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berodatheelf's review against another edition
emotional
fast-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Sexual content, Death of parent, Drug use, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Biphobia, Car accident, Child death, Alcohol, and Blood
starrysteph's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The VERSATILITY. The PROSE. Is there anything Akwaeke Emezi can't do?
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is a romance book – but it's a bit darker and messier than what you'd expect from a typical contemporary romance. I think it leans more into literary fiction.
Romance books are usually "safe" in the sense that they tend to follow the same basic structure; you know that despite some misunderstanding or heated moment of drama ... there is one predestined couple and they end up happily together. There is none of that security here; it is real and raw and messy.
While there are some romance tropes and fluffy magic, there's darkness and discomfort, too. Both of our MCs have lost someone they love, so there's this shadow of grief and pain alongside a fear of their feelings betraying them ... letting down their walls and getting hurt once more.
You may dislike the characters and you probably will dislike at least some of their choices. I don't want to give away the plot (I think it's better to go in unaware), but there is some discomfort in the final romantic pairing. They make selfish choices, but I kind of loved the idealization of putting yourself and your own heart first, and leaning into that passion and connection and companionship.
The truth is, it's easy to judge them when you're looking at the overall facts from afar ... but I think most people wouldn't want to let something like that - such an earth-shattering connection - go despite the difficulties and the hurt it would cause others in their life.
I did find the "instalove" aspect a bit off-putting. They fall for each other without many words or scenes together. In a book that doesn't fake happiness, it was the one trope that felt like the stereotypical contemporary romances I tend to avoid as a reader. But it is playful, and Emezi leans into the cheesiness in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way.
I also wanted to know more about Jonah and his relationship with Feyi. Her trauma depictions are centered around the nature of his death more than the loss of the person and relationship. I didn't feel like I knew anything about him except for the fact that he was "good" and that it was a generally healthy + positive relationship. This was a pretty short book (under 300 pages), and I would have happily read another 50 or 75 pages in order to flesh it out more.
Some other aspects I loved:
• Bisexual rep - our main character openly identifies as bi, and many of the supporting characters are queer as well
• Depiction of art - I could picture each piece and Emezi's lyrical writing really captured the way Feyi felt about her art
• The magical space and transition - it felt Wizard-of-Oz-esque, like we were sent through a magical portal and things turned from black and white into technicolor. I loved the magic of the island and house and Feyi's outfits and appearance. So positive and charming and enchanting.
CW: death, grief, car accident, drowning, homophobia, blood, alcohol, death of a parent, biphobia, child death
(Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.)
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is a romance book – but it's a bit darker and messier than what you'd expect from a typical contemporary romance. I think it leans more into literary fiction.
Romance books are usually "safe" in the sense that they tend to follow the same basic structure; you know that despite some misunderstanding or heated moment of drama ... there is one predestined couple and they end up happily together. There is none of that security here; it is real and raw and messy.
While there are some romance tropes and fluffy magic, there's darkness and discomfort, too. Both of our MCs have lost someone they love, so there's this shadow of grief and pain alongside a fear of their feelings betraying them ... letting down their walls and getting hurt once more.
You may dislike the characters and you probably will dislike at least some of their choices. I don't want to give away the plot (I think it's better to go in unaware), but there is some discomfort in the final romantic pairing. They make selfish choices, but I kind of loved the idealization of putting yourself and your own heart first, and leaning into that passion and connection and companionship.
The truth is, it's easy to judge them when you're looking at the overall facts from afar ... but I think most people wouldn't want to let something like that - such an earth-shattering connection - go despite the difficulties and the hurt it would cause others in their life.
I did find the "instalove" aspect a bit off-putting. They fall for each other without many words or scenes together. In a book that doesn't fake happiness, it was the one trope that felt like the stereotypical contemporary romances I tend to avoid as a reader. But it is playful, and Emezi leans into the cheesiness in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way.
I also wanted to know more about Jonah and his relationship with Feyi. Her trauma depictions are centered around the nature of his death more than the loss of the person and relationship. I didn't feel like I knew anything about him except for the fact that he was "good" and that it was a generally healthy + positive relationship. This was a pretty short book (under 300 pages), and I would have happily read another 50 or 75 pages in order to flesh it out more.
