Reviews

Coconut by Kopano Matlwa

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lalandroses's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I quite enjoyed this book. It's very simply written and contains the perspectives of two main characters: one a wealthy black school girl growing up in JHB and the other a coloured girl aspiring to move out of the location. I found it a very interesting commentary and challenge on the way Western society is influencing modern-day persons of colour.

manaledi's review against another edition

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3.0

I was partly biased towards this book because my husband's name is Kopano and then he got excited and said the author Kopano had reached out to him in the early days of facebook because they had the same name.

Anyway, I thought this novel dealt with race/language/culture/wealth in SA very directly and cleverly. I wasn't fully convinced by the way the past/thoughts were interspersed, but did like their balancing out. Sum: general recommendation re African women writers and race relations in South Africa.

metamorfosa's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

annabelfenton's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A great read that reminded me of home and shed light on the perspectives of South Africans with very different perspectives to mine.

Although it did feel as though throughout the book I was waiting for something to happen that didn’t quite get there.

Content Warnings

littki's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

spyralnode's review against another edition

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tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

'Coconut' depicts episodes in the experiences of two South African black girls as they navigate life among white people. From skin colour to hair texture to bullying, it is a coming of age novel that reads a bit like a journal.

The book doesn't have continuity per say. There are fragments of events and thoughts that these girls have, and they are narrated without much thought or reflection. In that, this was a disappointment. I felt like I couldn't connect with them as I saw them responding to the external factors around them, but not really considering what this says about their own identity and what learning this may represent for the future. The bittiness is also structural, with some texts in italics, and I never got the sense that the author found their footing. It was all over the place.

loushouseofthoughts's review against another edition

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4.0

Coconut was written in 2007, but still holds up to the same realities and experience in 2022. The questions and ideas/thoughts or the style of narration( use of italics, switching between first and second voice, starting of relating a new experience randomly or character) reminded me alot about the Bluest Eye, which in turn has the same topic of internalized hatred and navigation of Black identity. This book also supports how African-American and black South African's history have alot in common.

In the context of being South African(or I believe African, really) and black, where not every black person is just black- we are first our tribe,then our clan and finally just "black" due to the shared history of oppression, it felt like Kopano was really writing my life story especially through Ofilwe Tlou. Just like Ofilwe Tlou, the desire to fit in with western culture but at the same time, being "weighed down" by your tribal affiliations and expectations i.e language, societal position as woman (African femininity and how this is always in justxaposition with Western femininity) and the rest. A way to conceptualize this, I feel, is the experience of the third culture kid. Born frees navigate tribal identity, contrast with Western culture, and also having to grow and live in a "neutral" environment. Your poc friends most likely have the same experience as you, but your extended family can condemn or even outcast you because you can come to live a better life than them at times, then your parents hoping you and your sibling's lives can only get better and create generational wealth.

There's so much in this book, probably make a video one day. All I know is that Kopano Matlwa has a special place in my heart being that she's part of the few who I know who tell South African stories.