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A review by ambershelf
The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa by Stephen Buoro
3.0
As a 15-year-old boy living in Northern Nigeria, Andrew Aziza spends his days with his secretive mother, his teacher, and his friends to discuss Black power and the "curse" of Africa. When the Father of his church introduces Andy to his niece, Eileen, Andy immediately falls in love with the first white girl he's seen irl. As his feelings grow, danger approaches him—anti-Christian mobs, government clampdown of protestors, and a mysterious man.
MYSTERIES is a book with great promise that ultimately didn't deliver for me. Buoro touches upon interesting topics like internalized racism, the conflicts between religions, authoritarian governments, Nigerian women at the whims of violent men at home, and so much more. For that, I can see why Aspen included MYSTERIES on the longlist. Nonetheless, these topics are used mainly as a plot device and not so much as a deep exploration of how they impact the characters.
I also grew increasingly uncomfortable being in Andy's mind with a lot of sexually explicit content. Maybe my being more than twice Andy's age contributed to this discomfort
MYSTERIES is a book with great promise that ultimately didn't deliver for me. Buoro touches upon interesting topics like internalized racism, the conflicts between religions, authoritarian governments, Nigerian women at the whims of violent men at home, and so much more. For that, I can see why Aspen included MYSTERIES on the longlist. Nonetheless, these topics are used mainly as a plot device and not so much as a deep exploration of how they impact the characters.
I also grew increasingly uncomfortable being in Andy's mind with a lot of sexually explicit content. Maybe my being more than twice Andy's age contributed to this discomfort