A review by lindsaysmeldrum
Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu

3.0

Muchemi-Ndiritu explores the difference between the experiences of African Americans vs a privileged Kenyan woman, particularly when it comes to the experience of racism. Soila grew up witnessing extreme poverty and suffering in Kenya, and doesn't understand the experience of her African American friends who grew up in a white dominated society where they were always treated as a threat. While educational to read, it felt like there was a lot of tokenism in terms of the experiences (a dash of gentrification, a moment of hair as identity) where there could have been greater depth. The pacing of the book was slow, but then there would be these dramatic moments that seem to come out of left field. While some moved the plot forward, they left the reader with whip-lash trying to consolidate everything. Soila was a rather unlikable character, being both naïve and self-righteous at the same time. It wasn't until the second half of the book, where we got more detail about the characters and relationships, that I began to feel any connection at all. There is a lot of potential here, I just worry the important messages are lost due to the way things were executed.