Reviews

The Half-God of Rainfall by Inua Ellams

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thatothernigeriangirl's review against another edition

4.0

I’m always skeptical when a male author writes female characters especially on topics as sensitive as violation but Ellams did way better than I expected

The Half-God of Rainfall is a poetry-like, play-like novella that tells the tale of Demi, a half-mortal, half-god, half-Nigerian, half-Greek boy, with incredible basketball skills.
Although he was initially banned from the sport, Demi catches the eyes of the deities when he took a shot on the basketball court.

In his songlike description of how men (and gods) fight wars that turn women into casualties, Ellams makes this short book an ode to women who have suffered (still suffer) because of men’s ego. He wrote the story in a way that gave women (who conceive through rape) the choice to grief, hate and come to love its fruits. It’s a choice lots of women don’t get to have what’s with social pressure, stigma and even ridiculous laws like abortion bans 🙄.

Although the book gets points for providing this choice, its biggest plus, for me, lies in its portrayal of the strength with which women rise up after every patriarchy- induced fall, as well as the sisterhood that aid that rise. I applaud Ellams for conjuring up s story that brings several deity worlds together; the Nigerian òrìshàs, Greek Gods and the Egyptian, Hindu, Norse, Chinese gods. He managed to fit all those and love for basketball ball, immigration and racial issues into just 84 pages! Can I get a whoop?!🎉

It’s not to say the book is without any flaw. For one, it became a little hard trying to separate the dialogues from the narration itself but asides that, it was an enjoyable read.
A strong 4 star 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 read, i received a signed copy from 4thEstate (THANK YOU!) and I recommend it if you want a short, poetic novella to unwind.