Some other aspects I loved:
• Bisexual rep - our main character openly identifies as bi, and many of the supporting characters are queer as well
• Depiction of art - I could picture each piece and Emezi's lyrical writing really captured the way Feyi felt about her art
• The magical space and transition - it felt Wizard-of-Oz-esque, like we were sent through a magical portal and things turned from black and white into technicolor. I loved the magic of the island and house and Feyi's outfits and appearance. So positive and charming and enchanting.
CW: death, grief, car accident, drowning, homophobia, blood, alcohol, death of a parent, biphobia, child death
(Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Blood, Cursing, Death, Car accident, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol, Biphobia, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, and Death of parent
bekahbeth's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.5
Turning the romance genre into a revolutionary force for love through grief and against all odds, this book titillates, lubricates, lures, lulls, shocks, breaks, throws wide open, and rebuilds the literary world of relationships in its own breathtakingly beautiful image. May we all be as brave, imperfect, honest, human, and deeply feeling as the book, as Emezi, and as Feyi and Alim.
BookRiot 2022 Read Harder Challenge #4. Read a book in any genre by a POC that’s about joy and not trauma. I received this ARC from the publisher via Goodreads.
BookRiot 2022 Read Harder Challenge #4. Read a book in any genre by a POC that’s about joy and not trauma. I received this ARC from the publisher via Goodreads.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Sexual content, and Car accident
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cursing
kelly_e's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
Title: You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty
Author: Akwaeke Emezi
Genre: Literary Romance
Rating: 4.5
Pub Date: May 24, 2022
Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
T H R E E • W O R D S
Messy • Bold • Sensual
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Feyi, a young widow and artist, whose husband died five years earlier has been defined by her grief ever since. Feyi wants to feel alive again, and with encouragement from her best friend, Joy, she's ready to ease back into dating. She's not looking for anything serious, and yet a steamy encounter at a party leads into a whirlwind summer she could never have imagined. A book about grief, love, finding yourself, and choosing love against all odds.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Can I just start off by giving this cover some love? It's a thing of beauty, flawlessly capturing the exquisite prose of a supremely talented author found within these pages. The cover and writing are equally beautiful. Emezi writes with a raw, vibrant, and intense energy that just pulls me in from the very first line. The descriptive nature of Akwaeke's writing made the book so sensual, not just from a sexual perspective, but with the power and beauty within the art, the food, the tropical island, and the deep connection. They evoke such visceral emotion with their words.
At times infuriating, other times a pure delight, the beauty of this story lies in Feyi's bravery, reemergence and transformation. I felt a profound connection to her through our shared experience of losing our partners and the courage to live again. And while, I didn't necessarily agree with all of her actions, I felt as though it portrayed the messiness of survival in a genuine way. For me, this is so much more than a romance. It's an exploration of living with grief, the messiness of healing, and the power of truly living. Feyi learns ways to honour her grief while forging into a new future. There's a deep sense of understanding around the connection between grievers, and the portrayal of grief in art was an added bonus. It just all felt so real and messy with complicated people and a complicated situation.
The one hurdle I had during my reading experience was the profanity, which kept this from being a solid 5-star read. At times it just didn't seem necessary, but I do also understand why the author chose to go this route. At the end of the day, this is more of a personal preference than a criticism of the book as a whole.
Akwaeke Emezi defies genre boundaries with this beautiful portrayal of grief, love and living. It's possible my personal connection to grief made this book come to life even more. The power in choosing oneself and in choosing love is one of the boldest and bravest things we as humans can do, and this book captures that to beautifully. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty isn't going to be for everyone, and I expect highly polarizing opinions to emerge. However, for me this so much more than a romance novel, which I savoured, and cannot recommend enough.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• beautiful writing enthusiasts
• Akwaeke Emezi fans
• Age gap romance lovers
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"It had carried Feyi through the dark years before she decided to live, and she knew it was important to recognize old faces, the moment the anxiety became louder than background hum, when it jumped in front of your face and instead of seeing the people you cared about, all you could see was the thrumming noise, the fear, the voice seizing everything around you to confirm that you weren't wanted, that you were the problem."
