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gratefulyeti's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
3.75
phenyl82's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? Yes
3.75
eleanora's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Sexual content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Car accident, Colonisation, Death, Alcohol, Infidelity, Vomit, and Body shaming
willrefuge's review against another edition
3.0
5.5 / 10 ✪
https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2023/07/30/shigidi-and-the-brass-head-of-obalufon-by-wole-talabi-review/
Shigidi is a bored, dissatisfied nightmare god, slaving away his near-eternal existence at the Orisha spirit company, trying to get more prayers. But when he meets Nneoma, his existence changes. He leaves the company, his dull life, and begins anew.
Now, over a year later, Shigidi is still trying to mend the fences over this particular break. He and Nneoma remain together, though their working relationship has become increasingly complicated. Meanwhile, the elder gods from his former company have unfinished plans relating to Shigidi, plans that are not so easily thrown aside.
Presented with a job that will even things up between the two parties, Shigidi is dubious, cautious, by he can hardly say no. From the beaches of Malaysia to the back alleys of London to the high-rises of Lagos the two chase this particular lead, eventually turning up at the British National Museum, pursuing the Brass Head of Obalufon, a stolen relic that they will now need to steal back.
—
After finally finishing this, I checked around, and The Brass Head of Obalufon has actually gathered quite a lot of praise from its early reader. Readers that stuck it out, had more patience than I, or simply connected with the tale better. Unfortunately, that was far from the story I experienced.
Instead, I found something that was obviously a full-length debut, with strange, often dramatically uneven pacing, such that I had long since last interest in the plot before it had really even begun.
See, we spend the first several chapters introducing our main characters—three of them—which seems perfectly reasonable. Only in doing so, we jump back and forth between timelines, often losing the threads of the overarching story between them. These long, sometimes vague glimpses might’ve been interesting had they followed some further kind of hook, but the early car chase didn’t wow me enough that I was willing to stow it for the first 40% to focus on the characters’ backstories. That, and by the end of them I had truly lost the plot—so much so that when I went back to find it it ruined whatever optimism I had for this.
Which is a shame, as the ride past the halfway mark begins in earnest, with some twists and turns that caught me completely off-guard. So. If you can power through to this point; or you can forgive a 300 page urban fantasy for building its characters up like a 1000 page epic fantasy; or maybe you connect with the story right from the outset such that one or two bumps (no matter how profound) doesn’t ruin your time—maybe you’ll like this one. A significant amount of people apparently do, as it boasts a 3.88 currently on Goodreads, quite a bit higher than I’d’ve expected from a debut that disappointed me so. So maybe don’t judge this book fully on my review, but take it like the one dissenting opinion that it is.
https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2023/07/30/shigidi-and-the-brass-head-of-obalufon-by-wole-talabi-review/
Shigidi is a bored, dissatisfied nightmare god, slaving away his near-eternal existence at the Orisha spirit company, trying to get more prayers. But when he meets Nneoma, his existence changes. He leaves the company, his dull life, and begins anew.
Now, over a year later, Shigidi is still trying to mend the fences over this particular break. He and Nneoma remain together, though their working relationship has become increasingly complicated. Meanwhile, the elder gods from his former company have unfinished plans relating to Shigidi, plans that are not so easily thrown aside.
Presented with a job that will even things up between the two parties, Shigidi is dubious, cautious, by he can hardly say no. From the beaches of Malaysia to the back alleys of London to the high-rises of Lagos the two chase this particular lead, eventually turning up at the British National Museum, pursuing the Brass Head of Obalufon, a stolen relic that they will now need to steal back.
—
After finally finishing this, I checked around, and The Brass Head of Obalufon has actually gathered quite a lot of praise from its early reader. Readers that stuck it out, had more patience than I, or simply connected with the tale better. Unfortunately, that was far from the story I experienced.
Instead, I found something that was obviously a full-length debut, with strange, often dramatically uneven pacing, such that I had long since last interest in the plot before it had really even begun.
See, we spend the first several chapters introducing our main characters—three of them—which seems perfectly reasonable. Only in doing so, we jump back and forth between timelines, often losing the threads of the overarching story between them. These long, sometimes vague glimpses might’ve been interesting had they followed some further kind of hook, but the early car chase didn’t wow me enough that I was willing to stow it for the first 40% to focus on the characters’ backstories. That, and by the end of them I had truly lost the plot—so much so that when I went back to find it it ruined whatever optimism I had for this.
Which is a shame, as the ride past the halfway mark begins in earnest, with some twists and turns that caught me completely off-guard. So. If you can power through to this point; or you can forgive a 300 page urban fantasy for building its characters up like a 1000 page epic fantasy; or maybe you connect with the story right from the outset such that one or two bumps (no matter how profound) doesn’t ruin your time—maybe you’ll like this one. A significant amount of people apparently do, as it boasts a 3.88 currently on Goodreads, quite a bit higher than I’d’ve expected from a debut that disappointed me so. So maybe don’t judge this book fully on my review, but take it like the one dissenting opinion that it is.
missemg's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.0
a0ri's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, though I think it has a few flaws. The characters themselves are very thoroughly fleshed out, which I think makes them - their motivations and their relationship dynamics - very strong. I also really like that this focuses on African gods and religion/mythology, which is something I feel is so rich and interesting and often overlooked by publishing.
That being said, I think the author focuses a lot of the book on building diffrent character's backstories, such that the actual amount of time devoted to the actual plot feels a little shorter than I'd like. The actual plot (a heist!) is such a cool premise and I wish it was more involved than it ends up being.
However, the book leaves a door open for more stories I'm this universe and I would certainly read any of those.
That being said, I think the author focuses a lot of the book on building diffrent character's backstories, such that the actual amount of time devoted to the actual plot feels a little shorter than I'd like. The actual plot (a heist!) is such a cool premise and I wish it was more involved than it ends up being.
However, the book leaves a door open for more stories I'm this universe and I would certainly read any of those.
barefootboh's review
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? It's complicated
2.75
brantp's review
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
csmall73's review
dark
sad
medium-paced
3.0
It was an interesting read but it just didn’t speak to me.
lucywynhoven's review
2.0
Overall a fun read, but I did not care for Shigidi. I found the action scenes too long and boring to read, so I skimmed the last third of the book. I enjoyed Nneoma’s back story more.