leave it in your journal. Kristen does the thing where you share but you aren’t really sharing anything. Even when she gets to certain points, she doesn’t name names. You do get the sentiment of the title where it feels like everything just fell into place for her in her career, even though she has the talent, there was still a great deal of luck on her side, and I appreciate her owning that because sometimes successful people feel like admitting luck diminishes their hard work. I also liked how she admitted not having a desire to find her bio parents (she is adopted) and not really looking into her Korean roots until later in life. Kristen does share her deep love for her wife, and you can see it come through. There is a point in the book where she is talking about her and we hear sniffles and honestly, it felt put on (don’t hate me!). I don’t think there should be one formula for a chef’s memoir, but I will say that there wasn’t that deeeeeep passion for food that you usually hear from other chefs, and it just seemed like something that’s part of her life. It felt like there was more of a passion for hosting (and that’s okay). I listened to this on audio. Overall, I don’t think it was terrible, but I don’t think it was very good either.

So there you have it. Have you read any of this? What did you think? Do you want to check out any of this after reading these reviews? Let me know!

Taynement

african author, african stories, Black Authors, Fiction, literary fiction, romance, We Chit Chat, women's fiction

We Chit Chat: My Parents’ Marriage by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

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Leggy – I’d never heard of this book before you asked for us to read this together. Also, I thought it was a nonfiction book about the author’s parents’ marriage, and I went into it without knowing anything about it.

Taynement – Yeah, I saw it on Instagram from a follower, and it looked interesting. I love me an African family drama plot. I found it quite interesting, not necessarily because of the writing but more from the human psychology aspect.

Leggy – I ended up finding it deeply fascinating. Also, this book is compulsively readable.

Taynement – Yes! I found it to be such an easy read.

Leggy – I started it yesterday and finished it in 24 hours. It’s hard to put down.

Taynement – The author kept it simple and didn’t overwrite it which I think you would expect because of the complexity of the subject matter. To break it down – the book centers around Mawuli Nuga and how his sexual indiscipline affected his many families, but the story is told through one of his children – Kokui and how her quest to beat the cycle of her father’s actions landed her into a different kind of cycle.

Leggy – Yes, she kept it simple and actually showed you the story, the family and the men without having to spell it out to the readers. She didn’t hit you over the head with any agenda.

Taynement – The book does start with a family tree which means nothing to you before you read the book but makes all the sense when you’re in it.

Leggy – Yeah, I skipped that family tree. It’s just like fantasy books that start with a map. I never study those. I think that if you do your job well, then I’ll know what is in the family tree or in the map after I’ve read your book.

Taynement – Like I always say when we do this, I always wonder how non-Africans ingest a book like this because it makes sense to us, but it must seem so strange and bizarre to them. Mawuli kept making babies and swapping wives like underwear with nary a thought of how they felt. We see the different ways the wives/mothers handled it with Kokui’s mother choosing to go back to her home country but choosing to still stay a legal wife for her children.

Leggy – And then accepting him as a husband once a year when he comes down with the kids for Christmas.

Taynement – While the current wife chose to ignore his indiscretions with the hope of getting his assets upon his death. Thing is, it’s so common for Africans to find out they have outside siblings that I can see how Mawuli didn’t bat an eyelid.

Leggy – Nothing about their dad even fazed me.

Taynement – Children are a sign of success.

Leggy – And he accepted and trained every single child, even the older Antony guy who he disowned. He still paid his way to London and paid his fees till he dropped out.

Taynement – The main fascination of this book was Kokui. Before we get into her, I did wonder why the author chose to make her sister a side character and not do a side by side.

Leggy – I’m glad we just focused on one person. I think a side by side might have made the book more bloated, but I also think she just wanted us to follow one person and see if the person can break the cycle.

Taynement – That’s fair. It was just a floating thought.

Leggy – It’s so easy to run your mouth about all the ways your parents are doing life wrong until you’re having to make those same choices.

