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irie_e's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Misogyny and Toxic relationship
Minor: Self harm, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault
wrenl's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This is a curious look into Nigerian expat culture that feels disconnected. I didn’t feel drawn to either character, and I think the back and forth between their chapters made it hard to follow the story. I don’t really get why Nicole does what she does, and it makes it harder to sympathize with her. And Claudine is fine I guess, but I have similar issues with her lack of character development. I wanted to DNF and probably should have, but the tiny whisper of a mystery kept me turning pages even if I wasn’t into the book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Child abuse
liter_aly's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Classism, and Sexism
Moderate: Self harm, Child abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexism, Murder, Slavery, and Domestic abuse
bluerskies's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Rape, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Mental illness, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent
litletters's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A perfect dark domestic noir set in Lagos. I need more from this author!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Pedophilia
tabby2920's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.0
I loved the family dynamic and the realism that was presented here. It provides a twist towards the end and leaves open-ended questions that the reader can interpret on their own terms. Claudine is an amateur sleuth in finding out what happened to her niece. However, it is not how amateur sleuths are usually depicted in fiction; they are represented uniquely and realistically.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault
Minor: Child abuse and Rape
jazzyreads_99's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
As a black woman myself, I’ve been looking for more black female authors to read from and support. I love reading black literature and hearing the thoughts of different black people from all around the world. But in all honesty, I honestly hated this book so much. And that disappoints me because I wanted to like this book so bad.
This is the first book I’ve read this year that I’ve given one star. This book is completely marketed wrong. Not a thriller by any means. More of just a family/rich people drama. (And even with that being said, it’s still a whole lot of nothing.) The author includes way way WAYYY too many details of random, pointless things throughout the book instead of writing actual story. And this is clearly done, in my opinion, just to fill the pages up. I’m assuming she does this to pace the story and not give too much away too soon. But, it’s done so poorly. I would start reading a chapter that would begin with a small crumb of story and then the author would just divulge into a TON of pointless details that didn’t matter in the end and would go on for so long, I literally forgot what the beginning of the chapter was even about.
This book claimed that it was going to be about the aunt searching for Nicole and eventually find out her “darkest secrets” and that she was involved in something so dark and mysterious ooooh!!! But really, there were no dark secrets and nothing mysterious about this book. The twists were bland and no where near thrilling. (Again, just revealing a bunch of family drama and reasons why the family had beef and using those things as a “twist”, when really and the story does this over and over again as if we didn’t see it coming a mile away.)
The ending was extremely rushed and, as another reviewer here on GoodReads put it, “a hot mess”. And I couldn’t put it better myself. I hate it when a random plot twist (that barely makes any sense) is written into the story just to add a bit of that “shocking” twistiness that the reader has been waiting for for a whole 298 pages. But it’s so rushed and clearly so forced, you can’t help but roll your eyes and say “Are you serious?”, out loud to yourself in the coffee shop you’re reading this book in. Plus, the book is again, written with so many pointless, random, annoyingly unnecessary details that the book feels way longer than it actually is. So by the time you get to the big “plot twists”, you don’t even care anymore because you’ve pretty much guessed everything that’s gonna happen and it took so long to get there, you don’t care. This book makes 303 pages feel like 503 pages.
There’s only one detail that was mentioned in this book that had significance in the end, which was the pear tree. And once the author started giving into what that all meant, it was actually gorgeous, beautiful, somewhat thrilling writing. I just wish I didn’t have to wait until literally the very end to get that writing. I loved learning about the different aspects and complexities about Nigerian culture here. There were some extra things I didn’t know before that I now know (like how some Nigerians will wrap their mangoes newspaper so that they will ripen quicker.) That was an interesting quip, as well as a few other ones. But the majority of Nigerian facts in this book, I feel like these are things most people (atleast black people), already know about Nigerian culture.
All in all, if you love family/rich people dramas, this is definitely for you. If you love thrilling, heart pounding, or at the very least, mysterious thrillers, you can absolutely skip this one.
This is the first book I’ve read this year that I’ve given one star. This book is completely marketed wrong. Not a thriller by any means. More of just a family/rich people drama. (And even with that being said, it’s still a whole lot of nothing.) The author includes way way WAYYY too many details of random, pointless things throughout the book instead of writing actual story. And this is clearly done, in my opinion, just to fill the pages up. I’m assuming she does this to pace the story and not give too much away too soon. But, it’s done so poorly. I would start reading a chapter that would begin with a small crumb of story and then the author would just divulge into a TON of pointless details that didn’t matter in the end and would go on for so long, I literally forgot what the beginning of the chapter was even about.
