Scan barcode
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- 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
This book made me mad.
First, the good.
Akwaeke Emezi’s prose is, as always, gorgeous and poetic and capable of hitting me in ways I’ve never even thought about before.
Feyi’s grief and pain and joy and messiness are written with so much heart and sensitivity and depth of feeling. She was a wonderful character to spend this time with. And I even related to her in some sweet and painful and messy ways.
Despite the age gap, etc, Alim is such a fantastic love interest, and, despite my qualms with certain things, one of the most well-written bisexual men I’ve encountered in fiction. I adore him.
This is very much a romance novel, but it’s a little bit less of one than Emezi would like to admit, I think. The main focus here is on grief and new growth, and the characters work through those things beautifully. It’s also single POV, and the love interest isn’t introduced til over a quarter of the way in, and that makes it read very unconventionally for a romance novel.
My big gripe here is that this novel’s approach to sex is SHOCKINGLY cisheteronormative for a book with bisexual leads written by a trans author. I’ve noticed a weird amount of bioessentialism and internalized transphobia in all of Emezi’s adult fiction, and this one is no exception. Also, what’s with the biphobia in Joy’s part of the story? Super weird.
Nasir and Lorraine are also super homophobic and the book kinda brushes that off a lot.
And I wish that we’d gotten one or two more real conversations between Feyi and Alim. I felt a bit lost in the sauce of the poetics at time at the expense of the characters.
I would still like to get Joy’s book, though, and I WOULD watch a movie of this. It made me uncomfortable at times, but it was oh so very fun and messy and delightful.
First, the good.
Akwaeke Emezi’s prose is, as always, gorgeous and poetic and capable of hitting me in ways I’ve never even thought about before.
Feyi’s grief and pain and joy and messiness are written with so much heart and sensitivity and depth of feeling. She was a wonderful character to spend this time with. And I even related to her in some sweet and painful and messy ways.
Despite the age gap, etc, Alim is such a fantastic love interest, and, despite my qualms with certain things, one of the most well-written bisexual men I’ve encountered in fiction. I adore him.
This is very much a romance novel, but it’s a little bit less of one than Emezi would like to admit, I think. The main focus here is on grief and new growth, and the characters work through those things beautifully. It’s also single POV, and the love interest isn’t introduced til over a quarter of the way in, and that makes it read very unconventionally for a romance novel.
My big gripe here is that this novel’s approach to sex is SHOCKINGLY cisheteronormative for a book with bisexual leads written by a trans author. I’ve noticed a weird amount of bioessentialism and internalized transphobia in all of Emezi’s adult fiction, and this one is no exception. Also, what’s with the biphobia in Joy’s part of the story? Super weird.
Nasir and Lorraine are also super homophobic and the book kinda brushes that off a lot.
And I wish that we’d gotten one or two more real conversations between Feyi and Alim. I felt a bit lost in the sauce of the poetics at time at the expense of the characters.
I would still like to get Joy’s book, though, and I WOULD watch a movie of this. It made me uncomfortable at times, but it was oh so very fun and messy and delightful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Grief
Moderate: Biphobia, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Violence, and Car accident
honeyenbee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
tense
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, and Car accident
Moderate: Cursing, Incest, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia
infinitezest's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book is beautifully written and I loved the protagonist, but I really couldn’t get past how icky the plot made me feel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Violence
ecn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I think that I just need to come to the conclusion that I don’t really like romance stories. The writing was great bc it’s Emezi but the story just felt a bit to unrealistic and FAST. But also, nothing really happened throughout the book (and not in a slow burn kind of way for me)? I feel like I didn’t really get to dive into the grief of the characters and know anything else about them. And yea it was definitely a messy story but i did not find it to be as fun as others said BUT! I did like it more than I thought. And, not to to end on a petty note, but the pet names throughout just made me cringe :/ it was a bit too much from the get go and only got worse when it was the ONLY way the MC was referred to
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Violence and Blood
jazhandz's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
One of Emezi’s consistent strengths is in their character work, and Feyi might be one of my favorite characters they’ve written so far. Even when the pacing was a little funky, Feyi was such a strong and fantastic character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Car accident, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Violence, and Death of parent
sorcha's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, and Car accident
Minor: Drug use, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol
bluebreex's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Car accident
Minor: Violence
bestienicoley's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, and Classism
sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
4.25
I just realised I hadn’t written a review for this, so let’s see if I remember it enough to summarise my thoughts.
I had a good time with this book. I really liked the way the discussion of grief and tools of dealing with grief were woven into the story in a gentle and normalised way, and how therapy was normalised. It explored finding yourself and love after a loss well and I felt for the characters when going through this.
Feyi was kind of messy, as people have said, but I think that was to be expected given her experiences but I don’t think she was ever out of line and made her boundaries and expectations known. Also, it takes two to tango so she wasn’t the only one pursuing the relationship. In this sense, I did also like how consent was seamlessly woven into the story, particularly when it came to the “forbidden” romance aspect and testing the waters as to how much they each wanted the other to share. It didn’t feel forced, it didn’t blatantly scream consent but just normalised checking in with your partner and making sure what was happening was still okay. I also liked how their bisexuality wasn’t a core of their stories, it was just who they were.
I did like the main couple but I just wished I was a bit more invested in that side of the story. Despite this, I enjoyed the story and really liked the other parts of this book. Once again, Akwaeke Emezi has written a wonderful story.
I had a good time with this book. I really liked the way the discussion of grief and tools of dealing with grief were woven into the story in a gentle and normalised way, and how therapy was normalised. It explored finding yourself and love after a loss well and I felt for the characters when going through this.
Feyi was kind of messy, as people have said, but I think that was to be expected given her experiences but I don’t think she was ever out of line and made her boundaries and expectations known. Also, it takes two to tango so she wasn’t the only one pursuing the relationship. In this sense, I did also like how consent was seamlessly woven into the story, particularly when it came to the “forbidden” romance aspect and testing the waters as to how much they each wanted the other to share. It didn’t feel forced, it didn’t blatantly scream consent but just normalised checking in with your partner and making sure what was happening was still okay. I also liked how their bisexuality wasn’t a core of their stories, it was just who they were.
I did like the main couple but I just wished I was a bit more invested in that side of the story. Despite this, I enjoyed the story and really liked the other parts of this book. Once again, Akwaeke Emezi has written a wonderful story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, and Car accident
Moderate: Biphobia, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Alcohol
radlizareads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, and Alcohol
Moderate: Violence