Taynement – Kokui was so determined to not be her mum and thought her mum was basically an idiot which I understand, but what I didn’t understand was the swiftness in which she wanted to marry her husband. It was so immature and… idiotic?

Leggy – I actually didn’t think her mum was an idiot. I understand why her mum stayed. Her mum thought her staying would secure her children’s inheritance. Their mother told them that their dad promised her that one of the two of her girls would be appointed to run his company. She felt like she had made a shitty choice in marrying him and was trying to salvage it as best as she could. But yes, I found Kokui to be such a dumb and stupid character. I also went from not liking Boris to being as irritated as him about Kokui’s decisions and naivete.

Taynement – I think she was immature and tunnel visioned. You have to remember that she was privileged. A privileged kid who didn’t seem to realize how privileged she was. She thought her father’s indiscretions gave her a ticket to say she had a hard life. Which part annoyed you the most?

Leggy – The way she kept saying she wanted a job that would give her a spark. Like girl, you are working in New York illegally. Where would you get that job?

Taynement – Lol. Again, naive. What did you think of Boris in the NYC days?

Leggy – I understood him completely. He was being realistic about their lives. They needed to save. Also, he made the right decision not to rent an apartment for those first 6 months before they left for school but to stay on Sammy’s couch. That’s how they saved so much money. Also, Kokui staying and helping out with babysitting was always the logical thing to do.

Taynement – So even before they left for New York, I think there was an underbelly to Boris. He wanted the benefits of her dad but was uncomfortable with it.

Leggy – I felt that from the second they met. That’s why I was so annoyed by her being so fascinated with him. You could tell there was an anger at her for having an easier life. Also, her desperation to marry him and to have a better marriage than her parents was insane. I would think the more logical thing would be not to marry at all. Why did she not dread getting married? Why did she run so fast towards it?

Taynement – Indoctrination. She thinks she’s so above it all but could not fathom rebelling against the norm by just not getting married. Another aspect I found fascinating is they both disagreed on a lot of things but were on the same page when it came to kids.

Leggy – That was such a relief that they were on the same page with kids and even birth control. Imagine bringing a kid into that and overcomplicating the relationship before you’ve had a chance to figure out how it’s all supposed to work. Also, at least Boris was hardworking and smart. Honestly, my fear was that he would become abusive. That’s also why I liked this book so much. It wasn’t cliche in the way I was expecting.

Taynement – Yes, exactly. His deference to Sammy annoyed me.

Leggy – I think he was just grateful to how much Sammy helped them those first 6 months in New York City. Do you think Kokui succeeded in having a marriage better than her parents?

Taynement – I think it was too soon to tell and another tick for the author for me. I like how she didn’t make Boris bad or good and truly showed the complexities of a relationship. I was fully with Kokui wanting to leave but then her seeing that he was ambitious and was there for her through the big thing that happened, it wasn’t so clear cut. I honestly didn’t consider her parents’ marriage a marriage. It was an arrangement. At least Kokui and Boris cared for each other.

Leggy – I think it was a marriage. Remember they were together for 12 long years before the big reveal which then led to the rift that we see in the book. I agree with you about Kokui and Boris’ marriage. I like that it wasn’t black and white, it was very complex. And nobody is ever going to give you that perfect marriage. There are things that should be deal breakers and then you should just try to live with the ones that are not.

Taynement – I actually think they can make it work. They need time, maturity and money.

Leggy – Yes, I think their marriage is going to be fine. It won’t be the fairytale marriage she envisioned but it will have the messiness of what a real life actually consists of.

Taynement – Were there aspects of the book you didn’t like?

Leggy – Honestly when I started this book, I was so annoyed by the characters but after finishing it, I just felt like there was no misplaced word. All the things I thought I did not like from the beginning became a piece to the puzzle that we could not do without. I didn’t think it was the best written book ever, but it told a very simple story in a compelling way.

Taynement – Yes, the bones of the story were good enough to get away with such simple writing. Would you recommend this to someone?

Leggy – Yes but honestly probably just to other Africans.

