A review by cass_lit
Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

3.5

I loved Pet so much that I immediately put Bitter on hold at my library (pro of being late to a book!) and checked my status at least once a week. 

My biggest “complaint” (which is much more about my reading experience than on the book itself!) is that I wish I’d read Bitter before Pet. Even though this was a later-published companion story about Jam’s mother, Bitter, I felt like the plots and commentary in it would have helped me to understand Pet so much better. It was a good story on its own, but because I was constantly rethinking my thoughts on Pet while reading I wasn’t able to get so invested in it that it became a great story. 

Even though I prefer Pet of the two, I still highly recommend Bitter and would definitely read this one first. 

Pet and Bitter are the only Akwaeke Emezi books I’ve read so far but I’m SO excited to read more of their work!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings