A review by katie_greenwinginmymouth
Speak Gigantular by Irenosen Okojie

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Okojie truly has a wild imagination! So many of these stories have a really dark, tragic twist at the end and they are all suffused with a warped sense of reality where the nightmarish and the mundane collide. Even within a sentence you can suddenly be sent off course and left wondering wtf. The imagery is striking, like the returning lover covered in pulsing, bloodied hearts. Many of the stories are about love and loneliness, and often feelings manifest as actual things like a endlessly multiplying photos, a strange dog like creature or the statue of Eros come to life. The relationships are rarely healthy or equal - Okojie has a keen sense for the awkward shapes we mould ourselves into for the sake of an inadequate lover. The stories are disturbing but also darkly comic.