Reviews - A Kind of Madness

98 reviews for:

A Kind of Madness

Uche Okonkwo

3.94 AVERAGE

ked2yk's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging emotional fast-paced

purplemuskogee's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

These short stories were delightful and clever. Uche Okwonko has written stories about Nigerian society, and manages to make them both feel Nigerian and universal. We follow several characters - a young woman and her mum, excited by an impending marriage proposal from a friend's son who has moved to Belgium to become a doctor; two little girls in boarding school, little Kemi who has incredible stories to tell but seems lonely; a preacher who despairs at his empty church and doesn't understand why everyone is going to the new megachurch that Daddy-Too-Much has opened next door; a brother and a sister who find their father's adult movies; a little girl worries for her friend with sickle cells; a little boy who grows very attached to the one-eyed chicken that his mother intends to kill and cook in her pepper soup... They all felt different but warm, they all talked about expectations and navigating the world meeting these - or the consequences if you don't. I liked that many of the characters were children, it can be difficult to write characters that are both very young but feel developed and deep enough to be interesting, but Okwonko has written beautiful stories that were moving and intelligent.

Free ARC sent by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

lohknomona's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

carriermoore's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

polyphonic_reads's review against another edition

3.5

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

abbie_'s review against another edition

3.75

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my digital ARC!

I’m always down for a good short story collection, and while I wasn’t blown away by this debut collection, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. It’s a very solid collection, all the stories fit nicely together. They’re all slice-of-life, exploring various relationships and dynamics across contemporary Nigeria. We see mothers trying to marry off daughters, nephews trying to mend an auntie’s broken heart, young boys doing all they can to survive on the streets, little girls engaged in the usual tumult that is tween friendships. Corruption within the church, mental health, classism, reflections on these themes and more can be found in these pages. They’re all very much character driven, as Okonkwo peels back the layers of Nigerian society to lay bare the madness that resides there. That title really is perfect!

alienclans's review against another edition

4.0

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway!

For the most part, I enjoyed this collection. Sometimes short story collections have a few that drag or feel like filler but this felt like an intentional and thoughtful collection. Some stories weren’t as memorable as others but I think they all fit together nicely.

My favorite was “The Girl Who Lied.” Considering how short it was, the author was able to convey both characters so clearly.