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dunnadam's review
4.0
I really liked this book.
Recommended by a friend, all I knew going in was that is was about the 419 scams, those emails that you get saying a diplomat has died and is leaving you money in his will if you pay the 5% transfer tax. That was enough for me, along with an interest in modern Africa.
The characters in this book were fully fleshed out, the plot skipped along, at the 80% mark I couldn't put the book down.
Overall very well done. Some mystery, some suspense, a slice of life in modern-day Africa, way to go.
Recommended by a friend, all I knew going in was that is was about the 419 scams, those emails that you get saying a diplomat has died and is leaving you money in his will if you pay the 5% transfer tax. That was enough for me, along with an interest in modern Africa.
The characters in this book were fully fleshed out, the plot skipped along, at the 80% mark I couldn't put the book down.
Overall very well done. Some mystery, some suspense, a slice of life in modern-day Africa, way to go.
cheyenneisreading's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
peyton_'s review against another edition
3.0
This book was interesting, but not engaging. As an audiobook I really struggled with the back and forth between the Nigerian and Calgarian narratives and plots. I’m left confused about what was going on, but still managing to get a sort of conclusion. How the scam is run as a business is intriguing, and having a death to propel plot is smart, but I just could not get pulled in. I didn’t have an interest in the characters, so what happened didn’t matter so much to me. I wish it had just been more straightforward.
megangraff's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating. Not stellar writing but it kept me reading and wanting to find out what would happen next. I read it straight after reading "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe and I found myself comparing the two Nigerias.
da403's review against another edition
3.0
This book had parts I enjoyed and other sections that I found myself skimming through... never a good sign. The subject matter intrigued me but the book didn't really work for me. It did open a window that I might otherwise never have looked through. That is the lasting part for me.
da403's review
3.0
I wanted to like this book because the subject matter was new & different. I do enjoy books that expose me to new places or ideas but this book wasn't the one for me. More often than not I found myself skimming through sections to be done with the book. Too bad because I had such high hopes for it.
j_olip's review against another edition
4.0
419 took me forever to read. Almost three months. The reason being that at about 155 pages into the novel a new character was introduced and I felt already attached to the stories of Winston, Amina and Laura. Suddenly, I had to care about another character and I had a hard time pushing myself through the novel because once Nnamdi was introduced we only got half a page glances into Laura’s life every fifty pages or so, only for everything to come together at about the 300 page mark.
I wish I hadn’t lost interested because as the novel comes together it truly is a beautiful story about Nigeria, its culture and its people. When Laura finally enters Nigeria all the descriptions and small details feel authentic and I was quite shocked to read in the interview with Will Ferguson that he never went to the country. I felt Will Ferguson did a good job of not restricting the scope of the story to a western lens and rather tried to make the novel more a story about the Nigerian characters and their struggles with the western world and the politics of their own country, rather then make 419 a story about a women’s whose father was destroyed by a 419 scam. Overall 419 is a story about consequences and actions, and how everything is interrelated.
I wish I hadn’t lost interested because as the novel comes together it truly is a beautiful story about Nigeria, its culture and its people. When Laura finally enters Nigeria all the descriptions and small details feel authentic and I was quite shocked to read in the interview with Will Ferguson that he never went to the country. I felt Will Ferguson did a good job of not restricting the scope of the story to a western lens and rather tried to make the novel more a story about the Nigerian characters and their struggles with the western world and the politics of their own country, rather then make 419 a story about a women’s whose father was destroyed by a 419 scam. Overall 419 is a story about consequences and actions, and how everything is interrelated.
smittenforfiction's review against another edition
3.0
My daughter read this book for school and said it was really good so I thought I'd give it a try. We had a really good discussion about it once I finished. This is the kind of book that each reader will walk away having a different experience.
Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner 2012
Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner 2012