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gabichatslit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
4.5
“Imagine that, Feyi. We’re alive, and I love you.”
I don’t even know what to do, what to say, where to go from here… Like, this was amazing. The way Emezi tackled grief, what it means to feel alive, the uncertainty of choosing yourself above all else. I’m just truly shocked. I completely understand why in all the reviews I’ve seen of this book, no one has ever been able to fully articulate how amazing this story is.
The writing in this book is just so beautiful. I would find myself pausing to just marvel over these jaw dropping sentences that felt so real, like Emezi finally gave me the language for emotions/feelings I hadn’t been able to explain before.
There were moments when reading this book felt like watching a train crash and being unable to look away from the inevitable collision. But there was so much honesty in Feyi’s messiness, in her uncertainty, in her commitment to being alive— knowing what it felt like to just exist. I loved her inner monologue, she felt so real and flawed and thoroughly fleshed out. And I applaud Emezi for taking it there, for not being afraid to have Feyi make a wild ass decision and then sitting with us and unpacking how she got there.
Do I agree with everything that Feyi did? No. However, I think when approaching Feyi’s story from a place of compassion, you can sympathize with a woman who lost her lifeline and had been trying to fit herself into a life she did not recognize. One that she hadn’t planned for and that was unfamiliar. And then she found herself on an island with someone who she didn’t feel like she needed to stuff her grief down for. Someone with whom she could let herself be soft with. And knowing how precious life is, she refused to let that go.
This book will stay with me for awhile. And I look forward to all the things I take away from my next read.
I don’t even know what to do, what to say, where to go from here… Like, this was amazing. The way Emezi tackled grief, what it means to feel alive, the uncertainty of choosing yourself above all else. I’m just truly shocked. I completely understand why in all the reviews I’ve seen of this book, no one has ever been able to fully articulate how amazing this story is.
The writing in this book is just so beautiful. I would find myself pausing to just marvel over these jaw dropping sentences that felt so real, like Emezi finally gave me the language for emotions/feelings I hadn’t been able to explain before.
There were moments when reading this book felt like watching a train crash and being unable to look away from the inevitable collision. But there was so much honesty in Feyi’s messiness, in her uncertainty, in her commitment to being alive— knowing what it felt like to just exist. I loved her inner monologue, she felt so real and flawed and thoroughly fleshed out. And I applaud Emezi for taking it there, for not being afraid to have Feyi make a wild ass decision and then sitting with us and unpacking how she got there.
Do I agree with everything that Feyi did? No. However, I think when approaching Feyi’s story from a place of compassion, you can sympathize with a woman who lost her lifeline and had been trying to fit herself into a life she did not recognize. One that she hadn’t planned for and that was unfamiliar. And then she found herself on an island with someone who she didn’t feel like she needed to stuff her grief down for. Someone with whom she could let herself be soft with. And knowing how precious life is, she refused to let that go.
This book will stay with me for awhile. And I look forward to all the things I take away from my next read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
alexisgarcia's review
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Emezi is one of the best writers I have read from. they write such full characters. the characters have flaws but can also be so loveable. while i could point out many “flaws” in this book, it doesn’t matter. i loved it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Alcohol
meeklovestoread's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Now, I knew this book was about grief and romance going into it, but that's honestly all I knew. I really want to diversify my reading and this book had such high acclaim. Plus I found the title quite compelling so I picked it up and I was shockingly surprised at how much I enjoyed it (well, once the story picked up).
I went not knowing the tropes of this book and I think this proved to be beneficial for me because if you were to tell me the tropes that were in this book initially I probably wouldn't have picked it up. As the book goes along you'll see that it turns into a forbidden romance with a significant age gap. I don't really care for tropes in books, however, these are usually things I don't gravitate toward which is why it came as a surprise how much I enjoyed reading the romance for this book. The characters seem very sweet, mature, and considerate of one another. I love how consent is an ongoing motif in this book considering we don't really see that much in romance books. And I did enjoy the friendship between Feyi and Joy (although I do wish they wouldn't encourage each other's bad decisions).
Now although I did enjoy the romance between the two characters, I feel like Nasir's feelings were completely justified. Don't think just because I said his feelings were justified means that I encouraged his destructive behavior. Although the author lowkey tried to justify it, Feyi did take (maybe not deliberately) advantage of Nasir. Even though they weren't technically dating, Feyi obviously knew how much Nasir cared for her. Like what type of dude would fly out his situationship across the country for a week and offer her a chance to jumpstart her career? He had every right to be upset that she was fooling around with his dad of all people. While I do like her and Alim together Nasir and Lorraine are completely justified with their anger. After reading this book, I understand how others may not like it and aren't able to see past the events that take place and that is completely understandable, but I surprisingly enjoyed it. It explored elements of grief, casual dating + love, bisexuality, art, food, and choosing yourself.
