I'm not sure why Wahala (which means 'trouble' in Nigerian) is described as “sex and the city meets my sister the serial killer”. The first part maybe but the second not so much. I enjoyed the book for its toils and troubles of three 30-something women of mixed heritage and think it will appeal to readers who loved Queenie.

Boo, Simi and Ronke's lives are upended when a fourth woman, Isobel, is added to the mix and proceeds to make their lives difficult.
Boo is married to a Frenchman and has a young daughter who they both adore, but Boo is not satisfied; Simi is hiding a secret from her husband who wants to start a family and Ronke just wants to find the man of her dreams and have her own family, but constantly falls for bad boys.

This is a story primarily of friendship and how easily it can be destroyed, complicated by how each woman has to juggle both of her cultures. I really enjoyed learning about Nigerian ways of life and the food. I'm sure the book will be very successful. Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for the opportunity to read and review Wahala.

This was a lot of fun! Chatty, witty, insightful and oh so relatable. The three friends of Nigerian and British descent were a hoot and although they had serious issues and there are plenty a dark moment in the book, this is a novel which has been described as a little Sex and the City mixed with My Sister the Serial Killer. Each character is someone I would LOVE to be friends with. If any of them cook and invite me over I AM THERE!

I absolutely adored this book. This story of three women, and their lives and friendship is insightful, funny, moving and takes and unexpectedly dark turn done so brilliantly. It has a strong sense of place, culture and food, and I found myself getting frequently hungry while reading! It’s also one of those books where I GENUINELY feel like the lives of the characters has carried on, and I am cross because I am not still with them. All in all a brilliant read.

I was in the mood for something undemanding and easy; this looked like it fitted the bill, and it did, but I was expecting more of a thriller. Actually, most of the book read like chick lit, and only got a bit thrillers right at the end. Nevermind, it was dry readable.

Ronke, Simi, and Boo are three friends who met at university and are now in their thirties and living in London. One of Simi's old friends from Nigeria turns up in London and inveigles her way into their right knit group, but something is a bit off with her. Ronnie certainly doesn't take to her. The friends all have problems in their lives, but these get heightened when Isobel arrives on the scene. Ronnie is still in the lookout for her Mr Right, Boo has a lovely husband and a daughter, but is feeling trapped, and frustrated that she is unable to use her talents and go further in her career, Simi's husband is in New York, but he is keen to start a family; Simi is not so keen, and hiding things from him as a result. Isobel used these doubts to get advantage.

One aspect I didn't like about the story was the way the characters were presented to the reader. Ronnie is pretty much perfect. She is a good cook, good with children, wants to find herself a man, take care of him and live a life of domestic bliss. Boo is selfish, she has the perfect husband, but feels trapped by family life, hates cleaning and wants a bit of her own life. Simi, doesn't seem to particularly like children and is in no rush to have her own, she is presented as selfish for wanting to put her career before motherhood.

All in all, I did like it and it kept me reading, I just wish it had a more progressive outlook. I did really appreciate the recipes in the back of the book and intend to try out the Jollof Rice soon.

*Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a review copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*

Oh my goodness - I've just given this 5 stars!

It's rare for me these days to enjoy a book right from the beginning, all the way through to the end, but this one had me reading at every spare minute.

Three Anglo/Nigerian girls, Ronke, Simi and Boo have been firm friends for years bonding through their shared heritage and similar life experiences. They're all now 30-somethings with very different lives. Simi, having dropped out of medical school is all about fashion and image and is married to Martin. They live an extravagant lifestyle; image is everything and other people's opinions are important. Boo is married to Frenchman Didier with whom she has a six year old daughter Sophia. But Boo is bored and wants more from life. Ronke, a dentist, is single and looking for The Perfect Man. After many failed relationships she thinks Kayode may be the one. These three friends meet regularly, go out for meals, attend each others celebrations, gripe about Life and generally have each other's backs until....

…..Isobel, beautiful, unnecessarily wealthy, and newly divorced, enters the circle. She was actually Simi's best friend way back when they were kids in Nigeria, and having found Simi again through the wonders of social media, insinuates herself into the group of three. All goes well for a while as she lavishes gifts, nights out, compliments, praise and advice, but then things start to unravel as jealousies and suspicions start to simmer threatening the group's integrity.

This is well written with interesting, believable, characters whose company I began to really enjoy. Set in London but with bits of Nigerian culture sprinkled here and there this book is full of life and colour, exactly what I needed in these miserable wet November days.

The last few pages include some of Ronke's Nigerian recipes, which look delicious - I'll have to see if I can adapt them into vegetarian dishes.

It's a long time since I enjoyed a book as much as this, and I'm sure I'll read it again. I'm hoping this author will give us more. I have read somewhere that this is to be made into a BBC TV series – can't wait.

Overall I enjoyed this book for the characterisation, relationships between the three women, and cultural references.

The novel seems to be a mishmash of genres with the thriller part happening at the end. The end felt somewhat rushed to me with a few too many coincidences. Still, an enjoyable read.

This book is all about friendship, betrayal, drama and food. I loved the story, I just wanted to devour the book and I loved how all the characters were so well developed. And, definitely, I loved all the food mentioned in the book.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book and I really enjoyed the portrayal of all the characters. I was rooting for all of them. Unfortunately, I felt the story could be more developed and the pace didn’t work mainly because it was such a rushed ending. There needed to be more clues and build up for some of the reveals and more subtle clues for the others. I enjoyed the book but the ending let it down.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had such high hopes for this book. The cover caught my attention and the blurb just made it sound exciting and thrilling! Sadly, I was left disappointed.

