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A review by frombethanysbookshelf
The List by Yomi Adegoke
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
"It's just interesting that you've been more than happy to talk about 'believing women' until the one tmie it actually requires personal sacrifice. And by 'interesting' I mean 'total hypocritical fuckery.'"
The List is a highly topical and timely story with a bold voice that fearlessly jumps into the complexity and absurdity of modern life. Our main character explores the way our online lives have the power to improve or destroy lives, and how different a curated image of life can be to reality. And aside from the whip-smart commentary, it tackles the need for abusers to be held accountable and visible, for women to believed and the way abuse and sexism is so normalised some people don’t even recognise themselves as abusers — as well as discourse about intersectional feminism especially for black women and women of colour.
Ola is wickedly funny and relatable at times, endearing and inviting as a narrator — an woman who knows what she wants but really isn’t sure how she’s meant to do everything. I felt her deep confusion, being torn between ‘innocent till proven guilty’ and believing victims without discrimination. It asks us how we’d act in a situation that forces us not only believe in solidarity and feminism, but take action for it. She leads this story with a personal and emotive voice as she tries to find the truth and wrestles with her love for Michael and her love for her fellow women. Hearing from Michael was interesting and at times unsettling — someone who hasn’t always been a good person and might be deserving of hate, but doesn’t think he’s guilty of the crimes he’s being accused of.
There’s some villains in this story that are clear cut, there are some that are more complicated and make us wonder if redemption is ever truly possible when you’ve hurt people. While the story may be about these two people, as the pages go by we watch as this incident ripples out into the world with catastrophic effects, bringing unsaid truths to the surface for all to see.
Every single character in this story was a vibrant, complex person — although I had a particular soft spot for Olas’ colleague Kiran and their personal bland of honesty and sarcasm. We get to know everyone intricately, at times the story slows to a stroll, just spending time trying to figure out how our characters are feeling before we pick up another piece of the puzzle.
A fiercely feminist triumph of a novel — this is the first time I’ve had the pleasure of reading Adegokes work but I don’t think it’ll be the last.
Ola is wickedly funny and relatable at times, endearing and inviting as a narrator — an woman who knows what she wants but really isn’t sure how she’s meant to do everything. I felt her deep confusion, being torn between ‘innocent till proven guilty’ and believing victims without discrimination. It asks us how we’d act in a situation that forces us not only believe in solidarity and feminism, but take action for it. She leads this story with a personal and emotive voice as she tries to find the truth and wrestles with her love for Michael and her love for her fellow women. Hearing from Michael was interesting and at times unsettling — someone who hasn’t always been a good person and might be deserving of hate, but doesn’t think he’s guilty of the crimes he’s being accused of.
There’s some villains in this story that are clear cut, there are some that are more complicated and make us wonder if redemption is ever truly possible when you’ve hurt people. While the story may be about these two people, as the pages go by we watch as this incident ripples out into the world with catastrophic effects, bringing unsaid truths to the surface for all to see.
Every single character in this story was a vibrant, complex person — although I had a particular soft spot for Olas’ colleague Kiran and their personal bland of honesty and sarcasm. We get to know everyone intricately, at times the story slows to a stroll, just spending time trying to figure out how our characters are feeling before we pick up another piece of the puzzle.
A fiercely feminist triumph of a novel — this is the first time I’ve had the pleasure of reading Adegokes work but I don’t think it’ll be the last.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment