A review by laurenzokro
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-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

4.0

I will forever be in love with Adichie’s writing style, and this book did nothing but solidify that. She really has such a talent for setting such an authentic tone for daily life + human experiences. It’s rare that I actually envision the conversations characters have in fiction stories happening in real life because of how conveniently it seems to be set up for propelling the story forward, bringing in plot points and characters whose traits similarly contribute to the storytelling, etc. However, with Adichie’s writing, everything feels real - from the tone of dialogue spoken, to the rotating cast of background characters as we see Ifemulu and Obinze’s experiences growing up and living in different areas of the world. Although it was hard to keep track of new characters at times (and those that we were familiar to us could be aggravating at times!), it made the story feel all the more based in reality since this mirrors what many of us go through in living our own lives - having people come and go over the years, facing moments of indecision, periods of crippling emotion, and more.

I do feel that the amount of blank space/“dull moments” (while normal in daily life) was a bit excessive at times, and contributed to some moments of lost momentum in the story that made me enjoy it slightly less at times. This was particularly true during the end -
it feels like we wait ages before Obinze and Ifemulu reconnect again, and the amount of time that it’s covered in spans a very short time period. I understand that the point is to show how fleeting, yet powerful their reunion was, but the limit to which it was covered made all the prior exposition feel like it was setting up for nothing (only for it to seemingly turn around in the very last page of the boom when Obinze turns up at Ifemulu’s again.) I’m definitely not opposed to the concept of Ifemulu and Obinze not being perfect for one another after all, in spite of the passion behind their relationship, but I wish there had been more of a commitment in one direction or the other - rather than having their status flip-flop in the last quarter of the book.


However, I cannot emphasise enough how much I would and will continue to recommend this boom to those I know. Beyond its perfect blend of simply put, yet insightful and intriguing content, I believe the lessons it has to tell are of crucial importance to read about and work to understand. I certainly learned much, and hope that other books can emulate a similar harmony of accessibility and wisdom to impart.
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