A review by blessing_aj
The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obioma

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The Road to the Country is a novel about the Nigerian Civil War. The protagonist Adekunle Aromire is a young, Yoruba man, who goes into the heat of the conflict on a personal mission and ends up trapped after he is forcefully conscripted into the Biafran army. However, for about 90% of the plot, Adekunle has not yet been born into the physical realm of the world as we know it to be. So, Kunle's account as recounted in the novel is relayed through the visions of a priest of Ifa who receives them in real time.

I'll lead with the good. The concept of time manipulation, the way it was done in this novel was brilliantly conceived, even if it wasn't seamlessly executed. I also liked that the prose was sometimes lyrical, beautifully constructed and reflective.

Unfortunately, I did not find the plot nor the characters as compelling. It was nothing at all like what I expected from a writer with Chigozie's pedigree. Also even if the whole idea was to make the reader experience the utterly terrifying and agonizing experience of fighting at the war front and other devastating outcomes of a civil war, the pacing was painfully slow and needlessly so as it did not enhance the narrative in any positive way