Scan barcode
A review by teaandlibri
Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala
2.0
Very surprised at the high ratings for this book. Had never read the author's previous work ('Beasts of No Nation') but the high praise of the book plus the premise seemed intriguing. And as an idea to explore I thought the story was really great. But the execution is really weird.
Niru is a young man in Washington, DC who seems to have the entire life ahead of him. Track star at his high school, soon to be going off to Harvard, etc. so it all seems good. But he has a secret. He's queer, which is completely unacceptable and is horrifying to his conservative Nigerian parents. The consequences of Niru dealing with this will have a fallout that will reverberate forever for his family and friend, Meredith.
Initially the book seemed interesting and I thought Niru was an interesting fellow with a good "voice" telling his story. But I'm not a fan of Iweala's style. The story doesn't really go anywhere (perhaps as part of a coming of age story). There are no quotation marks. The story suddenly shifts perspectives that is driven by a plot development that requires the move.
I hate it when there are different narrators and that was no exception here. As others note, how Niru's story ends is all too common. Was this ending for him necessary? Is there a reason why we then see the story through Meredith's eyes? I could understand why Iweala would choose to end Niru's story so, but it seemed like a horribly abrupt decision that didn't work for the book, almost if the change may have been made in the editorial stage or the author changed his mind. I liked Meredith as a secondary character but I wished we could have stuck with Niru.
It wasn't for me. Also won't be checking out Iweala's 'Beasts' or other works. Recommend library if it interests you.
Niru is a young man in Washington, DC who seems to have the entire life ahead of him. Track star at his high school, soon to be going off to Harvard, etc. so it all seems good. But he has a secret. He's queer, which is completely unacceptable and is horrifying to his conservative Nigerian parents. The consequences of Niru dealing with this will have a fallout that will reverberate forever for his family and friend, Meredith.
Initially the book seemed interesting and I thought Niru was an interesting fellow with a good "voice" telling his story. But I'm not a fan of Iweala's style. The story doesn't really go anywhere (perhaps as part of a coming of age story). There are no quotation marks. The story suddenly shifts perspectives that is driven by a plot development that requires the move.
I hate it when there are different narrators and that was no exception here. As others note, how Niru's story ends is all too common. Was this ending for him necessary? Is there a reason why we then see the story through Meredith's eyes? I could understand why Iweala would choose to end Niru's story so, but it seemed like a horribly abrupt decision that didn't work for the book, almost if the change may have been made in the editorial stage or the author changed his mind. I liked Meredith as a secondary character but I wished we could have stuck with Niru.
It wasn't for me. Also won't be checking out Iweala's 'Beasts' or other works. Recommend library if it interests you.