Taynement – Ha. If we do have any non-African readers, I’d love to know your thoughts on this book.

dystopian, Fantasy, literary fiction

Book Review: Tilt by Emma Pattee

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“You and me, when we die, we’re going to evaporate back into the earth like we were never even here. Bodies made of air, bodies made of dirt.”

Annie is 9 months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. With no way to reach her husband, she decides to walk to his workplace and then go home with him. As she makes her way across Portland and witnesses human desperation, kindness and depravity, Annie reflects on her struggling marriage, her disappointing career and her anxiety about having a baby.

“People will tell you that everything is clear in hindsight, but really it’s just rewritten.”

The events in this book all take place within a day. As Annie makes her way across Portland, she forms an unlikely friendship with a young woman who helped her at IKEA, and they walk some of the way together. Annie’s reflection about her marriage and her past was super compelling to listen to. Looking back at the stagnation of your life when it’s been upheaved is very fascinating. She performs an autopsy of her life and marriage and how she got there, as she walks to her husband. And I did not like her husband, at all. I understand how hard it is to let go of a dream, but I felt like he was selfish in not accepting that that dream was dead.

“I want something more than this. That thought is like a pebble tossed inside a lake, sinking down into darkness. It’s better to forget the things you want but don’t have. The happiest people are the ones who want what they already have. This ache, this ache inside of me, I don’t know how to get rid of it.”

This is not a thriller or a suspense. I suspect this expectation and its ending, are the reasons for the middling rating on Goodreads. The book ends at the end of the day with no resolution; nothing is wrapped up in a pretty bow. We are still in the middle of a natural disaster that has decimated hundreds of thousands, and Portland is still on fire. This book is primarily about the journey and not about the destination. I enjoyed the writing so much and I think it kept me pushing. Also, this book is less than 250 pages, so it goes by fast. I think this is a well-executed and thought-provoking novel and you should give it a try.

“While washing the dishes, only be washing the dishes—that’s what he always says. Some Buddhism shit he read on Instagram. Only a man could say something like that.”

If you like plot driven books, then this is not the book for you. Plenty happens since this is the middle of an earthquake, but nothing actually pushes the plot forward. This book is purely character driven and I completely understand why so many didn’t like this book, but I did. If you go into it after reading this review with a clear understanding of what this book is, I think you’d like it too.

Have you read this one? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Leggy

Black Authors, Chick-Lit, Fiction, literary fiction, race, romance, women's fiction

Book Review: Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan

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“The world isn’t designed for women like me. Women who’d rather be single literally for years than settle for a partner not worthy of her”

The third of the Skyland series, this story focuses on Hendrix Barry. Hendrix is a great friend, a good daughter, thriving in her career in the entertainment industry and is also happily single with no interest in having kids. Everything is going well until her mom is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. As Hendrix is trying to adjust to this new reality she meets Maverick Bell.

Maverick Bell is a tech billionaire fresh off a public breakup from a relationship that ended because he doesn’t want any more kids. He is also still grieving the loss of his grandfather to Alzheimer’s as well. The two meet at a party hosted by his ex-girlfriend and it’s an instant connection and attraction. Seems easy but one catch is Maverick’s ex-girlfriend, Zeze have a budding friendship and is Hendrix’s business partner for an upcoming TV show. Does Hendrix stay loyal to a new friend or pursue this once in a lifetime connection? (spoiler alert: she chooses the man)

“Last night, was Maverick asking me to give up my dreams? Or asking to run with me while I chase them?”

I like Kennedy Ryan’s writing and this was no different. Ryan finds a way to infuse real life into romance with a sprinkling of steamy and a dash of fantasy living and this book is no different. As someone who doesn’t really read romance, she serves it in a way that I can digest. We get to read the book from both Maverick and Hendrix’s view point and it was good to know what the other was thinking. Ryan made sure to let us know that she had first hand experience with Alzheimer’s and I think she did a good job of showing how much this disease affects a family both from the person who has it and the caretakers involved. I appreciated how much care she took with the subject matter.

