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cwerber's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have a lot to chew on with this book. It's billed as a romance book but it feels more like it should be in the literary genre.
Feyi is an artist who has been grieving someone close to her. She meets several people, in an effort to reclaim herself from this grief that has consumed her for the past five years. But then she meets the father of the latest person she's taking things slowly with and then the roller coaster happens.
Do I like the main characters? I don't know. Could things have been handled differently? Yes, but then a chunk of the book would've been different. What is more at the heart of this book is the way different people handle their grief. (On a personal note, I think books about grief literally keep finding me.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Death, Biphobia, and Sexual content
Minor: Drug use
lilysaddler's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death, Car accident, Blood, Cursing, and Death of parent
Minor: Violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use
sib_reads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Car accident
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Blood
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Death, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia, Drug use, and Violence
berodatheelf's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Sexual content, Death of parent, Drug use, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Biphobia, Car accident, Child death, Alcohol, and Blood
deedireads's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty won’t be for everyone, but I very much respected the way it stands boldly, tells a deeply human story, and subverts romance novel tropes and expectations.
For you if: You like the challenge of morally grey characters and plots (and don’t mind profanity).
FULL REVIEW:
Thank you, Atria, for the electronic advanced copy of this book! I, like the rest of the world, love Akwaeke Emezi’s work, and I was so excited and intrigued to see what they were able to do within the romance genre, even though it isn’t my usual scene.
You have likely heard by now that You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty is very different from Emezi’s other work, and that is true. You might call it more conventional (although I’d still argue that it’s actually not). It sort of feels that way, with its familiar romance-novel plot shape and pacing. But it also subtly subverts all our expectations about romance novels, with a messy protagonist, a morally gray plot arc, unabashed AAVE dialogue, and a bold premise. (If you don’t like profanity or characters making choices that you disagree with, this won’t be for you.)
In this novel, Emezi shows us that romance novels — and love stories themselves — can come in all shapes and flavors, and that a relationship doesn’t have to make sense to those outside it. This book is about grief, and living boldly, and seizing happiness, and dealing with the consequences because it’s worth it. It’s about these two characters and them alone, and you as the reader are invited to either witness — or mind your own business.
At the end of the day, it’s this last thing — that Emezi told the story they wanted, and that they could, quite frankly, give a sh*t about what you think of these characters’ choices — that makes this book stand out and adds another tally to their list of literary accomplishments.
TL;DR REVIEW:
You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty won’t be for everyone, but I very much respected the way it stands boldly, tells a deeply human story, and subverts romance novel tropes and expectations.
For you if: You like the challenge of morally grey characters and plots (and don’t mind profanity).
FULL REVIEW:
Thank you, Atria, for the electronic advanced copy of this book! I, like the rest of the world, love Akwaeke Emezi’s work, and I was so excited and intrigued to see what they were able to do within the romance genre, even though it isn’t my usual scene.
You have likely heard by now that You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty is very different from Emezi’s other work, and that is true. You might call it more conventional (although I’d still argue that it’s actually not). It sort of feels that way, with its familiar romance-novel plot shape and pacing. But it also subtly subverts all our expectations about romance novels, with a messy protagonist, a morally gray plot arc, unabashed AAVE dialogue, and a bold premise. (If you don’t like profanity or characters making choices that you disagree with, this won’t be for you.)
In this novel, Emezi shows us that romance novels — and love stories themselves — can come in all shapes and flavors, and that a relationship doesn’t have to make sense to those outside it. This book is about grief, and living boldly, and seizing happiness, and dealing with the consequences because it’s worth it. It’s about these two characters and them alone, and you as the reader are invited to either witness — or mind your own business.
At the end of the day, it’s this last thing — that Emezi told the story they wanted, and that they could, quite frankly, give a sh*t about what you think of these characters’ choices — that makes this book stand out and adds another tally to their list of literary accomplishments.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, Drug use, Alcohol, and Car accident
kelly_e's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Title: You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty
Author: Akwaeke Emezi
Genre: Literary Romance
Rating: 4.5
Pub Date: May 24, 2022
Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
T H R E E • W O R D S
Messy • Bold • Sensual
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Feyi, a young widow and artist, whose husband died five years earlier has been defined by her grief ever since. Feyi wants to feel alive again, and with encouragement from her best friend, Joy, she's ready to ease back into dating. She's not looking for anything serious, and yet a steamy encounter at a party leads into a whirlwind summer she could never have imagined. A book about grief, love, finding yourself, and choosing love against all odds.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Can I just start off by giving this cover some love? It's a thing of beauty, flawlessly capturing the exquisite prose of a supremely talented author found within these pages. The cover and writing are equally beautiful. Emezi writes with a raw, vibrant, and intense energy that just pulls me in from the very first line. The descriptive nature of Akwaeke's writing made the book so sensual, not just from a sexual perspective, but with the power and beauty within the art, the food, the tropical island, and the deep connection. They evoke such visceral emotion with their words.
At times infuriating, other times a pure delight, the beauty of this story lies in Feyi's bravery, reemergence and transformation. I felt a profound connection to her through our shared experience of losing our partners and the courage to live again. And while, I didn't necessarily agree with all of her actions, I felt as though it portrayed the messiness of survival in a genuine way. For me, this is so much more than a romance. It's an exploration of living with grief, the messiness of healing, and the power of truly living. Feyi learns ways to honour her grief while forging into a new future. There's a deep sense of understanding around the connection between grievers, and the portrayal of grief in art was an added bonus. It just all felt so real and messy with complicated people and a complicated situation.
