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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book went no where fast and then careened towards the end. This book was highly disappointing!
challenging
emotional
tense
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:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“You are the only one trying to be like Oprah where they don’t want you.”
I added this book to my TBR because I’ve seen so many people talking about it. I honestly wish I hadn’t.
The title was intriguing and I mildly knew what it was about beforehand but this was a super disappointing read.
I only liked one character and she had the worst storyline of the three.
While I thought the focus would be Black woman centered, it seemed to be severely drowned out by whiteness.
Also the way each story ended… 0/10
I don’t plan to read anything else from this author.
I added this book to my TBR because I’ve seen so many people talking about it. I honestly wish I hadn’t.
The title was intriguing and I mildly knew what it was about beforehand but this was a super disappointing read.
I only liked one character and she had the worst storyline of the three.
While I thought the focus would be Black woman centered, it seemed to be severely drowned out by whiteness.
Also the way each story ended… 0/10
I don’t plan to read anything else from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy
3.5 rounded up
There were a lot of things I liked about this book, especially how well the author exposes the inequalities of Swedish society, in terms of classism, sexism as well as racism, through the three very different characters' stories. That very specific brand of understated Swedish prejudice is expertly rendered...
I liked the writing style, though it could have been better edited, particularly a lot of repetitions and sentences in Swedish could have been omitted.
Weaving together the three different characters is an ambitious and interesting undertaking, but Muna felt a bit out of place and would maybe have been better served in a separate story.
Overall an interesting debut and I hope to read more from this author.
There were a lot of things I liked about this book, especially how well the author exposes the inequalities of Swedish society, in terms of classism, sexism as well as racism, through the three very different characters' stories. That very specific brand of understated Swedish prejudice is expertly rendered...
I liked the writing style, though it could have been better edited, particularly a lot of repetitions and sentences in Swedish could have been omitted.
Weaving together the three different characters is an ambitious and interesting undertaking, but Muna felt a bit out of place and would maybe have been better served in a separate story.
Overall an interesting debut and I hope to read more from this author.
I couldn’t put this book down. It is an exciting read which is part thriller and part cultural think piece. It is about loneliness and isolation wrapped up in a culture that celebrates sameness. It is the story of three black women who have ties to a Swedish man of privilege with his own challenges and demons of loneliness.
Beyond the outward open-mindedness, inclusive collaboration and cosmopolitan veneer, some European countries harbour a dark underbelly of racism and exclusion. Akinmade Kerström tells a story about Black womanhood in various forms through the perspectives of three different women. 'The independent strong' black woman, career-focused but yearning for love, is portrayed in a narrative through Kemi. The gorgeous Black woman, Brittany-Rae, grew weary of self-sacrifice and being fetishized. Young Black woman Muna was by herself and inconsolable due to life's injustices. They are all connected by the misogyny they experience in Sweden, a country with a predominately white population, and were brought together by a powerful, wealthy white man.
They don't get along; how could they when they only share being Black in Scandinavia? However, their directions unexpectedly diverge and then diverge again.
I won't give away too much of the plot, other than to say that there is a lot of intense tension and unforeseen developments. I will admit that I feel strangely seen in this novel. It's not just because the book explores what it's like for women of colour to live overseas, but I was completely and utterly hooked by each narrative.
It would be impossible for me to choose a favourite character. But, I can assure you that this book will keep you engrossed from beginning to end.
And your heart will break; over and over again.
They don't get along; how could they when they only share being Black in Scandinavia? However, their directions unexpectedly diverge and then diverge again.
I won't give away too much of the plot, other than to say that there is a lot of intense tension and unforeseen developments. I will admit that I feel strangely seen in this novel. It's not just because the book explores what it's like for women of colour to live overseas, but I was completely and utterly hooked by each narrative.
It would be impossible for me to choose a favourite character. But, I can assure you that this book will keep you engrossed from beginning to end.
And your heart will break; over and over again.
I won't rate it because that wouldn't be fair as I did not finish it. I couldn't. The only thing I take away from reading half of this book is that 1) only one of the main characters was likeable and her story was tragic, and 2) I *never* want to take my black behind to Sweden!
Yikes! This book is great at its job, which is to make you empathize dearly with three Black women who just can't seem to catch a break! I found all of them equally compelling and tragic in their own ways. . It's funny, I took Swedish 1 at UCLA last fall so I actually understood the Swedish, even the one conversation with Jonny's parents that isn't translated by the author. That was kind of cool for me.