Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Wahala

Simi daftly reconnects with her former childhood best friend–her alobam–and brings her into the fold. It was obvious from the beginning that Isobel was a weirdo and that a friend group established from being mixed race was already a shaky foundation, so the chaos she cooked up was light work. The way Boo & Simi downrated Ronke was infuriating, because she was truly the most likeable character. She was the only one satisfied with her life but suffered the most. I liked the first half of the book, but the plot got more unbelievable as it went on. I didn’t like the ending at all.

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graceev's review against another edition

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mayahill22's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

OMG i looked this book. Usually I don’t go for a slow paced book but once it picked up it was riveting.

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laurataylor's review against another edition

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adventurous tense 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? Yes

4.0

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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

Wahala is the story of Boo, Ronke and Simi, three Anglo-Nigerian best friends and the changes that occur to their friendship and in their individual lives when Isobel, a childhood friend of Simi’s from Nigeria, reconnects with her and befriends Ronke and Boo as well. Don’t let the cute cover fool you - this is a dark tale. The pacing was good and the author did a great job of slowly dropping clues that all was not as it seemed and thus ramping up the stress and tension. I enjoyed watching Ronke, Boo and Simi navigate the issues in their personal lives even when they made choices I would not have. I also appreciated seeing them navigate the realities of their dual heritage (all have white mothers and Nigerian fathers) and the role which Nigerian culture plays in their life. I’ve got mixed feelings about the ending - one aspect I liked, the other infuriated me. A quick entertaining read.

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zara89's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

2.0

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sarahholliday's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

The first thing I'll say is that Wahala is incredibly readable and fun—I got about halfway through on audio (mostly doing chores and driving to work) then switched to an e-book version because I just wanted to keep reading!

The Sex and the City-meets-murder-mystery billing is spot on, and is a large part of why the story is so enjoyable. Three incredibly different women navigating modern life together? Sign me up.

But where SATC forces its characters to grow as a result of being friends with people who have different priorities and values, Wahala leans a bit too far into the women's foibles. Instead of relying on, listening to, and learning from one another, Ronke, Boo, and Simi judge each other with a viciousness that makes their years-long friendship hard to believe.

As far as the murder mystery goes, the opening vignette offers a completely different tone and understanding of events than what actually, eventually transpires, leaving readers feeling either confused or tricked.

Overall, I don't regret reading Wahala and look forward to reading May's future work. Like the friendship at the center of the story, Wahala is a compelling and enjoyable—as long as you don't look too closely.

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meganmsmart's review against another edition

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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? Yes

2.0

The characters are mostly terrible to each other, and there's so much racism, colorism, fatphobia, and general meanness of the main voices that it was hard to sympathize when their lives fell apart from their own choices. Only really liked Ronke, who deserves better than this book.

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