Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

6 reviews

bg_oseman_fan's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

This story reminded me a lot of Mistry’s A Fine Balance. I admired her ability to weave the characters stories and reveal so much through showing rather than telling. The tragedies felt earned but not inevitable and every word of the story felt like it described the situation perfectly. it was difficult to read at times because of the subjects, but all were handled very well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Classism, Domestic abuse, Violence, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Murder, Vomit, Child death, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Child abuse, Suicide, Blood, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Cursing

jamesyouwere's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Suicide

mel_s_bookshelf's review

emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Classism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Suicide

erebus53's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I went into this book not knowing anything about it. As a result I was about 9 hours in before I started seeing the point of the book. It really starts with slice of life things, and a broad cast of Nigerian characters, and it is difficult to see all the connections that will eventually be built. 

Amongst the main players are,
a woman who is a doctor who is being pressured by family to marry the man she has been dating,
his father who is a politician,
her mother who is trying to hold a family together,
the woman she buys her handmade dresses from,
a boy who works in the tailoring shop,
his family and their hopes and financial struggles that have been immense since his father was laid off by government funding cuts for schools.

These disparate characters seem to have little in common except locality. Each has their own history, drives and challenges. The pace is slow and half way through I was feeling a little lost when it came to understanding the significance of some things. Although frustrating, this is part of the point of the book. Without a big picture of what is going on, it is easy to ignore small things that contribute to a problem. This is a major theme of the story, but it takes a back seat to the unfolding interplay of characters.

As a backdrop we see a country that lives with shortage of medical and teaching staff (caused in part by the exodus of graduate students), and a divide between rich and poor that leaves those who are destitute or disabled begging on the streets. There is also some disability narrative with a mother who is terrified that her children will be Dyslexic, because she feels that her personal survival was only possible due to marrying a man with a good job.

Logical things happen but it still feels affronting. The last 5% of the book is a rollercoaster of tenseness and revelation, and emotional resonance that would only be possible with the time and love that the reader invests in the characters to this point. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes character driven stories, has a lot of patience, and an interest in Nigeria.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Murder, Death, Kidnapping, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Medical content, Ableism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Vomit, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Abandonment, and Cancer

Minor: Alcohol, Mental illness, and Suicide

bookswithnicolee's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping

Minor: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Suicide, Blood, Death, and Medical content

pomoevareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a slow burn literary fiction focussing on the opportunities or lack there of, of two families in Nigeria. 

For most of the novel we move between Wuraola’s POV, a star medical doctor in training, coming from a wealthy family and with plans to marry her boyfriend, Kunle, and Eniola’s POV, a taller than normal young boy, going to the cheapest private school, where he is being told he will have to drop out if his parents can’t pay the tuition, as well as a family struggling with rent and food. Eniola’s father has fallen on bad times after losing a job and has sunken into a depression that hinders him from making any efforts to get money, including begging in the street. 

Eniola is also training as an apprentice /runner boy for a local tailor named Caro. Wuraola’s mother Yeye is a client of the shop and it is here where the two unrelated characters cross briefly. 

It is not until 80% into the book that something alluded to in the synopsis happens and culminates in a climax at 90%. Loving literary fiction, character and world building, and family stories, I wasn’t overly bothered by this structure or set up for the climax but others expecting things to happen more quickly may be disappointed.

I also adored learning a little more about a place I know very little to nothing about-in this case Nigeria. There is a level of respect for elders and a practice of celebrations to mark milestones. Some of the tension points complicated these traditions and made me think about how things might have been handled differently in the country I live in and how our experiences are so tied to individuals in Canada/America and often tied to families in other regions of the world. 

Thank you to @netgalley and @knopfca / @aaknopf for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. A Spell of Good Things comes out February 7, 2023. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury