Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

47 reviews

bookbuyingwithkatie'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

wilybooklover's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

2.5

It’s hard to know how to rate this one because there were some things I loved and some things I didn’t. 

Feyi and Alim felt like real, complex people. It’s hard to sell me on an age-gap romance (especially where one is old enough to be the other’s parent) but I think the author just about made it work. Loved the depiction of friendship between Feyi and Joy, and the vibrant island setting too. The writing was very pretty but I didn’t quite vibe with it; it felt like it was so overwrought that it got in the way of the narrative at times.   

My main issues: not only did the romance feel a little rushed, but it also felt as though there was something missing. I’m not sure whether it was because the MCs don’t meet until the book is quite far in (27%), or because Alim’s character and emotional arc felt secondary to Feyi’s, or maybe a combination of both. They had like three conversations and suddenly they were madly in love? I just needed to see more interaction to buy it. It also felt like overcoming grief was the primary plot and the romance was the secondary plot. I wish there had been a little more focus on the romance and that Alim had more page-time. Maybe if the first third was condensed and the last third expanded, it would have worked for me better. 

If you like complex, nuanced characters, messy emotions, questionable decisions, and romance-adjacent women’s fiction that leans literary then I think you’ll like this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer and Child death

thecatconstellation's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

This is a complicated, messy love story and a brilliant reflection on love after loss.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Homophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death and Violence

samixox's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

A story about grief and how life is not always clean. The different ways that grief bubbles up inside people, a beautiful story with beautiful writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Domestic abuse and Panic attacks/disorders

readers_together's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Minor: Death, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

maryjames's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia and Injury/Injury detail

elliedesatge's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, and Alcohol

agnesbebon's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Messy, beautiful, alive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

republicofben's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

This book was such a well-written, profound exploration of grief that really resonated with me. The book opens on lighter, more salacious notes, only giving you bits and pieces of the protagonist's hidden feelings. But the author does such an expert job showing you more and more of Feyi as the book continues, and it was so easy to get caught up in her feelings. I absolutely recommend this book, though I'd recommend you take care to ensure you're feeling up to the jumps and bumps your heart will go through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, and Panic attacks/disorders