Review by trips - Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon

trips 's review for:

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi

4.5

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

4.5 stars for now, but it might be a 5 star the more it sits in my brain lol.
First, I'm glad I read this book as it was very different from what I normally read. I was a bit hesitant as mythology stories tend to not work for me as well as they used to but I was pleasantly surprised in this case.
I liked that even the gods are not infallible from falling to the corrupt ways of capitalism and seeing the main characters, despite being gods also suffering from it. But also the characters pushing through and actively trying to create a better life for themselves! Shigidi and Nneoma are not perfect characters, they're both very flawed but it made them feel very real and relatable, despite being intensely powerful beings.
I see there are reviews not feeling comfortable with the level of sex in this book or concerns about Nneoma's character but to me I found it quite obvious that she was the most powerful character in the book and I think its a very shallow interpretation to assume Talabi just put her in the succubus = sex box? On the other hand I completely understand why people wouldn't want to read certain scenes at all, so check the content warnings.

This is kinda on me, but the book ended up not being perfect for me as the heist ends up not being the most important and I just really love heists... Regardless, what the story is more so about was really good!

Content Warnings