A review by serendipitysbooks
Here Again Now by Okechukwu Nzelu

challenging 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

4.0

 Here Again Now is beautiful, tragic, bittersweet, hopeful, and very literary. It explores issues surrounding love, father-son relationships, maleness, queerness, and Blackness, particularly Nigerianness - especially their intersectionality. The plot revolves around three key characters - Achike, a rising film star, his best friend Ekene, and Achike’s father Chibuike, who is struggling with alcoholism. The three are currently sharing Achike’s flat, a complicated arrangement for several reasons including the fact that Achike and Ekene, are both gay and have feelings for each other which Ekene especially is reluctant to further explore or acknowledge. One night a tragedy occurs and the two survivors are forced to deal with their grief, reckon with their relationship with the deceased, and negotiate a new relationship with each other - all of which requires an understanding and acknowledgement of events from their past.

A worthwhile read, if a little overwritten in place, and one I’m glad to have experienced. 
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