“You said being whole means acknowledging all our parts. And that there were parts of me that wanted to be held, want to be needed and loved.”

Ryan has always been consistent with her characters cherishing strong friendships where the women are always there for each other and encourage each other and I appreciate it. Another thing she did in this book was provide representation for curvy women who are confident in their body and a man who appreciated it. Hendrix is also a woman who was not opposed to being partnered and lived a full life and I liked how it was okay for her to pursue that when she met someone she considered a partner. Her choice to not have children was also good to remind people that it is possible to have that choice.

“I want you to believe that. Every love isn’t forever. We can love people along the way. Relationships can begin and then end.”

Now I liked this book and as a stand alone it is good but I think I’ll say this was the weakest of the trilogy as it was formulaic for me. I am not knocking Ryan for finding a formula that works – Protagonist meets man, there is mucho attraction, they overcome obstacles and decide to jump in, they have hot sex, there is usually an illness/death (which I know she draws from personal experience) and then they live happily ever after with lots of hot, steamy sex. But not without the love and support of good family and good friends – but by the third book the novelty has worn off for me and I know what to expect.

As with most romance novels, I think you have to suspend disbelief for certain things for the story to move along. Some may consider dating the ex of an associate a little messy but maybe the whole point was sometimes you have to be selfish and go for what you want. Overall, it’s a book with a lil’ something for everyone and it works. It’s just that I wanted to love it but only ended up liking it enough.

Taynement

Fiction, literary fiction, Mystery, romance, thriller

Book Review: All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

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“When it comes to marriage, love is merely a visitor over a lifetime. Respect and kindness, they are the true foundations.”

It’s 1975 in Monta Clare, a small town in Missouri, and girls are disappearing. When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted and is saved by a local, partially blind boy – Patch, the lives of everyone associated with him will never be the same. Patch and those who love him, discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. Everyone’s search for answers will lead them to years of sadness and unexpected paths.

“At ten years old he realized that people were born whole, and that the bad things peeled layers from the person you once were, thinning compassion and empathy and the ability to construct a future. At thirteen he knew those layers could sometimes be rebuilt when people loved you. When you loved.”

This book was published last year, and the hype was insane. I actually requested this book from my library countless times and just never took the plunge to read it. I kept sending it back and requesting it again and again because there was something about the blurb that told me I would not enjoy it and that thing was absolutely right. This book finally checked out to me while I was away on holiday, and I finally took the plunge. It did not live up to the hype for me at all. All the characters did not feel like real people, they felt like literary characters that can only exist in a book. I don’t expect to relate to characters; I just want the author to convince me that that character exists somewhere on earth and Whitaker failed on that account for me.

“God is a first call and a last resort, from christening to death bed. In between is where faith is tested. The mundanity. Anyone can drop to their knees when they’re facing crisis, but doing it when everything is steady…”

Let me first say that this book is extremely well written. I can quote you a million lines that show you that Chris Whitaker is a damn good writer. I also think you would like this book better if you know what to expect. So, I’m going to tell you what to expect – this book is a sloooooowwwwww character driven drama. Yes, it is a mystery but it’s not a traditional mystery. This is a book about what happens after you’re saved from what could have been a terrible tragedy. Whitaker takes the scenic view to get you to the end. Which would be everything you hoped it would be, except the journey there is so circuitous and meandering that you just want it to end.

“The shrink they make me see, she taps her pencil and frowns at me. And she talks about how we construct our ideals out of our own past mistakes. And I wonder what exactly a mistake is. A thing we should not have done, right? But if learning is built on trial and error there can be no mistakes, only rungs on a ladder to someplace better.”

I never understood Saint’s motivations to do what she did. I think her whole life was dedicated to Patch and I never understood it. It felt like Saint was absolutely in love with Patch while Patch did not feel an inkling of romantic love for her. Every decision Saint took was to the service of Patch and I understand doing that when you’re young and he’s your only friend. But when Patch comes back and Saint remains utterly devoted to him, I just did not understand her motivation. Patch never did a single thing to deserve all that and it’s like the author realizes that at the end and just decides to have Patch make a stupid decision and then claim it was for Saint.

