Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

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

23 reviews

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

5.0

I’d heard great things about Akwaeke Emezi’s writing but mainly about their YA novels Pet and the companion novella Bitter. Since I downloaded Libby *angel choir noise* I was disappointed to not find the audiobook version of Pet on there but You Made a Fool came up instead. After briefly scanning the blurb, I decided to jump in. And oh, what a gloriously realised world Akwaeke has made.

The rub is that our artist MC, Feyi, is dipping her toes back into the dating scene after the death of her husband five years prior with the help of Joy, her chaotic, lesbian friend. After a brief but ends-as-friends- situationship with a man called Milan, Feyi begins a let’s-be-friends-first relationship with Nasir, one of Milan’s friends. Nasir, who comes from a VERY well-connected family, presents Feyi an opportunity to be a part of an exhibition of Black Diaspora artists. Fast-forward to Nasir taking Feyi to his gorgeous tropical family home (I’m not a visual reader, but I could SEE this house from Akwaeke’s descriptions!!) and to also meet Nasir’s equal parts rich and reclusive celebrity chef.

It sounds like the start to a very light-hearted tropical holiday romance, right? WRONG.

Nasir’s father, Alim, is like Feyi – a lonely widower – and Feyi experiences an immediate attraction to Alim that she tries to stifle and explain away as it existing because Alim is “unattainable” and, while she is technically not in a romantic relationship with Nasir, would be frowned upon.

I won’t spoil too much, but the story touches very deeply into the ways grief can change your soul and provide a bond between people – both romantic and platonic. The building relationship between Alim and Feyi (who are both bisexual!) is never presented as a titillating trope, but rather as two deeply injured humans navigating their trauma and grief and deciding to choose love as a way to move through life. There’s so much narrative freedom to Feyi – the story focuses so much Feyi allowing herself to be who she needs to be and without compromising her ideals or happiness.

The story gets quite intense around the time Alim’s children find out about this burgeoning romance (I had to turn my audio off at one point on the way home from work because it was stressful to listen to at that time), and the story could easily fall apart with various miscommunications but instead Akwaeke carries us safely to the story’s end. I could wax poetic about this book, but also! Joy being an incredible friend throughout this story? Feyi and Alim both being adults who actively go to therapy? All amazing to see in a contemporary romance novel.

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lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective

4.25

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rmperezpadilla's review

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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? It's complicated

5.0

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ecn's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

3.75

I think that I just need to come to the conclusion that I don’t really like romance stories. The writing was great bc it’s Emezi but the story just felt a bit to unrealistic and FAST. But also, nothing really happened throughout the book (and not in a slow burn kind of way for me)? I feel like I didn’t really get to dive into the grief of the characters and know anything else about them. And yea it was definitely a messy story but i did not find it to be as fun as others said BUT! I did like it more than I thought. And, not to to end on a petty note, but the pet names throughout just made me cringe :/ it was a bit too much from the get go and only got worse when it was the ONLY way the MC was referred to

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takarakei's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

Look is this story messy as hell? You bet! But also, life is messy as hell. Come for the mess, and stay for Emezi's gorgeous and real writing. I can't wait to read more of their books.

3.5/5🌶️

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wilybooklover's review against another edition

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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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kateyhb's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-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

2.75

The song “Stacy’s mom” in book form, but taking itself very seriously?

Good writing and authentic black characters-I’m open to reading more from this author, but this relationship plot was not it for me.

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lores's review against another edition

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sad

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

2.75

I have to admit that while this is a good book, I just didn’t enjoy reading it. I have no problem with the main love interest being the father of the guy she’s dating in principle tbh, I think it’s fiction and it justifies itself pretty well considering. However, for a book I was sold as a romance, this fact just hung over the story like a sword the whole time and I dreaded continuing because I knew what was coming. It’s a lovely exploration of grief and a call to be messy and alive but I feel like the romance plot device almost overshadows all of the interesting character work. Plus, the ending just felt a little too much like everyone had 3 therapy sessions between each conversation so the author could justify a happy ending here. I wanted to love this so badly but I think it was just marketed entirely wrong.

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kristakp's review

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challenging emotional reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

I'm surprised that I liked this book as much as I did. The plot was not my favorite, the idea of falling in love with someone twice my age is viciously unappealing. But the prose was written so well and the emotions felt real and earned. Sure, the romance wasn't my cup of tea, but I've read so many worse novels that had the tropes that I liked so I don't think that matters all that much. This book pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I feel like a better reader for it.

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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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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