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thatenbyisisreads's review
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
I wish I could read this book for the first time again. I loved all of the girls even though I was disappointed a couple of times with Kemi and Brittany. Hopefully, there's a future where they both realize their worth. It was very sad to see Kemi and Brittany not become friends because I know in a perfect world, Kemi would've helped Brittany out in her situation at the end of the book. I hated whenever Brittany and Kemi would complain about stupid shit when Muna was going through such traumatizing experiences in her day-to-day. She deserved so much better..
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, Classism, Confinement, and Domestic abuse
bandysbooks's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
This is the story of three Black women, each from a different background, living in Sweden and tied together by one unique man. I loved that we get a POV for each of the three women so that we get a chance to really know them. We learn their hopes, fears, and struggles. I felt like I had a good idea of who each of them was by the end of the book.
I really liked the author’s dedication to portraying characters with diverse backgrounds. The main three characters are each Black women, but their backgrounds are varied. Kemi is Nigerian-American, Muna is a refugee to Sweden from Somalia, and Brittney-Rae is African American. The main male character, Johnny, is neuro divergent and portrayed thoughtfully. We also see supporting characters who are refugees from Eritrea and Syria and two of Kemi’s friends are a gay couple. All of the diversity makes the story so much richer and realistic.
My only real critique of this story is that the ending was a bit open ended. I didn’t necessarily want it to be neatly wrapped up, but I wish there was just a bit more.
All in all, I would definitely recommend it for contemporary fiction readers, particularly readers with an interest in prejudice, xenophobia, fetishism, ableism, and racism.
I really liked the author’s dedication to portraying characters with diverse backgrounds. The main three characters are each Black women, but their backgrounds are varied. Kemi is Nigerian-American, Muna is a refugee to Sweden from Somalia, and Brittney-Rae is African American. The main male character, Johnny, is neuro divergent and portrayed thoughtfully. We also see supporting characters who are refugees from Eritrea and Syria and two of Kemi’s friends are a gay couple. All of the diversity makes the story so much richer and realistic.
My only real critique of this story is that the ending was a bit open ended. I didn’t necessarily want it to be neatly wrapped up, but I wish there was just a bit more.
All in all, I would definitely recommend it for contemporary fiction readers, particularly readers with an interest in prejudice, xenophobia, fetishism, ableism, and racism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Classism, Grief, Islamophobia, Confinement, Death, Racism, Sexual content, Stalking, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
Fetishism
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