“Saint knew that for some it was written in the stars that no matter how hard they fought their road did not lead somewhere good.”

This book was 597 pages. It did not need to be this long. I gave it 3 stars purely because of the writing and its satisfying ending.

Have you heard of this one? Have you read it? What did you think of it?

Leggy

Fiction, literary fiction, women's fiction

Book Review – You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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“What’s in a name? Well. A name is the beginning of your brand, so, what’s in a name?”

Meredith is a mid-level influencer who meets Aspen at a party. A newbie who is trying to break into the music business. Meredith takes her under her wing, gives her a makeover and tips and the two become best friends. Aspen meets Ben, they get married, have three kids including “instagrammable” twins and Aspen finds her niche as a momfluencer and surpasses Meredith as an influencer. The two have a falling out, Meredith finds one of Aspen’s kids iPad that has her schedule and proceeds to sabotage Aspen. Aspen has no idea all this is happening and is wondering why her life is falling apart. Meredith goes missing and it opens up a well of secrets.

“I learned long ago to stop apologizing so much for everything”

Sometimes, a book doesn’t have to be on all of the lists and have all the bells and whistles that make it complicated. It could just be a simple thriller with all the right components and that’s what this book was for me. I am notorious for saying that most thrillers don’t thrill me but I was thrilled by this. I liked that it was centered around the culturally relevant world of social media/influencing and the pressures of keeping up appearances that come with it. Sutanto painted a clear picture of the behind the scenes of being an influencer and curating a perfect life.

“The only reason crazy bitches exist is because there’s always some asshole gaslighting us into losing our shit”

Sutanto also does a good job of streamlining so many topics so it didn’t feel convoluted. She made sure to get to the point and didn’t drag out plot points. This was one of the rare times where the pain of unlikeable characters didn’t overshadow the book. I was able to enjoy the book even though the characters were terrible people. It was also great to read a book where the lead characters were Asian and their race was not made to be a central point. The characters were allowed to breathe and just be human beings.

“America is obsessed with beautiful missing women.”

There is a twist in the book that some may call predictable but I wasn’t expecting it and I actually gasped. After the twist, everything felt like a speed chase but a fun one. There are other mini storylines and I enjoyed that the chapters alternated between both women’s POV. This is my first book by Sutanto and she definitely left a great impression on me. I definitely recommend.

Taynement

african author, african stories, Black Authors, literary fiction, Nigerian Author

We Chit Chat: Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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“I’m growing old and the world has changed and I have never been truly known.”

Leggy: I finally finished Dream Count. What were your overall thoughts?

Taynement: Definitely not the best we’ve got from Chimamanda.

Leggy: I found the book very disjointed. I have a feeling these are half written characters from her years of writer’s block, and she just made them fit together.

Taynement: For me, I believe the real story she wanted to write was Kadiatou’s story, but it was too close to reality (as it’s based on a true story) and she fit the other stories around it. Kadiatou’s story was distinctly different, and her entire authors note was about Kadiatou’s story.

Leggy: The funny thing is that I was really into the book till I got to Kadiatou’s story and it knocked me out of my rhythm. But I must admit, once I got my bearings, I appreciated it for what it was. Honestly this book felt like a collection of short stories.

Taynement: I think another thing was I recently read Purple Hibiscus, and I couldn’t help but compare the books. While I think Chimamanda is verbose, I give her a pass because this is how she actually speaks.

Leggy: Yeah, I didn’t mind the writing. There were some lines I actually really loved but I completely understand why you find her verbose. Sometimes it’s like do we really need that metaphor there? What did you think about the characters? I liked Zikora the most and I found Chiamaka very annoying and foolish.

Taynement: I was so excited to dive into the many characters, but I found them to be unlikeable. I liked Omelogor’s directness but after a while it just became obnoxious. Zikora had the most depth as a character given the relationship with her mother.

