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walaalamageeddow's Reviews (844)
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
this reminds me of one of my grandmothers and also my dad when we were kids. ilaahay ha u naxariisto both of them đź–¤
"She knew enough storytelling folks—like her Aunt Maeleen, who could bring tears to Blanche's eyes by telling her about the tragic death and/or funeral of someone neither of them knew—to know that a storytelling person couldn't be rushed. Their rhythm, the silences between their words, and their intonation were as important to the telling of the tale as the words they spoke. The story might sound like common gossip when told by another person, but in the mouth of a storyteller, gossip was art."
"She knew enough storytelling folks—like her Aunt Maeleen, who could bring tears to Blanche's eyes by telling her about the tragic death and/or funeral of someone neither of them knew—to know that a storytelling person couldn't be rushed. Their rhythm, the silences between their words, and their intonation were as important to the telling of the tale as the words they spoke. The story might sound like common gossip when told by another person, but in the mouth of a storyteller, gossip was art."
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"They, too, understood.
They’d made this world intentionally in their image, hadn’t they? But now that they’d been left to face it alone, it felt too much like hell. How hadn’t they noticed"
"They saw each other so far past the pain that, no matter how hard their families tried to unsee them, they could never be invisible again."
"People put their foot down all the time without first checking if someone is there."
"She was looking at a mother who would choose her over the world without blinking. Without ceremony or need for praise. Wasn’t this what it meant to be blessed? To be loved and seen and accepted?
“Mummy,” Gold said, still stabilizing.
“I’m here, Gold. Your mummy is here. Touch me. No be me be dis? I’m here. Where I dey go? No be only you I get? I’m here. Trust me.”
“Mummy,” Gold said, her eyes sinking in tears, but back.
Her mother laughed, seeing the thank-you Gold was too tired to say with her mouth. “Abeg,” she said. No ceremony. No need for praise. “Abeg abeg. Don’t mind these hypocrites. Dem no fit.”
Gold chuckled, remembering the true thing F. told her another time: In a place where people threw their kids away all the time just for existing, a parent who loved you because you were you could sometimes look and feel like God. “But remember,” F. had said, “that even when their love feels divine, they’re not God. They’re your parent. It’s okay if you still don’t know what that means. I don’t either, because I mean, you know how my story goes. We don’t have many examples. But what is life for, if not figuring it out, abi?”
"I wonder if any of them are thinking what I always wanted to say: You can’t be the poverty capital of the world and be a megacity all at once. If 80 percent of your body is suffering/withering/dying, then you are killing your whole self."
A few rows away, Idris was trying to text May: Bitch, I’m bored out of my mind abeg. People dey here dey catch Holy Ghost and me I’m here thinking of jollof rice. God safe us.
You fool, May replied. Aren’t you in church? Or are you just there to mark register?
I mean, if pastor can be right in God’s eyes after all he’s done, then who am I not to come and chop New Year blessings? If him be pastor, me suppose be Angel Gabriel. In fact call me Gabriel from now, he typed, but the ​signal had died.
They’d made this world intentionally in their image, hadn’t they? But now that they’d been left to face it alone, it felt too much like hell. How hadn’t they noticed"
"They saw each other so far past the pain that, no matter how hard their families tried to unsee them, they could never be invisible again."
"People put their foot down all the time without first checking if someone is there."
"She was looking at a mother who would choose her over the world without blinking. Without ceremony or need for praise. Wasn’t this what it meant to be blessed? To be loved and seen and accepted?
“Mummy,” Gold said, still stabilizing.
“I’m here, Gold. Your mummy is here. Touch me. No be me be dis? I’m here. Where I dey go? No be only you I get? I’m here. Trust me.”
“Mummy,” Gold said, her eyes sinking in tears, but back.
Her mother laughed, seeing the thank-you Gold was too tired to say with her mouth. “Abeg,” she said. No ceremony. No need for praise. “Abeg abeg. Don’t mind these hypocrites. Dem no fit.”
Gold chuckled, remembering the true thing F. told her another time: In a place where people threw their kids away all the time just for existing, a parent who loved you because you were you could sometimes look and feel like God. “But remember,” F. had said, “that even when their love feels divine, they’re not God. They’re your parent. It’s okay if you still don’t know what that means. I don’t either, because I mean, you know how my story goes. We don’t have many examples. But what is life for, if not figuring it out, abi?”
"I wonder if any of them are thinking what I always wanted to say: You can’t be the poverty capital of the world and be a megacity all at once. If 80 percent of your body is suffering/withering/dying, then you are killing your whole self."
A few rows away, Idris was trying to text May: Bitch, I’m bored out of my mind abeg. People dey here dey catch Holy Ghost and me I’m here thinking of jollof rice. God safe us.
You fool, May replied. Aren’t you in church? Or are you just there to mark register?
I mean, if pastor can be right in God’s eyes after all he’s done, then who am I not to come and chop New Year blessings? If him be pastor, me suppose be Angel Gabriel. In fact call me Gabriel from now, he typed, but the ​signal had died.
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I answer the text before Eva pulls me into the crowd to do the Cupid Shuffle. My eyes flicker happiness at this new season of joy. My cheeks hurt from all the laughter. I close my eyes and ride the wave, both arms in the air like I’m finally free.
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
i can't with this talk of romantic partners as someone that is your entire life and since the author mainly writes romance novels, i should have expected this. also, since the author is a palmiteira i expect there won't be any critical look at both of the main characters romantic partners being yt. no thank you.
i mainly read novels by Black authors because i love reading about Black life and sometimes also novels by authors of colour. so imagine my disappointed when i realised that the main characters in this novel written by a black woman are all pale. no thank you.
"I had a love-hate relationship with cops. I knew they weren’t all bad, believed there were only a few bad apples in the bunch."
reading this sentence and knowing that the detective in question is Black, i just know there is (heavy) copaganda included in the story, so no thank you.
reading this sentence and knowing that the detective in question is Black, i just know there is (heavy) copaganda included in the story, so no thank you.
