Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Wahala

Simi daftly reconnects with her former childhood best friend–her alobam–and brings her into the fold. It was obvious from the beginning that Isobel was a weirdo and that a friend group established from being mixed race was already a shaky foundation, so the chaos she cooked up was light work. The way Boo & Simi downrated Ronke was infuriating, because she was truly the most likeable character. She was the only one satisfied with her life but suffered the most. I liked the first half of the book, but the plot got more unbelievable as it went on. I didn’t like the ending at all.

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mayahill22's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

OMG i looked this book. Usually I don’t go for a slow paced book but once it picked up it was riveting.

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laurataylor's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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zara89's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-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? Yes

2.0

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sarahholliday's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

The first thing I'll say is that Wahala is incredibly readable and fun—I got about halfway through on audio (mostly doing chores and driving to work) then switched to an e-book version because I just wanted to keep reading!

The Sex and the City-meets-murder-mystery billing is spot on, and is a large part of why the story is so enjoyable. Three incredibly different women navigating modern life together? Sign me up.

But where SATC forces its characters to grow as a result of being friends with people who have different priorities and values, Wahala leans a bit too far into the women's foibles. Instead of relying on, listening to, and learning from one another, Ronke, Boo, and Simi judge each other with a viciousness that makes their years-long friendship hard to believe.

As far as the murder mystery goes, the opening vignette offers a completely different tone and understanding of events than what actually, eventually transpires, leaving readers feeling either confused or tricked.

Overall, I don't regret reading Wahala and look forward to reading May's future work. Like the friendship at the center of the story, Wahala is a compelling and enjoyable—as long as you don't look too closely.

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meganmsmart's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

2.0

The characters are mostly terrible to each other, and there's so much racism, colorism, fatphobia, and general meanness of the main voices that it was hard to sympathize when their lives fell apart from their own choices. Only really liked Ronke, who deserves better than this book.

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ramreadsagain's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

3.75

Not as much of a thriller as I was hoping and I had some issues with the ending and the many unchecked biases of the main characters. However this was still very readable and I really enjoyed the plot and characters, I look forward to more from Nikki May.

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lauraorourke's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

4.5

I like to go into my books knowing next to nothing, and that is what I did going into this one. I think it was the right choice. I didn't even know what genre it supposedly is in (and I'm glad I didn't). In fact, I still don't know what genre I would consider this to be, but I do know that it is a great book to read if you like Liane Moriarty: Contemporary literary fiction with complex characters and something insidious brewing below the surface. I started feeling similar vibes as soon as I felt something may be off in what seemed like an ordinary book about friendship drama.

This was a great debut and would make a great book club book. Beyond the surface-level story, I'd love to dive into the themes of racism and identity deeper in conversation.

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