Leggy: I liked Omelogor at first too then I just found her annoying. I also find it very hard to believe that anyone born and raised in Nigeria is going to ever get a Masters in Pornography. Also, her “Dear Men” website never made sense to me. But I really liked her bank story.

Taynement: I think that’s another thing. This book was about women’s dream count and getting closer to their dreams of finding a partner. I wonder if it was intentional to have such shitty men and have these women not find their partners. I’ve seen criticisms that the book is male centered but I’m okay with that because I think it’s okay for women to have the desire to be partnered.

Leggy: I also think that there is no such thing as a Nigerian woman who has successfully decentered men. Because at the end of the day, the society still makes sure your life revolves around them. Even Omelogor who didn’t care about being partnered was still forced to contend with being single because everyone (both her family and friends) reminded her she was single and childless. Her aunty wanted her to consider adoption since she has passed the age of marriage and childbirth even though she never even wanted marriage or kids ever. The society doesn’t let you have a life that doesn’t center men and anyone who says otherwise is living in a fairytale. I’m so tired of people thinking fiction should depict a reality that is aspiration instead of a reality that is.

Taynement: Did you find Omelogor’s sexuality vague? Also, I feel like the ladies’ relationship traumas were had to get behind without an understanding of how we got here. I had no idea why Omelogor couldn’t be in a long-term relationship and had an end date for each man and don’t even get me started with Chiamaka going for low hanging fruit men and leaving the one good man.

Leggy: I didn’t question Omelogor’s sexuality because at that Abuja party if Omelogor wasn’t a 100% straight she would have indulged but she never did. I also think there are people who really can’t be in a long term relationship. I never thought that had anything to do with a trauma. As for Chiamaka, she had an idea in her head as to what love is, that most Nigerian men could never live up to. She admitted at the end that she should have tried harder with Chuka. I would have married him but I think I understand why she sabotaged herself. Someone like her that’s always travelling and thinks she’s so different would have detested the idea of settling down with the very type of person every conventional person was settling with.

Taynement: But she had less with the non Nigerian men so what was the idea?

Leggy: I think Chiamaka was chasing an idea of love that doesn’t exist.

Taynement: Something I asked myself while reading this book is why when a character has a belief, I think it’s a mouthpiece for what Chiamanda is thinking, but I don’t think this way for other authors.

Leggy: Lmaooo. Probably because we don’t personally “follow” other authors. Most authors I like I don’t even know what they look like. I’ve been hate-reading Sally Rooney for years and I’ve never even googled her.

Taynement: Like you said at the beginning of this, I think the biggest flaw of this book was it being disjointed and uneven. I feel like I don’t have a full understanding of the motivations for Chiamaka, Zikora and Omelogor but I completely understood Kadiatou. Chimamanda says it was a mother-daughter story, but I thought Kadiatou and Binta’s story felt secondary.

Leggy: I didn’t get the motivation for the three girls too and I thought there’d be more connections with their stories. But they stayed in their different pockets and barely interacted throughout the book. I wish I had Chiamaka’s life though. I want rich parents who let me travel. I’d date better men though.

Taynement: Yes, a clearer direction for the book would have been focusing on their dynamic. There was already meat there with Zikora and Omelogor. Zikora was so intimidated by her that when she had a breakdown about being single, her one ask to Chia was “don’t tell Omelogor”.

Leggy: Exactly. That’s why I think these are all independently developed characters that she put together, but I think now that she’s done with the cobwebs of her writer’s block, the next one is probably going to be great. I have faith in her.

Taynement: Do you think the America criticisms were heavy handed?

Leggy: Absolutely, very. Especially coming from someone who lives in Abuja and participated in money laundry. That’s the part of the book where I thought was Chiamanda talking. I think it was the after-effects of the backlash she received some years ago, from people who found some of her comments to be transphobic. She felt like it was her own people cannibalizing her and I think that whole section was her rage at that incident.

Taynement: Overall, we can’t take away from Chimamanda’s writing. I liked how the book stayed very Nigerian. I could see the vision, but the execution was rocky. I think we were left with a lot of whys and not in a Kainene type of way.

