A review by thesquishyfrog
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Normally I don’t choose this type of book (more of a mystery girl myself), but I’m always pleasantly surprised when I do (side note, if you want a similar book, check out Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi). Adichie does a wonderful job of showing the hardships and feelings of her characters without taking away from the plot, and vice versa. The characters ARE the plot, which adds so much to this book. I’m not explaining this well, but the takeaway is that it’s a great book. 

The only thing that I wasn’t the biggest fan of, not saying it was bad but I just didn’t like the way it was gone about, was the ending. Total spoilers coming up btw.

I felt like there should have been the choice of the family breaking free from Papa. The “oops he died, our problems are fixed” (yes I know it wasn’t a natural causes thing) just felt like it undid all of Kambili’s character development. She just goes back to wanting his approval again, even if her own dreams. Like nothing happened or changed. Idealistic, I know.

Just not the biggest fan of that, which is why it isn’t 5 stars. 

Great book overall