Reviews with content warning for Violence - You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

This father and son are red flags all around. The son really flew her out to live in his mansion, and the dad really gets her to fall in love with him in two weeks? Moving too fast for me lmao.

Honestly, I wish the author would’ve leaned more into the messiness of the relationship, rather than trying to minimize the mess by making Nasir react so violently to the affair. It felt too much like the author was trying to justify it. ‘Yeah, Feyi fucked his dad, but it turns out Nasir was a violent shithead all along, so maybe Feyi was kinda right to fuck her friend’s dad? 🤔’

I wish we got more development for Lorraine. I thought it was really interesting that she seemed so warm and friendly in her house but so cold and guarded in her father’s house. I definitely thought we were going to find out what Alim did to make her act that way, like tbh I thought we were gonna find out that Devon had been Lorraine’s boyfriend or something 😂

I really loved the book, esp

the main characters both being bi!!

, I just wish the author had gone further with it. Let them be more messy!

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challenging emotional sad 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

3.25

This was an intricate and messy romance. I'm going to focus on two aspects that made the story particularly challenging. First is the tourist aspect. The majority of this book takes place on an unnamed (or perhaps I missed it's singular mention) tropical island in the Caribbean. There is neither an established sense of place nor insights or observations from Feyi's perspective during her stay on the island. In that sense, the story felt unmoored and vague. (Though perhaps that's the point, as Feyi struggles to "feel alive" again.) Feyi has arrived in a landscape vastly different from her well known NYC surroundings, and she is immersed in a world of wealth, privilege, and access. This leads into the second aspect - the power dynamics. Feyi arrives in this island location as a guest of Nasir, albeit in his famous Michelin star chef father Alim's home. She is afforded access and introductions into the local gallery/museum scene through her connections to both Nasir and Alim. While she determines early on that her relationship with Nasir will not extend beyond friendship, a starting point they have both agreed to, Feyi never communicates this to establish boundaries or clarify expectations. Miscommunication has entered the chat - and it's a doozy. Nasir feels entitled to more from his relationship with Feyi, that she should be grateful for the access, lodgings, meals, and transport she's been provided, and perhaps that she is indebted to him as such. Which... doesn't really feel like friendship, though that's Nasir's claim - "let's go slow; I'll be patient; just friends for now." While Alim also holds a certain level of power over Feyi, through his fame, wealth, age, and connections, he is more mindful about that dynamic. There is less demand on his side. His acts of service toward Feyi are performed from a deeper sense of care and attraction, but also rooted in their shared connection over their loss of a spouse.

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