Leggy: I debated giving this book 4 stars because I actually liked the writing and the individual stories but ultimately, I settled for 3 stars because I just think the overall book was not well executed.

If you have read the book, what did you think?

Taynement and Leggy

Fiction, literary fiction

Book Review: Margo’s Got Money Problems by Rufi Thorpe

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“You are about to begin reading a new book, and to be honest, you are a little tense. The beginning of a novel is like a first date. You hope that from the first lines an urgent magic will take hold, and you will sink into the story like a hot bath, giving yourself over entirely. But this hope is tempered by the expectation that, in reality, you are about to have to learn a bunch of people’s names and follow along politely like you are attending the baby shower of a woman you hardly know. And that’s fine, goodness knows you’ve fallen in love with books that didn’t grab you in the first paragraph”

Margo is a 19 year old girl who feels lost in her life. The daughter of a former Hooters waitress and an ex- pro wrestler who aren’t together anymore, she attends community college and starts an affair with her married professor, Mark. The affair leads to a pregnancy and despite numerous concerns by her mom and high school friend, she decides to keep the baby, even though she knows she will be doing this on her own.

Margo has the baby and as expected, it’s not an easy feat. Her mom is no help and Margo is broke. Her dad shows up on her doorstep and offers to babysit and be a roomate to help with the rent. Jobless and facing eviction, Margo knows she needs to do something drastic and decides to start an OnlyFans account. It takes a while but she starts to make money but Margo discovers that even though she solved her financial problems, there were a whole host of other problems awaiting her.

“I’m just saying,” Jinx said, seemingly more lucid now, “when you’re lost in the deep dark forest, the thing to do isn’t to get scared of the trees. You have to find your way out again.”

This was such an interesting book. The cover art made it seem like it would be a fluff book and although it had a fluff aura, it actually was a book with realistic themes. The book alternates from first person narration to third but it’s mostly from Margo’s point of view. Thorpe does a good job of reminding us that Margo is 19. At various points in the book, I would get so annoyed and wonder why she made certain decisions but then remember how young she was. For example, it is difficult for Margo to see that she was taken advantage of by her professor and still argues that it was a consensual affair.

“And it really makes you wonder: What kind of truth would require this many lies to tell?”

Another thing Thorpe does well is even though the book is full of heavy topics, the book never feels heavy. She also fully fleshes out all the characters so you have a good understanding of them. I think it helped a lot understanding Margo’s mom and dad’s past and gave insight into Margo’s relationship with them. It was amusing to me how her mom stood her ground on not being a hands-on grandma. I did enjoy seeing the evolution of her relationship with her dad.

“It was the word unfit that scared her, a mother who didn’t fit. A mother who wasn’t the right kind of mother like all the other mothers. A mother without a ring, who was too young, who let men look at her body for money.”

One of the interesting parts in the book to me was how people define and see sex work. Even though Margo had an OF account, at many points she had to defend herself saying “I am not having sex with people”. At the end of the day, the book is about a young lady who is lost, made some bad decisions arguably because of how she was raised and is now trying to make the best of the cards she was dealt with. I did this on audio. It was narrated by Elle Fanning and I have to say I wasn’t a fan of her narration even if I understand why she was probably cast. As expected, the book is being turned into a series starring Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman.

Taynement

Fiction, Historical, literary fiction, race

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

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“Eight of the ten commandments are about what thou shalt not. But you can live a whole life not doing any of that stuff and still avoid doing any good. That’s the whole crisis. The rot at the root of everything. The belief that goodness is built on a constructed absence, not-doing. That belief corrupts everything, has everyone with any power sitting on their hands.”

Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother’s plane was shot down over the skies of Tehran by America in a senseless accident and his father moved them to the same country responsible for his mother’s death. His father’s life in America is that of survival and making sure that Cyrus also survived. But now, after his father dies, Cyrus is truly alone and is struggling with a lot of addiction issues while developing an obsession with martyrs. He decides that he also wants his death to mean something as he stumbles upon an art installation in New York City where a woman who is dying of cancer is lying there every day until her death, talking to anyone who wants to talk.