I went not knowing the tropes of this book and I think this proved to be beneficial for me because if you were to tell me the tropes that were in this book initially I probably wouldn't have picked it up. As the book goes along you'll see that it turns into a forbidden romance with a significant age gap. I don't really care for tropes in books, however, these are usually things I don't gravitate toward which is why it came as a surprise how much I enjoyed reading the romance for this book. The characters seem very sweet, mature, and considerate of one another. I love how consent is an ongoing motif in this book considering we don't really see that much in romance books. And I did enjoy the friendship between Feyi and Joy (although I do wish they wouldn't encourage each other's bad decisions).
Now although I did enjoy the romance between the two characters, I feel like Nasir's feelings were completely justified.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Grief
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Blood
zombiezami's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Outing
Minor: Biphobia, Cancer, Child death, Homophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
pia_h's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
It's a beautifully written, heart-wrenching novel but I didn't agree with its message.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Racial slurs, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Alcohol
jamie_rich's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Car accident
Moderate: Cursing, Blood, Grief, and Alcohol
friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Alcohol
Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Racial slurs, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death
displacedcactus's review against another edition
emotional
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
I don't normally go in for the dramatic, messy side of the contemporary romance genre. I'd passed over this book a few times because "MC falls for her current squeeze's dad" just isn't my kind of thing. But all of my library holds were taking *forever* to come in, and this was available, and I'd enjoyed Pet and Bitter earlier this year.
Just so we're clear: The only thing this book has in common with Pet and Bitter is that both involve talented Black artists. Do NOT hand this one to your YA-reading kids.
Emezi is a very talented author. The language in this book is simply lush and beautiful. The food and art descriptions are dazzling. So I went along for the messy ride, even if I disagreed with most of the choices that Feyi made. If you like a romance that has lots of big emotions and a hint of the forbidden, then you'll probably enjoy this. And if you have to read something messy and spicy for some sort of reading challenge, this would be a good way to dip your toe into a genre you normally avoid.
Just so we're clear: The only thing this book has in common with Pet and Bitter is that both involve talented Black artists. Do NOT hand this one to your YA-reading kids.
Emezi is a very talented author. The language in this book is simply lush and beautiful. The food and art descriptions are dazzling. So I went along for the messy ride, even if I disagreed with most of the choices that Feyi made. If you like a romance that has lots of big emotions and a hint of the forbidden, then you'll probably enjoy this. And if you have to read something messy and spicy for some sort of reading challenge, this would be a good way to dip your toe into a genre you normally avoid.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, and Car accident
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Blood
Minor: Child death, Misogyny, and Death of parent
All of the major characters in this book are black and they use the slangy "a" ending version of the n word to refer to each other *a lot*.honeyenbee's review
challenging
emotional
funny
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, and Car accident
Moderate: Cursing, Incest, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia
fromthefoxhole's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
Feyi lost her husband 5 years ago, and has been coming to terms with it ever since. One particularly reckless evening leads her to Milan, who leads her to Nasir, a sweet and charming man who offers to whisk her away to the Caribbean and get her art in front of people who could make all of her dreams come true.
She commits to going, just as friends, only to realize upon arrival that his "rich af dad" is actually celebrity chef, Alim Blake. Not only that, but there's something raw and magnetic between herself and Alim, which is less than conducive to her friendship with Nasir.
When an opportunity opens up to stay on the island longer to do a personal piece, she jumps at the chance, hoping that it will boost her bank account and give her a chance to spend some one on one time with Alim.
I gotta be honest, this book is MESSY but also incredibly captivating. I didn't really agree with many of the choices made by the characters, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from watching everything unravel. I particularly enjoyed Feyi's descriptions of grief, the way her art pieced together the immense love she carried with tragedy.
She commits to going, just as friends, only to realize upon arrival that his "rich af dad" is actually celebrity chef, Alim Blake. Not only that, but there's something raw and magnetic between herself and Alim, which is less than conducive to her friendship with Nasir.
When an opportunity opens up to stay on the island longer to do a personal piece, she jumps at the chance, hoping that it will boost her bank account and give her a chance to spend some one on one time with Alim.
I gotta be honest, this book is MESSY but also incredibly captivating. I didn't really agree with many of the choices made by the characters, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from watching everything unravel. I particularly enjoyed Feyi's descriptions of grief, the way her art pieced together the immense love she carried with tragedy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Alcohol
Minor: Biphobia