Reviews

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

larrrn's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

ashley_heuser's review against another edition

2.0

I really wanted to like this book, but I really struggled with it. I loved how each of the characters felt super distractive and very fleshed out. The descriptions made the island paradise seem so real and tangible. Book club said that this book "should make you sad and horny" and while I didn't feel those, I certainly felt hungry (can Alim cook my celebration dinner?). I also loved how Emezi made sure that Feyi had a solid friendship with Joy who could act as her support network.

While reading the book, I felt anxiety with the choices that the characters were making. I was dreading the family finding things out and for me, that is not an enjoyable experience. One of the incidences at the end of the book made me feel very uncomfortable.

All in all, I did not personally enjoy the plot of this book, but I loved the atmosphere. I am torn between two or three stars, it may increase after book club's discussion.

tdiddy's review against another edition

hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

msgold's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.75

marissarebekka's review against another edition

Fremsto urealistisk og som en dans på roser hele greia. Ikke knytta til karakteren- var ikke hookende språk

9queenbee9's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

s_elizabethh36's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

zinelib's review against another edition

hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

You Made a Fool... is a romance where the romance takes a while to unfold, though the sexuality is present from the start. Emezi wants us to really know our protagonist first. Feyi is a Nigerian-American artist living in Brooklyn with her best friend Joy. She's a 29-year-old widow whose high school sweetheart and husband died in a car accident, holding her hand. Ergo, falling in love again is not a thing. She remarks to Joy, who is wondering if they're having a quarter-life crisis

I think we're just figuring out how to survive a world on fire... that it's okay to be alive.

I highlighted that sentence because it resonates with own my 2020s worldview, but now that I read it again, I see that this page 20 observation sets up Feyi's whole struggle. 

A friend turned me onto the concept of the "MFA novel," which refers to books that are densely descriptive. Emezi is guilty of that sometimes, like

"Feyi" he said, her name rolling off his tongue like coconut sugar melting. 

[a few pages later]

Alim's irises were gray, encircled by a corona of swirling brown that spilled into the oat-milk whites of his eyes.

but sometimes a description really lands without being showy, e.g., 

People had turned her into webbed glass after Jonah died.

Or is that too showy? I couldn't stop picturing webbed glass or hearing or feeling it after I read that sentence. I just love the image--how webbed glass is broken but holding together and flexible. It's functional, but just. Another description that got me was 

She felt possessive of herself

Which is about wanting to be alone, not being interested in spending time with a potential lover--one who loves her in a way she doesn't return. Even with the person I love, I feel possessive of myself and feel a longing to be alone. 

The love interest is compelling, but maybe a little too perfect (other than his flaw of being older than Feyi and that he is the father of Feyi's unrequited). 

renlianne's review

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

hayleykaz's review against another edition

i got an ick