Layemi
Pretty good book, but I'm pretty sure if I'd sat down and thought it through I could have predicted the ending. Up until the end I thoroughly enjoyed it, the ending could have been more creative.
I have some seriously mixed feelings about this book.
It opens with the big event that from the description of the book and reviews I read before buying it, was the mysterious day the whole book is about. It was strange to me to give us such intense details about the first half the day, then switch to the present and act like we don't know anything about the terrible day, and what happened. Obviously we didn't know everything, but I felt we knew enough that all the mystery surrounding that day was a bit much.
After the intensely exciting description of the terrible day, the book went downhill for me. Even the second terrible day in the present, somehow fell flat in my mind. Maybe I've read too many books and watched too many films about that type of situation, but I felt it could have been written in a more captivating way.
After that, even though things were slowly being revealed to us, I couldn't take it anymore. The conversations and characters' actions felt long and drawn out, it felt like watching a movie in slow motion. Other reviews had noted that the story goes slowly so I had prepared for that but it was too slow for me. Eventually I gave up.
However, the reason I am giving this book 4 stars and not 2 or 3 is because, out of curiosity, I found a thread that discussed the ending and I was shocked. I skipped ahead to about the last 2 chapters of the book, and I have to say that the story concludes in a satisfying and surprising, though heartbreaking (which was to be expected) way.
All in all I think if I'd had the patience I would've rated this book a confident 4 stars or maybe even 5, but the story was way too slow for me, though the ending was great.
A captivating read, but anyone who's read a couple mystery books could've guessed the ending halfway through the novel. I was hoping for something more complicated and unexpected but the ending fell flat.
Another great book from Shari Lapena, with a good surprising enough ending. 4.5 stars rounded down to 4 just because this was a bit too scary for me, almost leaning a tiny bit towards horror and not just the thriller genre. But overall a really good book and would recommend.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5. The book is definitely about more than what the premise implies, it's not just about Temi and her quest to have a BBL. It's also about the women in her life and all they have been through that makes them who they are today, and in turn sort of helps to form their perspective on what she wants to do. It's more serious and somber in places than I expected, but overall it was a funny, quick, entertaining read that I couldn't put down till I was finished. There's quite a bit of back and forth in terms of timeline, but it's very well done and really adds well to the perspective of who everyone is today. Very relatable for anyone that grew up in Nigeria or a world in general where women are judged by their bodies.
This is honestly one of the best books I have ever read in my life. I was engrossed in the story from start to finish, and the ending was one of the most shocking and heartbreaking endings I have come across, even more than some Agatha Christies I've read (which is saying a lot, she is my favourite author and I've read most of her books).
This is the book that got me into Moriarty and has kept me reading every subsequent book since. I still think about this one whenever I recall my favourite books, even though I read it years ago.
This was my first Agatha Christie, and still the best one of hers I've read, which is saying something, I've read every other Poirot, and most of all the others. Definitely one of my favourite books of all time.
I haven't even finished this book yet, but 4 stories in I had to come write a review. If you're Nigerian, this book is like eating a warm plate of pounded yam and okro soup on a cool rainy day on a veranda. All the stores are delightful (thought not necessarily happy, some even sad but not overly so) and remind me of living and growing up in Nigeria in little ways I had forgotten.
If you're not Nigerian, this book would still be an enjoyable, read.
At its core, it's about the very well-written book about the human experience we all experience everywhere. I am thoroughly enjoying this, and I'm looking forward to more books by the author.
I really really wanted to love this book. I read the longest walk also by Stephen King, and it is now one of my favourite books of all time, so I was really looking forward to reading another one of his dystopian future books.
It started out great, as usual just the writing skill itself is amazing in this book. Reading it felt like I was watching an action packed movie, and I was thinking how it has to be made into a movie if it hasn't been yet (it has).
When the main game started and the conspiracies started coming to light it was interesting then too, but as he started going from place to place with basically the same thing happening everywhere, it started to get really boring and tedious, and just felt like it was going nowhere.
I understand where King (Bachman) was trying to go with the plot, and I understood that it was building up to something, but it was just taking way way WAY too long to get there.
The ending wasn't necessarily disappointing, but I can't say that I didn't see it coming. I saw the end of the long walk coming too, but in that novel the build up to what I knew but didn't want to believe would happen was written and described so beautifully, the ending left me nearly in tears.
With this novel however I was just glad I was finally done with the book.
How well written this novel was and how much I enjoyed for the long walk will keep me still reading his novels, but this one definitely let me down a little bit.