Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - In Every Mirror She's Black

I wanted to like this book so badly. With less than 10% of the book left I had no clue what the purpose or plot of this story was, and upon finishing I am still just as confused. This story was so extremely slow and dull. The characters made such poor decisions at every opportunity they could and it made them unlikable for me. The idea of these women all being tied to one man was very loose and the believability was just as flimsy. I completely understand what the author was trying to accomplish, but she unfortunately fell extremely far from that goal. The ending really negates the entire story and made the read feel pointless. The audio version was perfect to hear the accents and languages the characters spoke, and to be able to correctly hear the pronunciation of names for the places and people, but the narrator who spoke for both Kemi and Brittany often confused their established accents. Also was strange how Brittany was made to have a very stereotypical unrealistic American country accent and was off putting. I also couldn’t tell if all the Swedish characters were just unnaturally slow speakers or if the narrator was struggling using the accent so her words had extremely long pauses between them and everything was drawn out. This book was all over the place in a bad way and truly felt like it had no real direction and that the author had no actual vision for the book.

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lauravreads's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted 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? Yes

3.5

This book follows 3 different Black women and their immigration to Sweden. Kemi is a Marketing executive from DC and moved to Sweden for a job opportunity. Brittany is a flight attendant from Atlanta and finds herself in Sweden after she begins a relationship with a frequent traveler from Sweden. Muna is a refugee from Somalia living in an asylum for refugees.

Each of these women has wildly different experiences due to their personal circumstances. As expected Muna has the hardest time finding employment, and receiving legal documents. However, they all share a similar experience of being a Black woman. They deal with racism, fetishization, and tokenization. These characters did not interact much rather they each had their individual storyline.

Out of the three women I found Kemi the most relatable character. As she moved to Sweden for work, her story focuses a lot on workplace racism, tokenism, work relationsips, and exploitation. I absolutely LOVED how professional she is! There were so many instances where I was just so proud of the way she handled certain situations.

I found Muna to be the most loveable character however her story was very emotional and serious. Her story highlighted inequities, classism, and international politics. Brittany on the other hand was a very frustrating character. Her storyline was very dramatic but lighthearted at the same time. Her story almost felt like a telenovela or sitcom. However, it did highlight fetishization and white privilege.

**Spoiler Ahead**

Jonny is another main character in this novel. As soon as he was introduced I noticed that he had a lot of the characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder. In the last 10% of the book, it is disclosed that he was indeed on the spectrum but undiagnosed and protected by his immense wealth. I feel that this highlighted the stigma regarding ASD as well as the ablism in society. I am glad that he was held accountable for his actions rather than excused for his ASD. However, I did feel that it fed a bit into the negative stereotype of people with ASD.

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zakiyaj's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

A haunting depiction of Black women attempting to navigate through society. Three stories that intertwine only once. I related to a lot of pieces of each character

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toadstoolsnshit's review against another edition

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challenging emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

This novel covers some really important topics in an skillful and insightful way. While I wasn’t really a fan of the writing style, I appreciated the perspective that this book offers.

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kayyphan's review against another edition

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Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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aargot1's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.0

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booksjessreads's review against another edition

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informative reflective 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? No

3.0

I just wanted to say a massive thank you to Head of Zeus publishing for sending me a copy of this book and this has no way impacted my review!

In Every Mirror She's Black follows the lives of 3 black women moving to Sweden under different circumstances, and how their lives are connected through a rich man. Kemi navigates racism within her marketing role in Sweden; Brittany-Rae facing racial discrimination within her husbands family; and Muna, due to seeking asylum in Sweden from Somalia.

This isn't my typical read and I wanted to give something different a go and I definitely enjoyed this in parts! As Akerström says on the front of this proof, she wanted to have the characters make mistakes to allow us to engage with the gravitas of their actions and this definitely follows through! I have read some reviews that have said they didn't like the direction the characters took, but to be honest, this is exactly what I loved. They make choices which were unexpected and reminding the reader that life in books is certainly not picture perfect.

Perhaps my favourite character was Muna. Her story was quite different in comparison to the others and she had a lot of deep-rooted emotional trauma from turmoil in Somalia which, for me, made me feel more invested in her story. Kemi also really grew on me and by the end I was fully invested in her character.

I think one thing that knocked a star or so off for me was the expression of toxic masculinity in this, particularly in the beginning. Jonny gave me major red flag alerts. In the middle of the novel, he kind of grows on you. He makes you think he's just completely infatuated with his OH, but when his behaviour gets explained at the end, it just didn't satisfy me enough.

Overall though, a good read and a promising debut! Its very similar to Queenie and Such a Fun Age so if you have enjoyed either of those then this is definitely a book to read next!

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amandalorianxo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

I just finished reading this debut novel and… wow. Thank you for pouring your heart and soul into this. It’s really going to sit with me for a while. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars. It would have been four and a half but the ending and unraveling of it all made me deeply sad. It’s a much needed exploration about what it means to be black in Europe, particularly in a country like Sweden where we discover three different voices from three distinct black women who all wind up in Stockholm thanks in part to one (white) man. The storylines were clear and powerful as we are enriched in Kemj, Brittany and Mina’s lives. The ending is tragic but unfortunately, more common than we realize. It covers racism, privilege, refugees, immigration and fighting to be heard despite feeling like you are on mute nearly everyday.

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