Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin

31 reviews

canascorner's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Sexism, Bullying, Misogyny, and Rape

Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

smiti_nathan's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

I  listened to this as an audiobook, and it blew me away. The author, Lola Shoneyin, did an excellent job narrating the novel and her oration brought it to life for me. It's a quick-paced book that I enjoyed on a long-haul plane ride. My favorite part of the book was how she built up the complexity and humanity of her main characters, especially all four of Baba Segi's wives, and a few side characters. Many of the backstories were heartbreaking (i.e., TW for graphic sexual assault), and the author did a fantastic job of balancing heartbreak, tragedy, humor, and hope. The ending was quite satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Sexism

Minor: Police brutality

ninamanon's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What a cleverly crafted story! I enjoyed every inch of it, every point of view, every insight into all the characters. Even if you want to, you can’t hate any of them. The most heinous acts are motivated by the most tragic backstory’s. 
What’s so brilliant about this book is that even with the multitude of characters, it was never very hard to distinguish them. 
This is a tale about making the most of the hand you were dealt, and maybe above all, humbleness. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Excrement, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Blood, Infertility, Sexism, Alcoholism, Grief, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, Vomit, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Classism, Cursing, and Death

jjjreads's review

dark informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Ableism, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Vomit

livfansler's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit

Moderate: Death, Abortion, Child death, Infertility, Rape, and Fatphobia

kbbq_master's review

emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

A book of parables and religious trauma mixed with infidelity. I really like the prose and the diversity of the characters. Each point of view was unique and helped further along the plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Rape, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Infertility, and Abortion

pitsikakku's review against another edition

dark funny reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Vomit, Abortion, Child death, Murder, Child abuse, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical content

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

 
I really enjoyed The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi’s Wives. One of the things that stood out for me was fabulous storytelling which felt strongly linked to an oral storytelling tradition, something no doubt enhanced by my listening to the wonderful audiobook.

Baba Segi, his three wives, and their children live harmoniously, until he introduces a fourth wife to the household, one who is younger and college educated. The three other wives are resentful and determine to get rid of Bolanle, convinced that she thinks she is better than them, and that she is stealing their husband’s time and attention. Meanwhile she seems unable to conceive which is a problem because he values children above all else. As the novel unfolds we learn the backstories of all four women and get to the bottom of Bolanle’s infertility.

This is a story that covers a lot of very heavy topics - domestic abuse, rape, and the death of a child - yet it didn’t feel like an overly heavy read. The heaviness was balanced by humour, frank, sarcastic and sexually open conversations, and a general over-the-top, soap opera like vibe. I couldn’t help admiring the resourcefulness of the women as they sought to gain what they wanted and develop some agency in their lives, while at the same time abhorring some of their actions. Polygamous marriages are not common in the West and I think the author did a great job in portraying the reality, the good and the bad, and why women might consent to entering one.

The story was very much rooted in the Nigerian culture, yet many of its points regarding gender roles and male-female relationships are more universal. Overall this is surprisingly entertaining, while still leaving the reader with something to think about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Rape

gaeke's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-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

4.5

brilliant. the multiple POVs made me root for all the characters, something I wasn't expecting. none of them were good per say, but they were so unapologetically themselves that I had no choice but to support them. I related to bolanle and her struggles, loving how she came on top at the end. the culture in this was rich, which added the personal touch that I needed.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

hkburke2's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.25

Such VIVID writing - each character has such a distinct voice. I love a book that slowly unfurls motivations and back story that "makes it make sense." Great listen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Rape, Car accident, Gaslighting, Medical content, Abortion, Infertility, Infidelity, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief