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A review by empressofbookingham
Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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
“If you didn't grow up with racism, it could hit you in the face and you wouldn't even know it.”
How lucky was our main character, Soila? I initially felt like she was more privileged than lucky. But perhaps her privilege does make her lucky as she doesn't experience somethings like prejudice and hate till later on in life.
She was lucky to be able to get education, go abroad to expound on it and have much better quality opportunities. She was lucky to have so loving, present, ambitious friends. She was was lucky to have another chance at love. She was lucky to come from money and that allowed her to provide better health access for her mum who has mental illness. She was lucky to have amazing aunties and grandma who helped her forward and held her when things were crumbling.
I've disapproved my initials thoughts 🤣
I enjoyed reading this book for most parts; I love reading about the diaspora experience and Soila dished this out aplenty.
The story is told from the first person POV from Soila from a child till adulthood: writing was simple with its sprinkles of beauty here and there letting the story flow seamlessly.
I did enjoy the diverse characters with their myriad of life challenges. However, I found Soila's boyfriend just filling the pages and nothing else. He wasn't fleshed out for me to see him. Akhenaten was a whole other story. He stood out like the Empire building. Soila was a bit annoying what with letting the mum push her here and there. Till she took her power back.
The 9/11 account wasn't expected and added a interesting layer. That element of self-whipping though... And I felf some facts about race were just thrown in.
The author touches on racism, tribalism, abuse, love, redemption, healing, religion...
“It took me a minute to realize I was part of the problem. A lot of well-intentioned people come to Africa and fail because they haven't addressed the deep-rooted problems, just the symptoms. People want to save Africa. You can't save Africa. Africa has to save herself.”
How lucky was our main character, Soila? I initially felt like she was more privileged than lucky. But perhaps her privilege does make her lucky as she doesn't experience somethings like prejudice and hate till later on in life.
She was lucky to be able to get education, go abroad to expound on it and have much better quality opportunities. She was lucky to have so loving, present, ambitious friends. She was was lucky to have another chance at love. She was lucky to come from money and that allowed her to provide better health access for her mum who has mental illness. She was lucky to have amazing aunties and grandma who helped her forward and held her when things were crumbling.
I've disapproved my initials thoughts 🤣
I enjoyed reading this book for most parts; I love reading about the diaspora experience and Soila dished this out aplenty.
The story is told from the first person POV from Soila from a child till adulthood: writing was simple with its sprinkles of beauty here and there letting the story flow seamlessly.
I did enjoy the diverse characters with their myriad of life challenges. However, I found Soila's boyfriend just filling the pages and nothing else. He wasn't fleshed out for me to see him. Akhenaten was a whole other story. He stood out like the Empire building. Soila was a bit annoying what with letting the mum push her here and there. Till she took her power back.
The 9/11 account wasn't expected and added a interesting layer. That element of self-whipping though... And I felf some facts about race were just thrown in.
The author touches on racism, tribalism, abuse, love, redemption, healing, religion...
“It took me a minute to realize I was part of the problem. A lot of well-intentioned people come to Africa and fail because they haven't addressed the deep-rooted problems, just the symptoms. People want to save Africa. You can't save Africa. Africa has to save herself.”