“There’s this story I read one time, some old-school Muslim fairy tale, maybe it was a discarded hadith I guess, but it was all about the first time Satan sees Adam. Satan circles around him, inspecting him like a used car or something, this new creation—God’s favorite, apparently. Satan’s unimpressed, doesn’t get it. And then Satan steps into Adam’s mouth, disappears completely inside him and passes through all his guts and intestines and finally emerges out his anus. And when he gets out, Satan’s laughing and laughing. Rolling around. He passes all the way through the first man and he’s rolling around laughing, in tears, and he says to God, ‘This is what you’ve made? He’s all empty! All hollow!’ He can’t believe his luck. How easy his job is going to be. Humans are just a long emptiness waiting to be filled.”

It took me a while to actually start this book because every time it would check out to me; I would send it right back. I saw it so much on Instagram and on so many lists. I read the blurb and felt bored but eventually I decided to just give it a go and I absolutely enjoyed it. One of the reasons I was avoiding this one is because I expected it to be depressing. Martyrs? Lord. But once you meet Cyrus and his self-righteous deep thinking, you can’t help but roll your eyes at all his navel gazing. For a book that explores death, depression and sobriety, it never feels depressing. I actually found it funny in so many ways and the wry humor kept me reading even though Cyrus is the embodiment of “youth is wasted on the young”.

“The performance of certainty seemed to be at the root of so much grief. Everyone in America seemed to be afraid and hurting and angry, starving for a fight they could win. And more than that even, they seemed certain their natural state was to be happy, contented, and rich. The genesis of everyone’s pain had to be external, such was their certainty. And so legislators legislated, building border walls, barring citizens of there from entering here. “The pain we feel comes from them, not ourselves,” said the banners, and people cheered, certain of all the certainty. But the next day they’d wake up and find that what had hurt in them still hurt.”

This book is Kaveh Akbar’s debut novel, and everyone knows I grade these on a curve. I’ve never read any of his poetry and I wonder if his writing would have felt familiar if I did. This is an ambitious work that sometimes misses the mark but through Cyrus, we investigate the concept of identity, especially living in a country that caused your mother’s death. And even though you want to lean into your identity as an Iranian, you find out that most of your thoughts and even your addictions are thoroughly American. As he dives into his family’s history – his father’s slow descent into despair and alcoholism, his uncle dressed as the Angel of Death during the Iranian war to convince dying soldiers to die with dignity and not try to desert the army – you begin to understand why Cyrus is so obsessed with death.

“An anthropologist who wrote about how the first artifact of civilization wasn’t a hammer or arrowhead, but a human femur—discovered in Madagascar—that showed signs of having healed from a bad fracture. In the animal world, a broken leg meant you starved, so a healed femur meant that some human had supported another’s long recovery, fed them, cleaned the wound. And thus, the author argued, began civilization. Augured not by an instrument of murder, but by a fracture bound, a bit of food brought back for another.”

Cyrus doesn’t want to be just another depressed boy who kills himself. He wants his death to mean something, and he is convinced that the woman who is dying in a New York art gallery will help him understand how to make his own death mean something. I really loved Cyrus’ discussions with Orkideh. When he tells her of his plans she says: ahh, another Iranian man obsessed with martyrdom.

“Why should the Prophet Muhammad get a whole visit from an archangel? Why should Saul get to see the literal light of heaven on the road to Damascus? Of course it would be easy to establish bedrock faith after such clear-cut revelation. How was it fair to celebrate those guys for faith that wasn’t faith at all, that was just obedience to what they plainly observed to be true? And what sense did it make to punish the rest of humanity who had never been privy to such explicit revelation?”

I didn’t know the author was a poet before starting this book but the amount of quotes I want to share with you shows you how incredibly well this book is written. Did it set out to do too much and at the end succumbed to cliche? Yes. But I liked the journey and even the cliche ending didn’t dim that for me. I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

Leggy