You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

2/5 - Where do I start? I'll keep this short: I did not like the writing style, nor did I like Feyi (FMC). Her decisions and navigation through grief didn't make sense. I think she was experiencing PTSD from the accident more than anything. I cringed at the dialogue and her attraction to Nasir's dad, even though I really liked Alim and thought he was too good for her. The book was bad all around.

There were a few holes and incredulities but I enjoyed the imagination.

Just for the record if you can't cook like the MC, if a recipe tells you to add sugar to onions to make caramelised onions it's not a good recipe and you should find a different one.

This book left me breathless. The writing is absolutely immaculate. I was smiling, crying, gasping and sighing right alongside Feyi. Every character is beautifully complex and the descriptions of the scenes are so vivid. Whether the story is realistic or not didn't affect me as I was so lost in the little world Emezi has created. Truly a brilliant read, I'm left floored.

This came highly recommended by someone who will likely see this review and physically attack me, but the more it went on, the more I struggled with it.

Feyi is an artist in Brooklyn. She lives with her friend Joy. About five years before the book takes place, Feyi's husband Jonah died tragically in a car accident. She is finally starting to open herself up to romance again, but grief is making the process painful and unpredictable.

I think there is something to the idea that the heart wants what the heart wants—that feelings are not simple or cooperative, and sometimes our desires are not what we consciously know is right or good for us. I also passionately believe that the friendzone is a made up term for the entitlement that some (stereotypically, men) feel to someone's affection and body in exchange for pretending to share their interests. I think it belittles how great friendship is, casting it as a (manipulative) means to an end. So I didn't object to any of those aspects.

What really bothered me was how selfish Feyi and Alim were. Even though they were apologetic, I felt they were still self-centered in their response to Nasir and Lorraine. Like their love alone was important enough to warrant such wreckage. Both seemed resolute that it was worth it, and that was something they could decide on behalf of others. Emezi definitely tried to address this and add nuance, but I just wasn't convinced. I don't think I'm supposed to be, but I am firmly Team Lorraine. This is far more trivial, but also Alim said “sweetness” excessively. And Feyi would not stop justifying everything by saying she was alive. WE KNOW. To be fair, I think those things are more obvious and grating when listening to an audiobook.

All that said, Emezi is undeniably a fantastic writer, and I'm interested to read more of their work. I think they have a lot of talent, a lot of range, and a lot of stories to tell.

Where shall I begin this book was a lot. 

As a character I can see my friends in Feyi. Her messiness, her passion, and her yearning to heal. BUT some of the decisions that were made were just... why. I wanted to shake this woman VIOLENTLY. 

Feyi is an artist and her art is centered around her trauma, understandable. Her decisions... are also based around her trauma. The relationship that brews between Alim and Feyi is built around a shared trauma of losing a spouse. And that's the sole thing that brings them together? Which I just don't think is healthy, but I digress. 

Although not based in reality I found myself slamming my kindle closed and staring in the distance while whispering BFFR. 

I certainly did not like the ending where Alim's kids were basically villainized for their nonacceptance of the situation in which I think any human being with emotions would not handle lightly. 

Overall... I did recommend this to friends because I need everyone to share in foolishness I went through.

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The pacing was a bit odd, but I couldn't put it down, and the writing was fantastic. At times lovely, at times visceral.

Also, this book made me want to cook and/or eat all the things.

Will definitely be picking up other books by Emezi.

And the Goodreads Choice Award for Messiest Main Character goes to.....

The author says in the acknowledgement section that this is her 7th book in her 5th genre. Which by itself is pretty amazing. But wow, we're a long way from [b:Freshwater 35412372 Freshwater Akwaeke Emezi https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500884500l/35412372.SY75.jpg 56785192] here, which was the book that initially brought me to the author. And I'm not blaming the genre here.

Come for the lush, beautiful writing, stay for a unique take on romance. Feyi is just beginning to come out of the grief that has entrapped her, even since the loss of her husband five years ago. With the help of her best friend Joy, she cautiously tip-toes into dating again, only to meet a kind, understanding man and his family and begin another type of journey. A short, entrancing tale of learning to forgive yourself for past mistakes and embracing your future, this is not your typical love story, but one with deeper resonance and beauty that will stun you with its insights and its lyrical language.

My thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy of this book prior to publication.

If you told me that I'd give four stars to a romance novel with two of my least favorite tropes (big age difference, heroine falls in love with her boyfriend's father), written by an author whose most recent book was [b:The Death of Vivek Oji 56964003 The Death of Vivek Oji Akwaeke Emezi https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png 73238762], (obviously not a romance), I wouldn't have believed you. But this book hooked me from its first page and I would have killed for our heroine Feyi to make sure she found the love she deserved. I don't know if Akwaeke Emezi will stick with romance for a while or go back to “serious” fiction, but Feyi's BFF/former lover Joy totally needs her own happy ending..

My least favorite romance tropes are miscommunication and cheating. This book rode the lines so closely that it was hard for me to root for the couple. I liked the way they connected through grief and art. I liked that she used such specific items from her trauma in her pieces. I liked Feyi's character as a whole. I was decidedly not as big of a fan of the age gap or that she couldn't shut it down with Nasir as soon as she realized she was not going to be into him in that way. If there's going to be an age gap of more than 10 years, I need the older one to be immortal or something to get over it. The most annoying scene was when Milan, a past fling, called Feyi to tell her he is super supportive of her not only connecting with his friend after him, but specifically about her hooking up with his friend's dad because his friend isn't deep enough for her.

what a hauntingly beautiful exploration of grief, mourning, and love after loss. emezi once again creates the most rich and believable characters and you are sucked wholly into their feelings as they grapple with where their emotions take them after the hardest losses of their lives

i think my one gripe is the plotline with the son, which sometimes felt a little out of left field

I am once again here to say this is less of a romance and more of a normal a exploration of grief. But this is very very good

I chose You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty expecting it to be something similar to [b:Seven Days in June 55648820 Seven Days in June Tia Williams https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1621846249l/55648820.SY75.jpg 86777128], which I loved. The last romances I've read were disappointing and I was convinced this would be the one to impress me.I really wanted to like this book but, unfortunately, I didn't. It started well, and I was excited about it until “all hell breaks loose” and the only thing that kept me going was the desire to finish and move on.What I liked about the book:- “His face was raw among the gold, flayed open with feeling, and she knew he'd seen the blood marked ring, that he knew what it meant that she'd kept it, that she was showing it like this, in a forest of forevers, the one that didn't happen.”- queer representation- inclusion and descriptions of the trauma of loosing someone who is dear to usWhat I think it could have been done better:- I don't mean to sound prude, but I like my books with a lot less profanity. It renders me useless at attempting to enjoy the prose- Feyi personality could just be summarized as self-centred, horny and traumatized. There is nothing beyond this- The romance... I don't even know where to start. I won't comment further on this topic to not include any spoilers. If I knew what was going to happen I wouldn't even have picked this book.- Every single person in this book is beautiful and, naturally, this seems to be the most important attribute - Feyi is 100% dependent on all the men surrounding her, to the point she wouldn't have survived without them. She doesn't cook or drive, she stays weeks in a house doing nothing in return (except napping, she does a lot of that), and even her professional success was due to a guy she has met. She doesn't even clean her room when the need arises! Is it that hard to grab your clothes off the floor???- I don't like to read stories (neither see commercials or movies) where women are sexualized. Gender equality is not about doing the same thing to men... I was nauseated with the way men were portrayed in this book.- She fucks up and somehow, Nasir is the one that ends portrayed as a villain. This was an awful way to try to turn the story around This is definitely not a literature equivalent of romance, and if it is, please give me only romances as they usually have a lot more depth than this. I bring nothing with me from this reading. I understand this may appeal to a lot of readers; it just wasn't written for me.P.S. - Good romance recommendations are appreciated

I don't normally read contemporary romance, but I figured if Emezi could write it I would certainly give it a shot. Honestly, I couldn't put it down. I was immediately invested in Feyi, and so curious to see how she would move through her complicated world. I think the book brought up a lot of poignant thoughts on grief, art, and love (beautifully written of course) and there were some very romantic and steamy scenes. It felt a tad repetitive in some parts for me, but on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience. I think Feyi and her great love will stick in my brain for a while.

This book just was not for me at all. I didn't feel any chemistry between the main characters, and Feye's decisions drove me nuts.