Quick round up of what I’ve been reading lately:
Jaded by Ela Lee
On the surface, Jade Kaya has everything she ever wanted. A successful career as a lawyer, a loving boyfriend, a flat of her own, great friends and parents who are very proud of her achievements.
All is well until she is sexually assaulted by a colleague widening the cracks of her seemingly perfect life and threatening to destroy everything she worked hard to attain.
Jaded is a very thoughtful exploration of sexual assault and the journey to recovery through the lens of race and identity. As I read the story, I felt a visceral anger for what happened to Jade and the work culture that enabled it. The novel was very realistic in its portrayal, particularly when Jade attempts to seek justice. But what was most heartbreaking was the impact the assault has on her relationships with her boyfriends, friends, parents and nost of all, herself.
Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow by Damilare Kuku
On the day of her father’s funeral, Temi announces her plans to get a Brazilian butt lift and move to Lagos to live the life she believes has eluded her because of her flat bum. Unsurprisingly Temi’s announcement is met with a mixture of consternation and derision from her family, who can’t understand why she would want to take such drastic action to supposedly fix her life. In addition, Temi’s mum, sister, and aunties are each faced with their own buried secrets which threaten to be revealed.
Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow is a darkly funny story about body image, relationships and family secrets. I just enjoyed all the characters, particularly the mum and the aunties, their backstories/secrets were really compelling. If you’ve read Damilare’s Kuku’ short story collection Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad, then you’ll be familiar with her Nollywood-esque style of storytelling which despite tackling some difficult issues is never short of warmth and heart.
The List by Yomi Adegoke
Black British power couple Ola and Michael are engaged to married. In the weeks leading up to the wedding, Michael’s name appears on a list of abusers in the media sector which is circulating across social media. He swears his innocence, but the seeds of doubt have already been sown, and Ola must decide whether Michael is the man she thought he was.
I struggled a bit with this novel as I found the back forth on whether or not Ola should go through with the wedding rather tiresome. Like sis, you no longer trust the man, call it off! It’s not that deep. Furthermore, when you’re not fully rooting for the main characters, it makes it hard to really care what happens to them. That said, I thought the exploration into the toll the situation had on Michael’s mental health was thoughtfully and sensitively handled. The plot twist at the end was also a nice touch and to be honest gave the novel the necessary heft it needed.
Wahala by Nikki May
Someone described this book as ‘boring yet enticing’, which I wholeheartedly agree with. I spent the first half of the book pushing through only because I knew the pay off was soon to come. Wahala is about three best friends, Ronke, Boo and Simi, who really don’t have much in common other than they each have Nigerian fathers and English mothers. When Simi’s childhood friend Isobel, enters their lives, trouble abounds in entirely predictable ways, exposing the cracks and the fragile bonds that hold this trio together.
There were many times that I just wanted throw this book at the wall. I kept wondering how and why these women were even friends as, perhaps with the exception of Ronke, they didn’t seem to really like each other and seemed more like ‘frenemies’ than anything else. The trouble that Isobel wreaks upon them is delightfully unhinged and would not be out of place in a Nollywood drama, and made up for the slow pacing in the first half of the book.
However, what bugged me the most about Wahala was Boo’s anti-blackness – apparently due to her abandonment issues with her father. It was never really called out on, and more or less enabled by her friends, which left a very unpleasant taste and left me wondering if that was deliberate or an oversight. I also wondered if anyone reading it picked up on this or if it was just me. Nonetheless, as the novel has been optioned for TV, I’m hoping that the adaptation will do better.
Just Read It 