The story follows 3, 30-something year old friends who have been through thick and thin together, up until a fourth person is added to the group. Ronke was a character I loved. She was so pure and sweet and would do anything for her friends. Simi and Boo, on the other hand I couldn't stand. More so Boo. She was bitter, constantly spoke down about her husband and child and just felt so unappreciative of what she had.

I found Isobel to be intriguing at first. But then things started to happen and it all got a bit tiresome and I found myself getting bored.

I'm quite sad I didn't enjoy it as like I said, I had really high hopes for this one.

I absolutely loved this read. Friends at very different stages of their life doing very different things. Some really raw, hard hitting moments, and also contrasted with rich Nigerian culture. The thriller sneaks up on you ever so carefully and cleverly. Couldn't put this down.

Friendship, family and loyalty all tested to the limit in this snapshot of life within a group of Nigerian women living in London. Very much enjoyed - and am, without question #teamRonke

I've no doubt this will make a terrific TV series but I found it a little heavy on backstory for my taste. I was more into the revenge storyline. It is billed as Sex in the City meets My Sister the Serial Killer. I'd say the emphasis is on the former so is ideal for fans of sassy chic lit. With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy.

My overwhelming feeling throughout this novel was "Ronke deserved better". Ronke was the only likeable main character in this book - but many others I grew to love to hate. This is a great piece of modern fiction, infused with Nigerian culture, touching lightly on the struggles (and benefits) of growing up with dual heritage in today's society. While I knew there would be twists at the end, the exact content really threw me - perhaps a bit too much. That said, I look forward to reading more from May - a lot of the content would really resonate with diasporans in Britain.

Wahala by Nikki May.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5

Wahala centres around three friends in London who are all mixed with English and Nigerian heritage. When an 'elite' Nigerian woman mingles her way into the centre of the friendship group, things start to take a drastic turn.

Wow, I'm so impressed with this debut from author Nikki May. Her writing for each character was extremely well thought-out, and even though I have little in common with the protagonists, they always felt relatable to me. There's a good chunk of Hausa and French in this book, so I always had to have my phone at hand to Google translations 😅 but I didn't mind at all, and it definitely made the story feel more real. The themes of friendship, motherhood, and marriage are central to the plot and I could hardly put the book down once I started reading.

I LOVED this book! If you enjoyed Queenie and My Sister, The Serial Killer, you'll enjoy this too.

This book will be published on January 11th 2022.
Thanks to @randomhouse for sending me an advanced copy to read via @netgalley.

Loved this story of three British-Nigerian friends and how their lives appear to grow more complicated when new girl Isabel arrives on the scene. Although split between the points of view of Ronke, Boo and Simi, Ronke seems to be the main character or at least the one the reader roots for the most. May weaves brilliant humour throughout, along with fascinating insights into Nigerian culture. Especially the food which all sounded delicious and there’s even recipes at the end which I felt was a really great touch. Highly recommended. Can’t wait to see what May does next.

Loved this commercial read. Great cover and title. Totally absorbing. Raced through. The ending really surprised me and felt a little rushed - and no justice - but I guess that’s the point. Would absolutely recommend.

Slickly Written Suspense…
Much to like in this dark, slickly written suspense. A tale of friendships, relationships and revenge with a biting, dark and dangerously amusing narrative, characters that jump off the page and a slow build of menacing tension.

'Wahala' is the debut novel from Nikki May, centring around three best friends Ronke, SImi and Boo. The main draw of this book for me were the social and racial politics which charged each action and interaction from these three characters. All of them are united in being half Nigerian living in England, Simi and Ronke now living in London after having a childhood in Lagos and Boo only knowing life in Yorkshire. The tension begins when Simi's childhood best friend, Isobel, enters, her manipulative ways driving a wedge between the three friends. There is something distinctly unlikeable about her from the very start and we are left wondering what her sinister intentions might be.

Let's just name the issue with this book right off the bat: Simi and Boo are awful, awful human beings who learn nothing from the events of the novel and carry on being awful, awful human beings. Boo in particular has a beautiful young daughter and kind, adoring husband, yet constantly moans about having to be a wife and a mother, never appreciating what she has. (I am the lead cheerleader of the cause #justiceforDidier, poor guy.) She is also frequently very racially insensitive in the comments she makes, both in her head and out loud.

The reason I persevered with the book was I found Isobel's motives intriguing - what does she have to gain from messing with this trio? I also loved Ronke, the shining saviour star of actually being a decent, redeemable character. Interestingly, I also felt she is the character most in touch with her Nigerian heritage. This, and not being as stick thin as the other characters, mean she is constantly put down. This is yet another book where being size 14 leads to horrible snide comments, from the characters and omniscient narrator alike. These issues led to some interesting, and often frustrating, conversations between the characters as no one ever really sees the error of having given Ronke grief her whole life.

Overall, the social and racial dynamics in the book made some pertinent comments about modern society and the tension of belonging to multiple cultures. However, the lack of any character development and the totally bizarre twist ending left this as a three star read for me. Despite this, Nikki May is clearly a talented writer and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book! It’s chock full of drama and social politics as it follows a group of friends in their thirties, offering a fascinating insight into their lives and into British-Nigerian culture. All the characters are wonderfully flawed and perfectly believable, really jumping off the page. The story is dark and addictive, with a surprising twist (that I won’t give away!) and Nikki’s writing is completely flawless. I can’t wait to see this adapted for TV (and to make Ronke’s jollof rice from the recipe at the end of the book). I would highly recommend this.

I absolutely loved this book! Brilliant characters and some great twists. Easy to read in one sitting.
Have already been recommending to others and look forward to reading more by Nikki May.