A review by mcastello13
And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I was lucky enough to attend a live conversation between Ani Kayode and Roxane Gay about this book as they were launching it last year, and it was honestly one of the coolest experiences of my life. Roxane Gay is a writer I’ve deeply admired since I began college and was assigned some of her work for my intro writing classes, and it was wonderful to see her in person and to hear her and Ani talk about this incredibly novel, the first to be published under her new imprint. And I can see now why she chose it - this is a devastating, beautiful, important story that deserves a wide audience. Among many other things, it helped shine a light for me on the immense challenges facing the LGBTQIA+ community in Nigeria, as well as the activism that has risen up to try to combat those challenges. I’m really grateful to have read such a powerful piece of art from an extremely talented up-and-coming novelist, and look forward to reading more from him, and from Roxane Gay Books more broadly, in future.