A review by pomoevareads
A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a slow burn literary fiction focussing on the opportunities or lack there of, of two families in Nigeria. 

For most of the novel we move between Wuraola’s POV, a star medical doctor in training, coming from a wealthy family and with plans to marry her boyfriend, Kunle, and Eniola’s POV, a taller than normal young boy, going to the cheapest private school, where he is being told he will have to drop out if his parents can’t pay the tuition, as well as a family struggling with rent and food. Eniola’s father has fallen on bad times after losing a job and has sunken into a depression that hinders him from making any efforts to get money, including begging in the street. 

Eniola is also training as an apprentice /runner boy for a local tailor named Caro. Wuraola’s mother Yeye is a client of the shop and it is here where the two unrelated characters cross briefly. 

It is not until 80% into the book that something alluded to in the synopsis happens and culminates in a climax at 90%. Loving literary fiction, character and world building, and family stories, I wasn’t overly bothered by this structure or set up for the climax but others expecting things to happen more quickly may be disappointed.

I also adored learning a little more about a place I know very little to nothing about-in this case Nigeria. There is a level of respect for elders and a practice of celebrations to mark milestones. Some of the tension points complicated these traditions and made me think about how things might have been handled differently in the country I live in and how our experiences are so tied to individuals in Canada/America and often tied to families in other regions of the world. 

Thank you to @netgalley and @knopfca / @aaknopf for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. A Spell of Good Things comes out February 7, 2023. 
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