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A review by mylynn
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
challenging
emotional
funny
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
first off- this title????? ugh so good. I went into this book knowing next to nothing (which is not unusual for me), and this reading experience was so far from anything that I could imagine (in a great way).
I went back and forth between audiobook and eyeball reading (which is something I really like to do when I’m really enjoying a book) and I really loved reading the writing, but the audiobook was great too! I love when a narrator has distinct voices and intonations for each character, and Bahni Turpin definitely did that!!!
this book was so messy, and I loved it (-insert ‘I love mess’ gif-). Feyi was such a great main character, because even as things got messier and messier we see that she is super self-aware but simply cannot help but go down this chaos path. Feyi’s journey with grief felt so raw and authentic-- the way that small things or moments will trigger an old memory and have you deep in grief quickly.
All the characters felt so real to me. Feyi’s relationship with Joy was one of my favorite parts of this book. Their banter was so good, and I wish we got more of it!!
I found the romance surprisingly tender, but also...MESSY.
I really liked how this book dealt with the fallout of the choices of Feyi and Alim. It felt so complicated (as it should lol) and not easy and I think gave a lot of weight to what they were feeling about each other. I do wish we got more of what happened after everything went down.
ALSO I’m so glad Nasir was not endgame in this book, he made me uncomfortable from the get and when he reacted at the end I was not surprised. I’m not saying that he didn’t have a right to be furious, but I feel like he was really “nice-guy”-ing it from the beginning and I just did not have good vibes from him.
The last interaction between Nasir and Feyi was almost too real for me. As someone who has been on the receiving end of a man feeling entitled to me, this scene sent me straight back to those moments. Back then I could not put into words or even fully grasp the fact that someone actually felt like they owned me, so Feyi’s response was healing to read (quote below):
“You have no ‘right’ to me, we weren’t together, we weren’t even exclusive. You’re not entitled to fuck me just because you were a decent human being and went along when I wasn’t ready to be intimate with you, or be mad because I ended up fucking someone else. You don’t get points for waiting for me. I didn’t use you, I didn’t lead you on. I went as far as I felt comfortable, and I stopped there.”
ALSO I’m so glad Nasir was not endgame in this book, he made me uncomfortable from the get and when he reacted at the end I was not surprised. I’m not saying that he didn’t have a right to be furious, but I feel like he was really “nice-guy”-ing it from the beginning and I just did not have good vibes from him.
The last interaction between Nasir and Feyi was almost too real for me. As someone who has been on the receiving end of a man feeling entitled to me, this scene sent me straight back to those moments. Back then I could not put into words or even fully grasp the fact that someone actually felt like they owned me, so Feyi’s response was healing to read (quote below):
“You have no ‘right’ to me, we weren’t together, we weren’t even exclusive. You’re not entitled to fuck me just because you were a decent human being and went along when I wasn’t ready to be intimate with you, or be mad because I ended up fucking someone else. You don’t get points for waiting for me. I didn’t use you, I didn’t lead you on. I went as far as I felt comfortable, and I stopped there.”