"'It's your whether you count it or not,' He said it casually, his fingers flitting over the skin of her forearm."
"She'd fallen in love with him, and it was too much, too overwhelming, how dare she love someone else after Jonah? Feyi pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and sunspots dance in her dark vision. He would have wanted that for her, sure, but he wasn't here and that was the whole f*ucking point. He wasn't here and Feyi had promised to love him until death ripped them apart, and then death had ripped them apart and hadn't stopped loving him; she still loved him, her first best friend, her first love. When the accident had happened, Feyi could have sworn she would never love anyone ever again. It wasn't even a possibility. It was like a fork in the road had closed, shut off by an avalanche of grief, choked with rocks and a broken heart. It wasn't supposed to open, and honestly, it still hadn't, but somehow, an entirely new path had formed, green and creeping. "
Author: Akwaeke Emezi
Genre: Literary Romance
Rating: 4.5
Pub Date: May 24, 2022
Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
T H R E E • W O R D S
Messy • Bold • Sensual
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Feyi, a young widow and artist, whose husband died five years earlier has been defined by her grief ever since. Feyi wants to feel alive again, and with encouragement from her best friend, Joy, she's ready to ease back into dating. She's not looking for anything serious, and yet a steamy encounter at a party leads into a whirlwind summer she could never have imagined. A book about grief, love, finding yourself, and choosing love against all odds.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Can I just start off by giving this cover some love? It's a thing of beauty, flawlessly capturing the exquisite prose of a supremely talented author found within these pages. The cover and writing are equally beautiful. Emezi writes with a raw, vibrant, and intense energy that just pulls me in from the very first line. The descriptive nature of Akwaeke's writing made the book so sensual, not just from a sexual perspective, but with the power and beauty within the art, the food, the tropical island, and the deep connection. They evoke such visceral emotion with their words.
At times infuriating, other times a pure delight, the beauty of this story lies in Feyi's bravery, reemergence and transformation. I felt a profound connection to her through our shared experience of losing our partners and the courage to live again. And while, I didn't necessarily agree with all of her actions, I felt as though it portrayed the messiness of survival in a genuine way. For me, this is so much more than a romance. It's an exploration of living with grief, the messiness of healing, and the power of truly living. Feyi learns ways to honour her grief while forging into a new future. There's a deep sense of understanding around the connection between grievers, and the portrayal of grief in art was an added bonus. It just all felt so real and messy with complicated people and a complicated situation.
The one hurdle I had during my reading experience was the profanity, which kept this from being a solid 5-star read. At times it just didn't seem necessary, but I do also understand why the author chose to go this route. At the end of the day, this is more of a personal preference than a criticism of the book as a whole.
Akwaeke Emezi defies genre boundaries with this beautiful portrayal of grief, love and living. It's possible my personal connection to grief made this book come to life even more. The power in choosing oneself and in choosing love is one of the boldest and bravest things we as humans can do, and this book captures that to beautifully. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty isn't going to be for everyone, and I expect highly polarizing opinions to emerge. However, for me this so much more than a romance novel, which I savoured, and cannot recommend enough.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• beautiful writing enthusiasts
• Akwaeke Emezi fans
• Age gap romance lovers
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"It had carried Feyi through the dark years before she decided to live, and she knew it was important to recognize old faces, the moment the anxiety became louder than background hum, when it jumped in front of your face and instead of seeing the people you cared about, all you could see was the thrumming noise, the fear, the voice seizing everything around you to confirm that you weren't wanted, that you were the problem."
"'It's your whether you count it or not,' He said it casually, his fingers flitting over the skin of her forearm."
