A review by serendipitysbooks
The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa by Stephen Buoro

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa because it has been longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize. It’s a book I constantly struggled with and seriously considered DNFing. I came to the conclusion that I was not the reader this book was geared towards - and that is perfectly okay and exactly as it should be. I decided to continue reading, not for personal enjoyment, but to look through the proffered window and learn what the author was saying through his protagonist, a 15 year old Nigerian boy called Andy. In many ways this is a coming of age tale as Andy negotiates some very complicated relationships including with his first white girlfriend, his mother, his unknown father, his friends, his stillborn brother, and his country. Some storylines brought up issues I was already familiar with - the cultural clash between Muslims and Christians and the exploitation of migrants by human traffickers. One thing that especially stuck out was the impact western (particularly American culture) had on Nigeria’s youth- altering expectations including standards of beauty (and doubtless responsible for Andy’s obsession with blonde haired girls), and creating artificial dissatisfaction. Andy had a unique way of trying to make sense of his country through mathematics and the concept of HXVX. I didn’t always understand this - and I think that may have been at least partly the point. In terms of writing some sections were poetic in style and I enjoyed those finding they powerfully captured Andy’s emotions, whereas the dialogue with its slang and abbreviations was not to my personal taste - but doubtless authentic to its protagonist. This may not have been a book for me but it’s not a bad book and I did gain some perspective and insight from my reading experience. 
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