In Every Mirror She's Black is a novel about three Black women in Sweden in very different circumstances, exploring how race, class, and situation affect their lives. Marketing executive Kemi moves from the US to Sweden after being headhunted by a top marketing firm and convinced by the CEO Jonny to help them deal with the aftermath of a controversial campaign. Flight attendant Brittany meets Jonny on a flight and seems obsessed with her, but is the expensive life he lives what she wants? And Muna is a Somalian refugee along in Sweden who ends up working cleaning the offices of Jonny's company, where she dreams of finding community.

The book is told from the perspectives of all three women, each chapter moving between them to weave their stories together. The stories don't actually interlink as much as you might expect for this kind of book, and at the end the author does explain the reasons behind this, but Jonny is the real link, and occasionally they talk to each other. This does help to reflect some of the discussion in the book about the treatment of Black people in Sweden, especially seen through Kemi's eyes as she adjusts to a new workplace and meeting new friends outside work. I found this exploration of race in Sweden particularly interesting, and Kemi's ending made a lot of sense in light of this.

Muna's story about coming to Sweden as a refugee, losing her loved ones, and looking for connections with people is very moving, and didn't go in the directions I might've guessed. The little detail that she was much more advanced at learning Swedish than either of the other women was a key one, considering privilege and how refugees have to appear a lot more ideal and worthy than other people, and the book is good at making points like this using small details.

It is perhaps harder to engage with Brittany's narrative as it is much more focused around a rich man who has never been told 'no', and it is fairly easy to see throughout that Brittany wasn't making choices that would be good in the future. Jonny's possible autism was slightly strangely handled, quite obvious throughout but with a kind of revelation near the end, and though the author states at the end that it wasn't meant to be a comment on autism and fetishisation, I think it can still come across like that.

Overall, this is a book that explores race, being a refugee, tokenism, and moving between cultures in interesting ways, though some parts perhaps work better than others.

'In Every Mirror She's Black'
I can't remember how long it has been since I read a book so quickly. Kudos to Lola Akinmade Akerstrom for writing an incredibly enjoyable novel.
This book, which is divided into 3 storylines of women of color who - not entirely by choice - ended up in Stockholm, each have their own focus. Whether it comes to choosing between love and career, between love and lust or even a socially engaged theme such as integration: each of these women is given their own unique story. At the same time, I also thought that was the downside, to have all three of the storylines in one book. I think I would have found it a stronger book if only one of the three storylines had been worked out in depth, instead of a forced coherence between the three stories. It was also written more plot driven and less with an eye for style than I expected in this genre of literary fiction.

But I thought it was a very humane book and I'm glad I had the chance to read early.
One of the strongest quotes in the book:
"Privilege comes in levels, Brit," he continued. "You have the privilege he has given you. But you will never have the privilege he has just because he breathes."

This is such a thought provoking read! I really didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. Or certainly got me thinking

WHAT????!!!???
IT CAN'T END LIKE THAT!!!!!

What a rollercoaster.

The first 3 chapters introduce the 3 main characters and at this point, i couldn't tell you who i loved more. Immediately each one was intriguing me, their stories all so different,  yet all linked with one particular aspect.

Kemi seems like she has a good job and her story will revolve around that, Brittany is a flight attendant for business class and her first chapter was so interesting! Finally Muna, a refugee and a Muslim aswell so instantly i connected with her.

As the chapters went on, my views changed consistently. I was apalled at Brittany, i felt so bad for Kemi and i was just rooting for Muna the whole way through.

The struggles, the underlying racism, the work ethics and how women - especially black women are treated at work, and an unexpected undiagnosed condition, which pulled the whole story together.

I could not put this down. I was hoping all 3 women would meet but their stories aligned in a way i didn't expect.

The writing is beautiful. It pulls you in and it doesn't let you stop reading, i really struggled to find a good place to stop. I guarantee whilst reading this, you will start with one favourite character and end with another!!!

AND SPEAKING OF ENDINGS.... i cannot believe it ended like that.... 😱😱😱😱😱

This is an excellently written book. The story follows the lives of three black women in Sweden. Each in different classes of society. The American wife of an ultra rich man, a successful American advertising executive and lastly a refugee who had to leave her family and everything she knew with nothing. The text is tight and intense and the story line is fascinating and disturbing too but I have to admit that I started to feel it rather a chore to read and simply stopped picking it up. However I admire her work and do recommend it.

I found this novel slightly uneven - of the three almost-intersecting stories, one is considerably weaker than the other two and unfortunately comes to somewhat dominate the narrative.

The relationship between Jonny and Brittany is highly unconvincing and there is no attempt to understand Brittany’s thought process as she undertakes a fairly ludicrous series of decisions. The author also seems to think the allusions to Jonny being somewhere on the autism spectrum are much more subtle than they are in reality.

I also wasn’t entirely convinced about Kemi’s professional situation, working in a very similar space myself. However, I thought her experience as a Black professional woman was very well conveyed and the points about the immigrant experience were really well made. I also loved Muna’s story, easily the most sympathetic character here, and the resolution to her story made me audibly gasp. I’d say there’s a better book buried within this one but it gave me a lot to think about and it was very readable, despite its relative length. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a fabulous read and I'm very grateful to have the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Kemi, Brittany and Muna are all black women in Sweden, an interesting setting given the traditional perception of Sweden as a homogenous while country. On the surface these three women have nothing in common yet their paths cross and actually reinforce the fact they have nothing in common except the color of their skin. Kemi is a high powered American ad executive whois lured to Sweden to work for the Von Lundin company, a huge promotion for her but is she just a token face in the "diversity" push? Brittany is an airline hostess and former model who meets the elusive Jonny Von Lundin and ends up moving to Sweden. Muna is a Somali refugee who is living in a hostel that had been funded by Jonny Von Lundin. The three women all have different experiences living in Stockholm and their stories run parallel but rarely cross.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and felt that the author succeeded in her goal of highlighting black individualism and steering away from the idea of " black culture" and stereotypes.

3 black women who have nothing in common are connected by one white Swedish guy. I love the representation in the book and bonus points that one on the women are Muslim. The book had me gripped from the very first page and I couldn’t put the book down! Trigger warnings for self harm.