"She'd fallen in love with him, and it was too much, too overwhelming, how dare she love someone else after Jonah? Feyi pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and sunspots dance in her dark vision. He would have wanted that for her, sure, but he wasn't here and that was the whole f*ucking point. He wasn't here and Feyi had promised to love him until death ripped them apart, and then death had ripped them apart and hadn't stopped loving him; she still loved him, her first best friend, her first love. When the accident had happened, Feyi could have sworn she would never love anyone ever again. It wasn't even a possibility. It was like a fork in the road had closed, shut off by an avalanche of grief, choked with rocks and a broken heart. It wasn't supposed to open, and honestly, it still hadn't, but somehow, an entirely new path had formed, green and creeping. "
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Cursing, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Car accident, Blood, Homophobia, and Biphobia
Minor: Infidelity and Drug use
death of partnercaseythereader's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.75
Thanks to Atria Books for the free advance copy of this book.
- OMG, this book! I think YOU MADE A FOOL OF DEATH WITH YOUR BEAUTY is going to be divisive, but count me firmly in the "loved in" camp.
- Trust in Emezi to write a painful, messy, literary romance novel, full of intense feelings and complicated relationship dynamics, all draped in decadence.
- My one quibble is that it veers real close to insta-love, but everything else about the book is spectacular: the setting, Feyi and Joy's friendship, the queerness, the connections sparking off the page.
- OMG, this book! I think YOU MADE A FOOL OF DEATH WITH YOUR BEAUTY is going to be divisive, but count me firmly in the "loved in" camp.
- Trust in Emezi to write a painful, messy, literary romance novel, full of intense feelings and complicated relationship dynamics, all draped in decadence.
- My one quibble is that it veers real close to insta-love, but everything else about the book is spectacular: the setting, Feyi and Joy's friendship, the queerness, the connections sparking off the page.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Alcohol, Cursing, Blood, Car accident, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
escapismforlife's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
This book is unapologetic in every aspect of it's main character Feyi's choices. The story at times feels reckless and is meant to be on purpose. At least that's how I read it. This is a grieving 29 year olds story. She is in a sad transition because she doesn't feel good about commitment. Not after such a loving and consistent presence with her dead husband five years before.
Everything comes down to either pushing away in the name of friendship or folding to desire. I think its beautiful how the loss of something makes it easier to step back. To not feel pressure to commit in a romantic relationship. And this is the aspect of this story that I related to in certain ways.
Everything comes down to either pushing away in the name of friendship or folding to desire. I think its beautiful how the loss of something makes it easier to step back. To not feel pressure to commit in a romantic relationship. And this is the aspect of this story that I related to in certain ways.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Incest, Sexual content, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Ableism, Animal death, Biphobia, and Car accident
skudiklier's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.75
Okay, wow. I didn't read the synopsis for this book beyond the very first lines, because I knew the author was good and I didn't want anything spoiled. Maybe if I'd read that I would have been more prepared for where the story went, but wow it was wild experiencing that with no idea it was going in that direction.
I really enjoyed this book, and I feel like it balanced the feelings of grief and new love so well. I was a bit worried in the beginning I wouldn't be able to handle all of the stuff about her ex-husband's death, but I got through it okay. I think this book is beautiful and messy and I really want to believe in it, honestly. It made me feel so many things.
I'm not sure I'd recommend this to everyone; I feel like I'd want to give a caveat or two if I did. But who knows, maybe I'll think about it. The writing was beautiful of course and there was nothing wrong with it that isn't the case for almost any romance.
Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.
I really enjoyed this book, and I feel like it balanced the feelings of grief and new love so well. I was a bit worried in the beginning I wouldn't be able to handle all of the stuff about her ex-husband's death, but I got through it okay. I think this book is beautiful and messy and I really want to believe in it, honestly. It made me feel so many things.
I'm not sure I'd recommend this to everyone; I feel like I'd want to give a caveat or two if I did. But who knows, maybe I'll think about it. The writing was beautiful of course and there was nothing wrong with it that isn't the case for almost any romance.
Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Car accident, Biphobia, Sexual content, Infidelity, and Cursing
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Violence, Alcohol, and Blood
Minor: Domestic abuse, Incest, Alcoholism, and Ableism
azazellos_fang's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Cursing
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
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