Reviews with content warning for Rape - Americanah

There was a lot of little stories within this book and some where interesting but I honestly could have done without obinze’s story line I found them boring, maybe just because I liked ifemelu so much I wanted to get back to her. So because of this it felt long and dragged out at times. A sort of satisfying ending. Really interesting take of American blackness vs non American blackness I learned a lot!

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olivea21db's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing 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? No

4.0

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mildlypretentiousreader's review against another edition

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slow-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

4.0

“Racism should never have happened and so you don’t get a cookie for reducing it.”

“Relaxing your hair is like being in prison. You’re caged in.”

Americanah chronologies the lives of Nigerian immigrants, Ifemelu and Obinze, an engaged couple. Ifemelu legally enters the United States of America, while Obinze swiftly becomes an undocumented immigrant in London, England. The couple is soon separated by unforeseen circumstances and must rely on themselves to adjust to their new lives. Wrapped in the romance of the two main characters, the readers are thrown into the lives of numerous African immigrants as they navigate America and the UK.

An impressive number of issues are touched upon in Americanah. We watch the African immigrants grapple with the foreign concept of race and adjust and adapt their thinking towards other black ethnic groups in America and the UK. We watch how the pressures placed on immigrant teens can wreak havoc on their personal lives, resulting in suicide attempts. We witness the devaluation and degradation of black men and the over-sexualization of black women. We read about the victims of colorism and the constant and insistent hold texurism has on white society. All of these discussions are handled with nuance and grace.

I was not too drawn in by the plot of romance between Ifemelu and Obinze. I found it uninteresting and rather predictable. I also found that almost all the characters sucked, one way or another. Many lacked intersectionality and could not look past their own opinions. Others were habitual cheaters who lacked empathy. I was more into the political aspect of the Americanah than anything.

If I recall correctly, there were also mentions of Asian people that appeared to uphold the “model minority myth.” This rubbed me the wrong.

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purplehulk713's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

This novel was real. Adichie is a master of weaving the complexity of personality, especially when it comes to character flaws. You feel for her characters and suffer with them. Ifemelu is powerful but depressed, assured but insecure. Her situation in America precludes her from her true behavior because of the many racial constructs, like how she relaxes her hair for the longest time but it ends up physically burning her scalp until the point that she realizes that it is so much wiser to let her hair grow naturally. It’s an excellent parallel to her growth as a character and the novel’s theme of sincerity—initially Ifemelu tries very hard to assimilate for advantage in American society, trying to adopt an accent and lying about how long she has lived there. She learns that being genuine is a privilege in American society, not a given. My interest in the novel rather waned in the last one hundred pages perhaps because the novel is quite long or because I thought Ifemelu’s homecoming and reintroduction to Nigeria wasn’t as interesting as Adichie’s exploration of race in America from an outsider’s perspective. But I was quite satisfied with the ending, which brought everything full circle and showed the protagonists the benefits of a genuine relationship. This novel asks us to embrace the truth of ourselves but with a depth and subtlety greater than that of a novel for children.

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allagainforart's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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