A review by mmcloe
Hangman by Maya Binyam

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Just so so so so good. Like the titular game, I read this book to be about all of the futile ways that people try to guesswork their way through what life can mean and symbolize,  if anything is actually there or not. In the context of migration and globalization, the novel talks back really strangely (in a good way) to the expectations that people from the metropole expect of immigration stories. I'm reminded a lot of Noor Naga's "If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English" in that sense. 

Also the prose was just excellent - a little bit of Camus with some more modern sensibilities.