This book claimed that it was going to be about the aunt searching for Nicole and eventually find out her “darkest secrets” and that she was involved in something so dark and mysterious ooooh!!! But really, there were no dark secrets and nothing mysterious about this book. The twists were bland and no where near thrilling. (Again, just revealing a bunch of family drama and reasons why the family had beef and using those things as a “twist”, when really and the story does this over and over again as if we didn’t see it coming a mile away.)
The ending was extremely rushed and, as another reviewer here on GoodReads put it, “a hot mess”. And I couldn’t put it better myself. I hate it when a random plot twist (that barely makes any sense) is written into the story just to add a bit of that “shocking” twistiness that the reader has been waiting for for a whole 298 pages. But it’s so rushed and clearly so forced, you can’t help but roll your eyes and say “Are you serious?”, out loud to yourself in the coffee shop you’re reading this book in. Plus, the book is again, written with so many pointless, random, annoyingly unnecessary details that the book feels way longer than it actually is. So by the time you get to the big “plot twists”, you don’t even care anymore because you’ve pretty much guessed everything that’s gonna happen and it took so long to get there, you don’t care. This book makes 303 pages feel like 503 pages.
There’s only one detail that was mentioned in this book that had significance in the end, which was the pear tree. And once the author started giving into what that all meant, it was actually gorgeous, beautiful, somewhat thrilling writing. I just wish I didn’t have to wait until literally the very end to get that writing. I loved learning about the different aspects and complexities about Nigerian culture here. There were some extra things I didn’t know before that I now know (like how some Nigerians will wrap their mangoes newspaper so that they will ripen quicker.) That was an interesting quip, as well as a few other ones. But the majority of Nigerian facts in this book, I feel like these are things most people (atleast black people), already know about Nigerian culture.
All in all, if you love family/rich people dramas, this is definitely for you. If you love thrilling, heart pounding, or at the very least, mysterious thrillers, you can absolutely skip this one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Rape, and Domestic abuse
cc_shelflove's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I have to admit that I was slightly inspired and intrigued to read this thriller set in Nigeria because of Usman from 90 Day Fiancé. 🤣 It is no secret that Nigerian men have a reputation of meeting women online and scamming them for money; I thought this would make for a delicious read. This novel is actually the reverse: a group of foreign women marry wealthy Nigerian men with the promise that all of their hopes and dreams will be fulfilled. Not all that glitters is gold, and one woman, Nicole, begins to question her choices. She suddenly disappears and her auntie will stop at nothing to find her.
The front of the book promised it would be “thrillingly suspenseful.” When I reached the halfway mark, I questioned what exactly the blurb was referring to. Unfortunately the majority of The Nigerwife describes Nicole’s unhappiness and her marital affair. It was disjointed and rambling, and I could have cared less what happened to her. There were many recollections of the past that did not add to the story. I found that I kept asking myself, “Wait. What timeline are we in?” Until this novel, I honestly did not think it possible for a book to have TOO much detail. 😴 I did enjoy learning about the Nigerwives Nigeria community and the real life dangers of the Lagos Lagoon. Next, please!
The front of the book promised it would be “thrillingly suspenseful.” When I reached the halfway mark, I questioned what exactly the blurb was referring to. Unfortunately the majority of The Nigerwife describes Nicole’s unhappiness and her marital affair. It was disjointed and rambling, and I could have cared less what happened to her. There were many recollections of the past that did not add to the story. I found that I kept asking myself, “Wait. What timeline are we in?” Until this novel, I honestly did not think it possible for a book to have TOO much detail. 😴 I did enjoy learning about the Nigerwives Nigeria community and the real life dangers of the Lagos Lagoon. Next, please!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Rape, and Child abuse
susie_bee's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Slavery, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, and Rape
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
This was so good, it was like watching a soap opera! The high-level emotional drama, gossip, toxic relationships, and desire to save face over everything was absolutely thrilling.
The audiobook narrators also made the book, the two reflecting dual perspectives of Nicole and Claudine so well, and accent work and almost musical emphasis on the delivery of certain parts of the dialogue was phenomenal.
I hear this is going to be made into a tv series, which I definitely will be watching—this story will transition over so well to the screen in my opinion.
This book is for you if you:
- Enjoyed Wahala by Nikki May and are looking for more books set in Nigeria
- Want a thriller that tackles cultural merging, isolation, and dissonance
- Are looking for a book with a warm weather setting to match the summer reading season
Thank you Netgalley & Simon & Schuster Canada for a gifted copy of this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Sexism, Sexual content, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Classism, Emotional abuse, Violence, Vomit, and Slavery
Moderate: Drug abuse
Minor: Alcohol