I didn’t read this one immediately after downloading it, so when the novel didn’t initially click for me, I blamed myself for forgetting that the main character was 12. I had been thinking of it as a YA novel, but with the ages being around 12, it isn’t quite YA, which of course leads to slightly misaligned expectations. “Oh,” I thought, “when they meant it’s like Harry Potter, they didn’t just mean magic, they meant age-wise, too.” However, when the novel continued to not quite […]
when perfect isn’t enough
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS Hello! It’s hard for me to write about this one without giving away the whole plot, so I’m going to be oblique. Yejide and Akin are a young, happily married, childless couple, and their childlessness leads them both to some questionable and desperate decisions. Yejide’s life seems damned near impossible, while somehow simultaneously completely normal. Or maybe “normal,” but either way it seems impossible, but there she is, making it happen, in the way that so many women do. What she doesn’t […]
A surprising read on marriage, motherhood, and loneliness.
This is definitely a book I wouldn’t have picked up on my own, but am glad my book club chose it. It’s nice to read outside my comfort zone every once in a while, and especially when the book turns out to be one that works out for you. Stay With Me is nominally a book about a Nigerian woman named Yejide whose husband brings home a second wife, because Yejide is unable to get pregnant, and his family is pressuring them to have a child. […]
Getting woke for beginners.
It’s kind of hard to review this book without sounding like a jackass. I really wanted to love it based on the salty cover and title, and I think I was just really prepared to be the “you” in question, get called on my bullshit, and, well, do better. Luvvie is a super likable and engaging writer, and parts of it were great. The first half was more about her views and anecdotes on life, people, friendship, money, dating. Nothing groundbreaking but there was some […]