A review by bigbookbaby
How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

4.0

this is a fictional story with extremely realistic parallels to ongoing colonization across Africa + the Middle East. at so many points, this book was gut wrenching, and i think the author did an exceptional job conveying the depth of the character's history, culture, community, and individual stories. this book seamlessly tackled many themes, thoughtfully weaving critique of capitalism, climate change, and white supremacy throughout the story. this is an important book and i am glad to have read it! two pieces that were challenging for me about this read. 1) it's long and slow paced with multiple narrators across multiple time + place settings. sometimes it was hard to follow and stay engaged. 2)

Thule being assaulted did not add anything to the plot and I don't like when authors include such violent realities without the proper care and contextualization.