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Love in Colour: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold by Bolu Babalola

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emfass's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I am a HUGE fan of fairy tale/mythology retellings, so there was a good chance I was going to like this anyway. But I was introduced to so many tales I didn't know, PLUS I absolutely adored the way Babalola rewrote stories that are originally misogynistic and occasionally devastating to be hopeful and honor the love story at the center.

I read through the first half of the book rather quickly, trying to meet the deadline for the Bad Bitch Book Club meeting, but over the last few days I have savored the latter half, reading one or two stories a day, and that's my recommendation for anyone else picking this up. (I don't read a lot of short story collections, maybe that's the general approach??)

My favorite stories were:
Scheherazade
Nefertiti
Yaa
Naleli
Thisbe
Tiara
Orin

A few quotes from the introduction that floored me:

Love is the prism through which I view the world. I truly believe it binds and propels us. This isn’t a naive denial of the darkness that we know exists in the world; rather it is a refusal to allow the devastation, the horror, or the heartache to consume us. It is affirming the knowledge that there is light. Love is that light. Romance sweetens the casual bitterness we can encounter; it heightens the mundane and makes the terrestrial supernatural.

Love is tender, tentative, brutal, and bold. It’s messy and magic! It can be the most frightening thing in the world, purely because it feels like safety, and that safety is reliant on total trust in another, with whom we share our hearts, expose ourselves, and allow ourselves to be seen for exactly who we are. But when we allow ourselves to trust like this, there is a freedom that we can attain—a glory. This book is about being seen in all your iterations, in every dynamic, brightly and in color. It’s about the joy and hope that accompany the celebration of that phenomenon.

And from the final story, which is inspired by how her parents met and fell in love:

The eldest of their daughters is so inspired by the king and queen that it forms how she sees the world. She recognizes the mundane mystique of romantic love that is ubiquitous at a glance, but, when you look closer, you notice the tessellation of understanding, patience, friendship, and attraction. She sees both the miracle of the spark igniting and also the working, because it takes work, and for the work to work, you have to respect each other, like each other. She is fascinated by how much romantic love can soften a hard life, highlight the best of you, not condemn the worst of you. It is a gift she cherished witnessing with the king and queen, and so she made it her mission to capture a little of it and gift it to others: the hope of it all, the light of it all.

Time was constructed with love in mind. It is why the moments before a desired kiss stretch, why when your lips are finally introduced with another pair, it feels as if they have wanted to meet for some time, and why a day with your loved one can feel like an eternity on turbo-speed. Achingly, deliciously slow, but too fast, over too quick, melting between too-hot fingers. Time and love are intertwined, they are both measures of life, they are the two clocks. And, for love to operate as it should, it is imperative that the timing should be right. Just as it is in this story.

Lastly, I think this is one of the most gorgeous covers I have ever seen. 😍😍😍
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