A review by lingfish7
Maame by Jessica George

emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.5

This is a debut novel I recommended to my good friend, whose African family and background were eerily similar to many parts of this book. I cannot wait to hear what she thought! This is not a book I would recommend to everyone though. Maame reads very slowly and doesn’t really “pick up” in pace or plot much. It does get more interesting in the last quarter, but interesting is subjective. 

I found this book interesting because I related a lot to the main character. The main character, Maddie (nicknamed Maame by her family), is a firstborn daughter whose people pleasing and naïveté are central to the book’s plot. At 25 years old, she is a virgin who hasn’t dated in 8 years and doesn’t know basic social norms or how to make friends as an adult. She spent the whole of her early 20’s as the primary caretaker for her father who has Parkinson’s disease. 

What intrigued me was how this coming of age book centers on a sheltered, late bloomer who relies on Google as her every day consultant to ask basic questions. Some reviews on Goodreads found this unrealistic and annoying, but I come from a highly sheltered background. This was very realistic as there are plenty of us who had to learn the hard way at a much later age than our peers. Seeing a protagonist like me, in this way, was refreshing. 

🎧The audiobook might not have been the best medium to consume this book. I say this because, as a highly emotional but slow paced book, I don’t think the voice actress adequately read the emotion into the words. Her British accent was lovely, and she inflected the words, but the heartbreaking sentences were spoken without the emotional tone to match. I’m still unsure if this was intentional, or simply a product of British and African culture. Either way, it felt emotionally monotone to listen to, and I can’t help but wonder if reading the physical copy would have helped me feel deeper emotions throughout.

Lastly, the exploration of family duties, gaining autonomy on your life (for the first time), grief, and racism in the workplace were all important topics. The slow pace and British accent made listening to this book almost meditative. Although I didn’t love how slow the pace was or the lack of emotion in the narrator, this book caused me to think and reflect on my own life experiences and sheltered background. Seeing Maddie “grow up” through a series of trials, failures, and loss is very authentic to the human experience, whether you come of age at 18 or 25 or 40.

⚠️Triggers: rape, death, job loss, racism in the workplace, being taken advantage of by your family 
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