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A review by jcinf
Now Lila Knows by Elizabeth Nunez
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
This was an okay book, no doubt. But it wasn’t anything groundbreaking.
The characters were hard to like at times. A couple of the black characters were resentful toward Lila for not inherently understanding racial dynamics in the United States. Even tho how could she know? She’s not from America. She’s from the Caribbean. Teach her, sure. But stop alienating/punishing her for something that’s not her fault.
The racial points made felt very surface level. She tried to write about nuanced topics, but it missed the mark for me. It’s like that expression “Show. Don’t tell.” It was a lot of “telling” and not a lot of “showing.”
One character in particular did a lot of preaching and seemed to repeat himself. To me, his speeches seemed like lazy writing on the author’s part. She tried to make up in dialogue what she lacked in plot. In other words, the lectures served as a replacement for real plot points — instead of Lila having personal experiences and learning those lessons on her own.
And the laziest part is the end. In the last 10 pages of the book, Lila just basically regurgitated his speeches back to him to prove how much she has learned.
None of the concepts presented in this book were new to me. And that’s not me trying to seem like a “good white person.” That’s just me saying that for anyone who has done a decent amount of learning about racism in America, the concepts presented may read as elementary. Granted, my boyfriend is from west Africa, so I already knew about the dynamic of African people not seeing themselves as being “black” until spending time in the United States. So, while that isn’t new to me, that particular perspective might be new to some people.
Plot wise, this book didn’t have a whole lot happen. Lila had an internal conflict for the majority of the book, but when she made her decision… nothing happened? So all the back and forth she went through were kinda pointless. And the climax was kinda dull too. I couldn’t really tell you what the climax even was.
That said, I did think this was a decent book. It might seem like I really disliked the book, but it was pretty good. The idea of the book is just better than the execution of it. I didn’t think it was anything particularly profound or exciting. And it definitely could’ve been better.
If you’re looking for a book that gives a more detailed, nuanced, or profound exploration of racial identity in America (especially the difference in identity between being Black and being African) try Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
The characters were hard to like at times. A couple of the black characters were resentful toward Lila for not inherently understanding racial dynamics in the United States. Even tho how could she know? She’s not from America. She’s from the Caribbean. Teach her, sure. But stop alienating/punishing her for something that’s not her fault.
The racial points made felt very surface level. She tried to write about nuanced topics, but it missed the mark for me. It’s like that expression “Show. Don’t tell.” It was a lot of “telling” and not a lot of “showing.”
One character in particular did a lot of preaching and seemed to repeat himself. To me, his speeches seemed like lazy writing on the author’s part. She tried to make up in dialogue what she lacked in plot. In other words, the lectures served as a replacement for real plot points — instead of Lila having personal experiences and learning those lessons on her own.
And the laziest part is the end. In the last 10 pages of the book, Lila just basically regurgitated his speeches back to him to prove how much she has learned.
None of the concepts presented in this book were new to me. And that’s not me trying to seem like a “good white person.” That’s just me saying that for anyone who has done a decent amount of learning about racism in America, the concepts presented may read as elementary. Granted, my boyfriend is from west Africa, so I already knew about the dynamic of African people not seeing themselves as being “black” until spending time in the United States. So, while that isn’t new to me, that particular perspective might be new to some people.
Plot wise, this book didn’t have a whole lot happen. Lila had an internal conflict for the majority of the book, but when she made her decision… nothing happened? So all the back and forth she went through were kinda pointless. And the climax was kinda dull too. I couldn’t really tell you what the climax even was.
That said, I did think this was a decent book. It might seem like I really disliked the book, but it was pretty good. The idea of the book is just better than the execution of it. I didn’t think it was anything particularly profound or exciting. And it definitely could’ve been better.
If you’re looking for a book that gives a more detailed, nuanced, or profound exploration of racial identity in America (especially the difference in identity between being Black and being African) try Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, and Police brutality
Minor: Rape and Slavery