Scan barcode
foreverinastory's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
Damn this was amazing! I should've read it sooner. Also someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is mainly set in Trinidad & Tobago?
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is a romance novel that follows Feyi, a grieving widow. After 5 years, Feyi thinks she's ready to go back on the dating scene. Feyi first finds Milan, who is hot and makes her feel attraction for the first time in a long time. But neither is ready or willing to open up, so after a brief friends with benefits fling, they go their separate ways. What Feyi doesn't expect is Milan's friend, Nasir, to call her immediately after and attempt to woo her.
Feyi feels something for Nasir, but she's wary of romance and dating since the death of her spouse, Jonah. The two agree to be friends and take it slow. The synopsis says these two are dating, but I think that's a mislabel. They agree to be friends first and foremost. Now Feyi goes into this relationship to eventually pursue something romantic with Nasir, but she's not quite ready to jump into it.
The two head off on a trip to meet Nasir's family and have Feyi attend an art show on the island. When Feyi meets Nasir's dad, Alim Blake, there's something between them that she can't deny. As she gets to know Alim, she finds someone who understands her pain of losing her spouse too soon. Something Nasir could never understand. Feyi is unsure how to navigate this growing attraction with Alim and her possible relationship with Nasir. Especially since she's starting to think Alim returns her attraction.
Look this book won't be for everyone. But I think it is an amazing second chance romance between two people who have lost people before. Something that really bothered me about Nasir's reaction to finding out about Feyi and Alim (who had only kissed up to that point) was that he felt entitled to Feyi's body and I'm not here for that. Even if you are in a relationship with someone, you don't owe them your body. You don't owe a partner sex. Consent is needed every single time and it can be revoked at ANY point. Kissing someone doesn't automatically mean you are going to have sex with them.
This book is very messy and maybe even a little unhinged, but relationships and life are fucking messy. Attraction doesn't always follow logic and most people can't turn their attraction off like a tap. I found the relationship between Feyi and Alim much more intimate, romantic and trusting than I did between Feyi and Nasir.
Lastly, Joy is the best and I love her with all my heart. Please Akwaeke can we have a companion/sequel about Joy.
Rep: Nigerian-American bisexual cis female MC with PTSD and anxiety, Afro-Carribean bisexual cis male side character, Afro-Carribean hetersexual cis male side character, Ghanian-American lesbian cis female side character, various Black and Afro-Carribean side characters.
CWs: Grief, death, sexual content, blood, death of parent, cursing, mental illness (PTSD and anxiety), biphobia/bimisia, injury/injury detail, homophobia/homomisia. Moderate: Violence, past car accident, domestic abuse, alcohol consumption, child death, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationship, misogyny, sexism, cancer mention.
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is a romance novel that follows Feyi, a grieving widow. After 5 years, Feyi thinks she's ready to go back on the dating scene. Feyi first finds Milan, who is hot and makes her feel attraction for the first time in a long time. But neither is ready or willing to open up, so after a brief friends with benefits fling, they go their separate ways. What Feyi doesn't expect is Milan's friend, Nasir, to call her immediately after and attempt to woo her.
Feyi feels something for Nasir, but she's wary of romance and dating since the death of her spouse, Jonah. The two agree to be friends and take it slow. The synopsis says these two are dating, but I think that's a mislabel. They agree to be friends first and foremost. Now Feyi goes into this relationship to eventually pursue something romantic with Nasir, but she's not quite ready to jump into it.
The two head off on a trip to meet Nasir's family and have Feyi attend an art show on the island. When Feyi meets Nasir's dad, Alim Blake, there's something between them that she can't deny. As she gets to know Alim, she finds someone who understands her pain of losing her spouse too soon. Something Nasir could never understand. Feyi is unsure how to navigate this growing attraction with Alim and her possible relationship with Nasir. Especially since she's starting to think Alim returns her attraction.
Look this book won't be for everyone. But I think it is an amazing second chance romance between two people who have lost people before. Something that really bothered me about Nasir's reaction to finding out about Feyi and Alim (who had only kissed up to that point) was that he felt entitled to Feyi's body and I'm not here for that. Even if you are in a relationship with someone, you don't owe them your body. You don't owe a partner sex. Consent is needed every single time and it can be revoked at ANY point. Kissing someone doesn't automatically mean you are going to have sex with them.
This book is very messy and maybe even a little unhinged, but relationships and life are fucking messy. Attraction doesn't always follow logic and most people can't turn their attraction off like a tap. I found the relationship between Feyi and Alim much more intimate, romantic and trusting than I did between Feyi and Nasir.
Lastly, Joy is the best and I love her with all my heart. Please Akwaeke can we have a companion/sequel about Joy.
Rep: Nigerian-American bisexual cis female MC with PTSD and anxiety, Afro-Carribean bisexual cis male side character, Afro-Carribean hetersexual cis male side character, Ghanian-American lesbian cis female side character, various Black and Afro-Carribean side characters.
CWs: Grief, death, sexual content, blood, death of parent, cursing, mental illness (PTSD and anxiety), biphobia/bimisia, injury/injury detail, homophobia/homomisia. Moderate: Violence, past car accident, domestic abuse, alcohol consumption, child death, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationship, misogyny, sexism, cancer mention.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Death of parent, Blood, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Biphobia, Grief, and Homophobia
Moderate: Misogyny, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Violence, Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Cancer, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts
laurataylor's review
dark
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Homophobia, Alcohol, Car accident, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, and Sexual content
queenofthefae's review
challenging
emotional
tense
- 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 did really enjoy this book, and probably would’ve absolutely loved it if not for the initial discomfort I felt with the premise of the main conflict — that Feyi falls in love with and decides ultimately to pursue a relationship with the father of the man she’s already involved with. I don’t really have a problem with age-gap romances, but that particular vein of relationship dynamic really squicked me out for some reason, to the point where I almost put the book down. I could see by about halfway where the plot was headed, but I think it must have been more the anticipation of Feyi crossing into *something* with Alim than anything else, because for the last third or so of the book once they’d crossed that line, so to speak, I was much more okay with it. I still didn’t love that dynamic situation, but not so badly I wanted to stop reading. Overall, I really did enjoy the book, and aside from that one aspect, really don’t have anything negative to say.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Minor: Cancer, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
spaghettireads's review
emotional
hopeful
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
4.25
Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for the Gifted ARC
Wow I can definitely say that I've never read a romance book quite like this! I think that Emezi took a lot of the good things from the genre and combined that with elements often left out and they told a story that was incredibly engaging and well done. I really enjoyed how grief was explored through the story and how it is present in different forms and changes, but becomes part of life once it is experienced. I also really loved the way that the story showed different types of intimacy through friendship, even though it was centring romantic love in the story.
I would definitely recommend picking this up. It's a more literary take on the romance genre, but it never feels difficult to read or understand. There is a lot packed in to the relatively short novel, and it make the book very readable!
Wow I can definitely say that I've never read a romance book quite like this! I think that Emezi took a lot of the good things from the genre and combined that with elements often left out and they told a story that was incredibly engaging and well done. I really enjoyed how grief was explored through the story and how it is present in different forms and changes, but becomes part of life once it is experienced. I also really loved the way that the story showed different types of intimacy through friendship, even though it was centring romantic love in the story.
I would definitely recommend picking this up. It's a more literary take on the romance genre, but it never feels difficult to read or understand. There is a lot packed in to the relatively short novel, and it make the book very readable!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Violence, and Child death
Minor: Cancer
More...