chichio's reviews
129 reviews

Alone with You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

She opens her mouth to apologise and he, unthinking—thinking only that he doesn’t want her to be sorry, that in fact ‘sorry’ from her tongue should be reserved for only the most capital of offences, such as disappearing from his life forever—he takes her hand and holds it, urgently.

As someone who has tried to like Olivie Blake’s writing in the past and just couldn’t get into it, I’m so shocked and, honestly, happy to say that I’ve finally found one of her works that works for me. Her writing voice just fits this genre so well—the roundabout ramblings of two characters that move around the world as people who are equal parts confused as they are confusing to others, ramblings that bring about answers but just as many more questions. God, I loved this. Especially enjoyed how the main focus of the book is that romantic love doesn’t magically heal people and that one doesn’t need to be completely fixed in order to be worthy of love. This was great and I need Olivie to just write more literary romances… that’s where she really shines. 

What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

FAVOURITE STORIES

• The Future Looks Good 
• Windfalls
• Light
• Second Chances
• We Will Greet You at Home 
• What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I don’t write because I think I have something to say. I write because if I don’t, everything feels even worse.

There isn’t much to say about this book; it’s not the kind of novel that you need to pick apart and deeply analyse. This book explores grief and the importance of memory, explores how some writers have to tap into grief, pick at old wounds, in order to create. This was unexpectedly cosy. Genuinely. Because I’m also a writer and because I’m also very well-versed in grief, this book resonated deeply and was undeniably comforting. 

Nearly All The Men In Lagos Are Mad by Damilare Kuku

funny reflective fast-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

3.75

I enjoyed this quite a bit. I really am just obsessed with any and all literature that reeks of Nigeria, especially when it comes to the overall tone of the prose and the dialogue. What I’m trying to say is that Nigerian colloquialisms really just warm my heart. The only issue I have with this book is the fact that it gets a little repetitive at points. All men in Lagos are mad but the man madness explored in this collection is infidelity, and it got to the point where I could predict exactly where the stories were going. Is that because I have real life experience with rubbish Lagos men, or is it because the stories just felt somewhat formulaic? Probably a bit of both, to be honest. Still, this is a debut book and I’ll definitely be checking out the future work from this author. 

Favourite stories: 
• The Anointed Wife ✨
• Catfish 
• Beard Gang 
• I Knew You 

Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy

reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Technically speaking I dnf’d this at 89% but like… I’m counting that as a read idc. I think this is the most okay book on this planet. Like… it’s okay. I just think it dragged on too much at some places and I really just don’t care to see how it ends. I’ll watch a YouTube review of it or something lmao

A Taste of Her Own Medicine by Tasha L. Harrison

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

[turns face into pillow][screams]

The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland

dark reflective 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

4.75

Everything I’ve loved I’ve lost, and not generally with sweet goodbyes and tearful embraces—violently, horrifically, such that it seems that to love is to lose. 

She could live, but only forever. All or nothing. Too much or not enough, those were our only choices. 

Ah, yes! Vampirism as a tool to explore the human condition! My favourite genre! This book explores the human condition alongside what it means to love, what it means to lose, otherness, sorrow, and the haunting of old Slavic gods. We follow Collette, a girl turned into a vampire without her consent, as she loses everything around her (her family, her friends, her lovers, her home) except for her life. Throughout the whole book, Collette is grappling with her hunger—not just for blood but for love, for family. The prose is beautiful, and I found myself highlighting entire pages, so I had to stop myself. This is another debut, as well. What the fuck. 

Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck

hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Wren saw now how passion was delicate and temporary, a visitor, a feeling that would come and go. Feelings fled under pressure; feelings did not light the darkness. What remained strong in the deep, the hard times, was love as an effort, a doing, a conscious act of will. Soulmates, like her and Lewis, were not theoretical and found. They were tangible, built. 

This is a lot like one of my favourite movies, The Lobster, in the way that it uses the magical realism aspect of humans turning into animals as a vehicle to discuss relationships, love and the overall human condition. I thought this book was unbelievably beautiful. It broke my heart at times, of course, but I still ended the novel with a heart that felt full. Really appreciated the extended metaphor of mutations/animal transformations as a way of exploring terminal illness and the way in which such diagnoses can impact the individual and their extended relationships. Apparently this is a debut? Very impressed by that fact omg. 

An Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures by Sheila Heti, Clarice Lispector, Benjamin Moser
Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.

I don’t know if I’m just not in the right mind frame to appreciate this prose, or if the prose is genuinely just annoyingly convoluted. Like, I enjoy poetic prose as much as the next person but if the prose becomes so purple that it starts messing with the clarity of the text… you lose me, I’m afraid. 

Only For The Week by Natasha Bishop

lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

3.0

Janelle let her sister talk to her crazy for TOOOOOOOOO long in my opinion, but I’m very satisfied by her character growth and the way in which she handled the apology. Forgiveness is not a given for anyone, not even for family members! I think my only real gripe with this book is that Janelle is such a well constructed character, with so much depth and nuance, yet Rome is just… the hot guy there to please her. That’s fun and all in the moment, but after I ended the book I couldn’t help but wish we learnt more about him as an individual. Who is Rome outside of his love and lust for Janelle? How does being with Janelle better him as well as her?