A review by yproctorkent
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

 This novel is a chaotic love story involving a black, bisexual protagonist, Feyi, overlayed with an exploration of grief and how it can affect new relationships. I expected to adore this novel, however, I was left recoiled by some of the decisions made and found I could not suspend disbelief enough to truly engage and believe the love story. 

The book starts out very strong, a steamy rendezvous and the establishment of an easy agreement to physicality with a new partner after the harrowing loss of their spouse. I was gripped by Emezi’s writing and felt enamoured by the unapologetically black friendship between Feyi and Joy. As a queer black woman, I appreciate the representation of biphobia within the community, especially displayed by black men against other black men. 
 

The romance between Feyi and 
Nasir
  felt honest and real and gave me hope for Feyi to heal their wounds from grief. I did not feel this way at the end of the book, I felt 
Nasir
  as a character took a beating to allow Emezi to justify the eventual romantic interest,
Alim
. This was an insta-love situation, which I can often get on board with in romance novels, but this relationship wasn’t given any exploration other than mutual attraction and bonding over grieving experiences. I felt uncomfortable with the age-gap and influence over Feyi’s career that
Alim
had. I had such high hopes for this novel and was left disappointed. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings