Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - Under the Udala Trees

"Sitting in the taxi as it drove off, I thought once more about the way that life so often takes us the long way around. But perhaps it didn't matter, long or short, as long as we eventually found our way to where we needed to be."
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I was deeply moved by this book. It felt like a different version of a story I'm very familiar with, what life could have been like for people I love very much if they had made different choices.

Okparanta used nonverbal communication so well, like how people shift their gaze or the way our bodies/face/eyes can betray our true feelings despite our words. The scene in which Ijeoma and other women from the "church" hid in the bunker as their friend was being brutally murdered was so powerful because it was a very clear assertion that there was an ongoing war being waged against the freedom to love.

The description of Aminita as a shadow was so inspired because it conveyed how completely she was integral to Ijeoma's personhood. As was the moment when Ijeoma believed Aminita must have died when she didn't show up, because for Ijeoma, the only thing that would keep her apart from Aminita was death. It was interesting that Ijeoma then chose the same route, marrying a man, and enacted her own betrayal against Ndidi but still saw herself as the victim when she thought Ndidi wasn't writing her letters.

Okparanta shifted her descriptions of Chibundu from open and handsome with perfect teeth to "monster-like" as their relationship deteriorated. The description of him "writhing into" her invoked the imagery of a snake, correlating back to her refrain on Adam and Eve. I also loved her use of dreams as introspection/self-reflection for the characters.

I was really impressed by this book, especially how at the end Okparanta addressed that our own awakenings may be someone else's tragedy.

Content Warnings

rionstorm's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Really well written, but very heavy. The story is told in an almost dissociative, hazy, slow way. Gorgeous descriptions of flora that were all unfamiliar to me, so I got to learn about lots of new plants/fruits/etc. There's only very shallow exploration into any character other than the narrator, which is perhaps by design but left me feeling a bit disconnected from the story. Not exactly my cup of tea but a well written book.

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kari_f's review against another edition

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4.0

“I suppose it’s the way we are, humans that we are. Always finding it easier to make ourselves the victim in someone else’s tragedy. Though it is true, too, that sometimes it is hard to know to whom the tragedy really belongs.”

I have been struggling with how to write this review, because the book was so well written but is also something I have no intention of ever rereading. I wish I’d known going into it how deep the levels of trauma and tragedy would be so I could prepare myself a bit for it.

There is war, civic unrest, grief, abandonment, religious trauma, poverty, homophobia, sexism, ethnicism, hate crime, depression, repeated sexual assault, and more… and it’s heavy to handle it all. There were several times I had to put the book down because the content was too heavy to continue with it.

That all being said, there are stories in this book that needed to be told and the author told them beautifully. The writing was well done, and each heartbreak the protagonist endured was a heartbreak for the reader as well.

I have read several books set in Nigeria this year, and this one definitely had a setting and perspective they were different from anything I’ve previously read. It also led me to do some research on topics, events, and laws I didn’t really know much (or anything) about, and I always appreciate when a novels spurs me to learn more about the real world. So all in all, I’m glad I read it, but I won’t likely read it again in the future.

Content Warnings

oliii_24's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

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