A review by blessing_aj
The Sun Sets in Singapore by Kehinde Fadipe

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

The Sun Sets In Singapore follows the lives of three women living in Singapore and their unexpected journey to self re-discovery, triggered by the arrival of a young Nigerian lawyer, Lani.

Because this book is as literary as it is  women’s fiction, a good number of the issues it interrogates border on the biases that influence the way black and African women are perceived and treated in different spheres of the society both as expats and in their home countries.  

Some of the themes that stood out to me include: misogyny in corporate circles as well as informal settings such as at home and in social groups; the role that mental health plays in daily decision making and how unresolved trauma hurts us more than we know.

I didn’t like that Lani seemed to be the center of the universe, for more than 50% of the book. I also did not like that some scenes ended abruptly and always at the point where I have already gotten really invested in them. 

However, the depiction of the complications in female friendships was stellar. It was just the right amount of messy to get on my nerves and the resolution turned out to be satisfactory even if it took longer than I’d have expected to get there. 

I love me a book that mentions a lot of other books in it. So the fact that there is a thriving book reading culture among the characters in this book is something that I absolutely adored. That book club with Kike and LaToya was so vibrant 🔥. 

The audiobook narrator added a lot of color to the experience so I’d say it’s worth a try, as long as you keep in mind that she absolutely mispronounced the parts that were written in Igbo.