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

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Feyi lost her husband 5 years ago, and has been coming to terms with it ever since. One particularly reckless evening leads her to Milan, who leads her to Nasir, a sweet and charming man who offers to whisk her away to the Caribbean and get her art in front of people who could make all of her dreams come true. 
She commits to going, just as friends, only to realize upon arrival that his "rich af dad" is actually celebrity chef, Alim Blake. Not only that, but there's something raw and magnetic between herself and Alim, which is less than conducive to her friendship with Nasir. 
When an opportunity opens up to stay on the island longer to do a personal piece, she jumps at the chance, hoping that it will boost her bank account and give her a chance to spend some one on one time with Alim.

I gotta be honest, this book is MESSY but also incredibly captivating. I didn't really agree with many of the choices made by the characters, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from watching everything unravel. I particularly enjoyed Feyi's descriptions of grief, the way her art pieced together the immense love she carried with tragedy. 
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