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A review by gabichatslit
You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
4.5
“Imagine that, Feyi. We’re alive, and I love you.”
I don’t even know what to do, what to say, where to go from here… Like, this was amazing. The way Emezi tackled grief, what it means to feel alive, the uncertainty of choosing yourself above all else. I’m just truly shocked. I completely understand why in all the reviews I’ve seen of this book, no one has ever been able to fully articulate how amazing this story is.
The writing in this book is just so beautiful. I would find myself pausing to just marvel over these jaw dropping sentences that felt so real, like Emezi finally gave me the language for emotions/feelings I hadn’t been able to explain before.
There were moments when reading this book felt like watching a train crash and being unable to look away from the inevitable collision. But there was so much honesty in Feyi’s messiness, in her uncertainty, in her commitment to being alive— knowing what it felt like to just exist. I loved her inner monologue, she felt so real and flawed and thoroughly fleshed out. And I applaud Emezi for taking it there, for not being afraid to have Feyi make a wild ass decision and then sitting with us and unpacking how she got there.
Do I agree with everything that Feyi did? No. However, I think when approaching Feyi’s story from a place of compassion, you can sympathize with a woman who lost her lifeline and had been trying to fit herself into a life she did not recognize. One that she hadn’t planned for and that was unfamiliar. And then she found herself on an island with someone who she didn’t feel like she needed to stuff her grief down for. Someone with whom she could let herself be soft with. And knowing how precious life is, she refused to let that go.
This book will stay with me for awhile. And I look forward to all the things I take away from my next read.
I don’t even know what to do, what to say, where to go from here… Like, this was amazing. The way Emezi tackled grief, what it means to feel alive, the uncertainty of choosing yourself above all else. I’m just truly shocked. I completely understand why in all the reviews I’ve seen of this book, no one has ever been able to fully articulate how amazing this story is.
The writing in this book is just so beautiful. I would find myself pausing to just marvel over these jaw dropping sentences that felt so real, like Emezi finally gave me the language for emotions/feelings I hadn’t been able to explain before.
There were moments when reading this book felt like watching a train crash and being unable to look away from the inevitable collision. But there was so much honesty in Feyi’s messiness, in her uncertainty, in her commitment to being alive— knowing what it felt like to just exist. I loved her inner monologue, she felt so real and flawed and thoroughly fleshed out. And I applaud Emezi for taking it there, for not being afraid to have Feyi make a wild ass decision and then sitting with us and unpacking how she got there.
Do I agree with everything that Feyi did? No. However, I think when approaching Feyi’s story from a place of compassion, you can sympathize with a woman who lost her lifeline and had been trying to fit herself into a life she did not recognize. One that she hadn’t planned for and that was unfamiliar. And then she found herself on an island with someone who she didn’t feel like she needed to stuff her grief down for. Someone with whom she could let herself be soft with. And knowing how precious life is, she refused to let that go.
This book will stay with me for awhile. And I look forward to all the things I take away from my next read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Death, and Car accident