A review by abookishmagpie
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

3.5

 I’ve had this book on my radar for a while now and finally got around to picking it up. I’ve read from Emezi before and really liked that book so I felt confident in going into this book of theirs. In it we follow Feyi as she is five years out from losing the love of her life, Jonah, in a car accident and she is just beginning to get back out there in life and feel somewhat ready to start dating again. Enter Nasir, who she is attracted to and feels a connection to, but she wants to take things slower and he reads her loud and clear. He eventually invites her to visit his family on their island home, where she learns his father is famous chef, Alim Blake, and her attraction to him is instant. She tries to fight it, but can’t help but to be drawn to Alim and to feel a connection to him much stronger than one she has felt since Jonah. Alim too knows the grief of losing a spouse and how that alone feeling sits with you and affects every aspect of your life. The story is deep and raw with all these strong emotions and heavy plot points, but also filled with wonderful moments of laughter and joy. Emezi has a writing style that is unique and really brings out the visual as well as emotional that hooks a person quickly. I do think the pace was a little off and dragged the story a bit in the middle, so at times it felt like a chore to pick it up. However, I still really enjoyed my time with this unique story and how it was crafted by such a talented author.