The one hurdle I had during my reading experience was the profanity, which kept this from being a solid 5-star read. At times it just didn't seem necessary, but I do also understand why the author chose to go this route. At the end of the day, this is more of a personal preference than a criticism of the book as a whole.
Akwaeke Emezi defies genre boundaries with this beautiful portrayal of grief, love and living. It's possible my personal connection to grief made this book come to life even more. The power in choosing oneself and in choosing love is one of the boldest and bravest things we as humans can do, and this book captures that to beautifully. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty isn't going to be for everyone, and I expect highly polarizing opinions to emerge. However, for me this so much more than a romance novel, which I savoured, and cannot recommend enough.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• beautiful writing enthusiasts
• Akwaeke Emezi fans
• Age gap romance lovers
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"It had carried Feyi through the dark years before she decided to live, and she knew it was important to recognize old faces, the moment the anxiety became louder than background hum, when it jumped in front of your face and instead of seeing the people you cared about, all you could see was the thrumming noise, the fear, the voice seizing everything around you to confirm that you weren't wanted, that you were the problem."
"'It's your whether you count it or not,' He said it casually, his fingers flitting over the skin of her forearm."
"She'd fallen in love with him, and it was too much, too overwhelming, how dare she love someone else after Jonah? Feyi pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and sunspots dance in her dark vision. He would have wanted that for her, sure, but he wasn't here and that was the whole f*ucking point. He wasn't here and Feyi had promised to love him until death ripped them apart, and then death had ripped them apart and hadn't stopped loving him; she still loved him, her first best friend, her first love. When the accident had happened, Feyi could have sworn she would never love anyone ever again. It wasn't even a possibility. It was like a fork in the road had closed, shut off by an avalanche of grief, choked with rocks and a broken heart. It wasn't supposed to open, and honestly, it still hadn't, but somehow, an entirely new path had formed, green and creeping. "
Author: Akwaeke Emezi
Genre: Literary Romance
Rating: 4.5
Pub Date: May 24, 2022
Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
T H R E E • W O R D S
Messy • Bold • Sensual
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Feyi, a young widow and artist, whose husband died five years earlier has been defined by her grief ever since. Feyi wants to feel alive again, and with encouragement from her best friend, Joy, she's ready to ease back into dating. She's not looking for anything serious, and yet a steamy encounter at a party leads into a whirlwind summer she could never have imagined. A book about grief, love, finding yourself, and choosing love against all odds.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Can I just start off by giving this cover some love? It's a thing of beauty, flawlessly capturing the exquisite prose of a supremely talented author found within these pages. The cover and writing are equally beautiful. Emezi writes with a raw, vibrant, and intense energy that just pulls me in from the very first line. The descriptive nature of Akwaeke's writing made the book so sensual, not just from a sexual perspective, but with the power and beauty within the art, the food, the tropical island, and the deep connection. They evoke such visceral emotion with their words.
At times infuriating, other times a pure delight, the beauty of this story lies in Feyi's bravery, reemergence and transformation. I felt a profound connection to her through our shared experience of losing our partners and the courage to live again. And while, I didn't necessarily agree with all of her actions, I felt as though it portrayed the messiness of survival in a genuine way. For me, this is so much more than a romance. It's an exploration of living with grief, the messiness of healing, and the power of truly living. Feyi learns ways to honour her grief while forging into a new future. There's a deep sense of understanding around the connection between grievers, and the portrayal of grief in art was an added bonus. It just all felt so real and messy with complicated people and a complicated situation.
The one hurdle I had during my reading experience was the profanity, which kept this from being a solid 5-star read. At times it just didn't seem necessary, but I do also understand why the author chose to go this route. At the end of the day, this is more of a personal preference than a criticism of the book as a whole.
Akwaeke Emezi defies genre boundaries with this beautiful portrayal of grief, love and living. It's possible my personal connection to grief made this book come to life even more. The power in choosing oneself and in choosing love is one of the boldest and bravest things we as humans can do, and this book captures that to beautifully. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty isn't going to be for everyone, and I expect highly polarizing opinions to emerge. However, for me this so much more than a romance novel, which I savoured, and cannot recommend enough.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• beautiful writing enthusiasts
• Akwaeke Emezi fans
• Age gap romance lovers
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"It had carried Feyi through the dark years before she decided to live, and she knew it was important to recognize old faces, the moment the anxiety became louder than background hum, when it jumped in front of your face and instead of seeing the people you cared about, all you could see was the thrumming noise, the fear, the voice seizing everything around you to confirm that you weren't wanted, that you were the problem."
"'It's your whether you count it or not,' He said it casually, his fingers flitting over the skin of her forearm."
"She'd fallen in love with him, and it was too much, too overwhelming, how dare she love someone else after Jonah? Feyi pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and sunspots dance in her dark vision. He would have wanted that for her, sure, but he wasn't here and that was the whole f*ucking point. He wasn't here and Feyi had promised to love him until death ripped them apart, and then death had ripped them apart and hadn't stopped loving him; she still loved him, her first best friend, her first love. When the accident had happened, Feyi could have sworn she would never love anyone ever again. It wasn't even a possibility. It was like a fork in the road had closed, shut off by an avalanche of grief, choked with rocks and a broken heart. It wasn't supposed to open, and honestly, it still hadn't, but somehow, an entirely new path had formed, green and creeping. "
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Cursing, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Car accident, Blood, Homophobia, and Biphobia
Minor: Infidelity and Drug use
death of partner
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