I rarely pick up a romance book, but I'll pick up literally anything Akwaeke Emezi writes. Their writing is very clear and accessible here, and they accomplished a small miracle, making me care about a couple's love story.

Happy pub day to this beautiful book! Akwaeke Emezi has never let me down, and I don't think they ever will. This book was everything I was hoping it would be - beautiful, emotional, and absolutely un-put-down-able. Will be recommending from the rooftops.

What is there left to say when it comes to the incredible, raw talent of Akwaeke Emezi?

Feyi Adekola’s story is one of a full scale selfish re-awakening; a sensual, romantic, and extremely messy story from beginning to end. But a beautiful one, at that.

This is a story about grief - an all consuming feeling that leaves people lost, with nowhere to turn. This is a story about living your life, even when you're swimming in a sea of guilt that seems to pull you away from shore.

Emezi’s writing is just superb, leaving your heart aching, and your face tear-stained. They have crafted a gorgeously messy story with complicated, flawed characters that will have you doing a double take. This story has truly shaken me to my core, and I know Feyi will stick with me long after today.

After I read The Death of Vivek Oji, I really didn’t know how to feel. The story made me completely uncomfortable because I still struggle with exactly why a plot line with incest was necessary.
Even though there’s nothing in this novel as heavy as incest, it’s still a plot that pushes boundaries. I think that’s just part of Emezi’s writing- to tell stories about people or situations that we don’t usually (admittedly) look for in a novel. She gives voices to characters that we probably wouldn’t like or take issues with in real life, because people like these characters DO EXIST.
Though once again, the edginess and “messiness” is not something I’m generally a fan of, I absolutely love how she writes her stories. I will probably never read this again, but I can see this being a great choice for discussions at book clubs.

2.5 Stars

I should have hesitated requesting an ARC of a romance, but I didn’t because of the author whose name often appears on awards lists. I wish I had hesitated because this book didn’t change my opinion of the genre.

Feyi Adekola is a young widow; her husband Jonah was killed in an accident five years earlier. She lives with her best friend Joy who convinces Feyi to begin dating again. An encounter with one man leads to another with Nasir who takes her on a luxury trip to a tropical island where his father Alim, a celebrity chef, has arranged for Feyi to be one of the artists in an exhibit. As soon as Feyi meets Alim, she is attracted to him and quickly becomes obsessed with him.

Feyi is not a likeable character. Having grieved for five years, she wants to be alive again. (It’s impossible to not know this desire because the word alive appears 35 times in the text!) But she makes such stupid and dangerous choices. Who has sex with a stranger in a bathroom and insists he not wear a condom? She comes across as so selfish: she transforms from a grieving widow to choosing to do whatever makes her feel alive. Her attitude seems to be to do what makes her happy and the heck with everyone else?! After an argument, she is focused on her material possessions: “’He threw out all my stuff.”

The relationship between Feyi and Alim has so many issues. First of all, there’s the love at first sight trope. As soon as she sees Alim, Feyi is dazzled by his handsomeness. This is supposed to be the foundation of a relationship that is “deep enough to uproot lives”? Feyi worries about how Jonah would react to her having a meaningful relationship with someone, but she doesn’t worry about what he would think of her having casual, unprotected sex with a stranger? Finally, connecting with someone who has experienced a loss/trauma similar to yours is known as trauma bonding; however, confusing shared trauma for compatibility is one of the most toxic relationship patterns you can follow.

Repetition is a major problem. Conversations between Feyi and Alim are long-winded and repetitive. They keep having a “should we/shouldn’t we” discussion. The same problem occurs in conversations between Feyi and Joy. They are supposed to be best friends, but they never talk about anything other than sex and their sexual partners. Amidst those conversations, don’t look for plot: the summary at the beginning is the entire plot. And on the topic of needless repetition . . . how often does the reader need to be told how beautiful Feyi is and how handsome Alim is?! Even the writing style is repetitive: “Feyi cut her a look” and “Joy cut her a look” and “Feyi cut her eyes at him” and “She cut her eyes at him” and “Nasir cut his eyes at her” and “Feyi cut her eyes at her best friend” and “Alim cut his eyes at his son” and “Lorraine cut her eyes at him” and “Alim cut his eyes at her” and “Feyi cut her eyes at her best friend” and “He cut his eyes at her” and “Joy cut her eyes at Feyi” and “Feyi cut her eyes at him” and “Alim cut his eyes at her” and “Feyi cut her eyes at him”?!!

There are other cringe-worthy expressions: “There were so many lessons she’d love to learn from his hands” and “there was no way she could say no” and “’Why did you have to kiss me?’” Some scenes are cringe-worthy: for instance, the two kitchen scenes (when Feyi licks mango foam off Alim’s finger and when Alim “stepped behind her and brought his arms around, lightly placing his hands over hers”) are so overdone!

Fey is supposedly an artist, one good enough to have been in exhibits. Why, then, does she devote almost no time to her art? Getting ready for her trip to the tropical island where she will have a piece of art in an exhibit, not once does she worry about her art; instead, “She’d spent four days packing, trying on every single outfit under Joy’s critical eye, picking out jewelry and sandals and sundresses, makeup and a bottled array of oils, from coconut to coffee to jojoba laced with tea tree for her scalp.” Art is not central to her life because she “stepped into her artist persona” only when necessary and worries more that her braids in an updo “was totally the wrong look for this outfit”?! Art certainly doesn’t seem to be a passion.

I could applaud the inclusion of bisexual characters who are not often included in mainstream fiction, but merely mentioning that Feyi and Alim have had same-sex relationships in the past hardly qualifies as an exploration of bisexuality.

The book is about taking a second chance at love, but I wish I hadn’t taken a chance on this romance.

Note: I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

THIS BOOK. There's so much here: grief, loss, love, healing, joy, family, independence, self love. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time, Feyi and Alim especially. This is one of those books that's best to go into knowing as little as possible, and letting the author unfold the story for you. Make sure to check content warnings in this one if that's something you need, there are lots in this one.

I love Emezi's work. I read Freshwater at a time where I felt like I needed it. I adored Pet and Bitter. I can't wait to read The Death of Vivek Oji and Dear Senthuran. All of this to say, I was picking up this book no matter how I felt about the "taboo" nature of the romance. One of my favorite authors ever wrote a romance!!! I was reading it lol.

This book is about a woman trying to find life again after the death of her husband. Feyi, an artist, and her best friend Joy, live in Brooklyn. Joy is pushing Feyi to start dating again, five years after her husband's death. Which is when she meets the seemingly perfect man and gets taken on the trip of a lifetime.

Fool of Death is incandescent. It's decadent in its joy and grief. It's about being in love but also just about allowing yourself to live and be fully alive. Allowing for grief and rage, happiness, fear, uncertainty.

I also think the characters in this book are really easy to love. I saw reviewers give this book lower rating because of the romance or how "messy" the characters are... but like? Humans are messy. I don't know a single person I love who isn't messy. I found myself getting close to the end of this book and wanting a little more time with Feyi and Nasir and Joy and Alim. (Emezi, please write Joy a book, I beg of you).

As always, Emezi writes with a a lyricism that made reading feel like living in this book. Everything was so lush and vibrant, the places but also the people. Emezi gives their characters so much room for emotion that even I felt better after some of their conversations.

I would recommend this to those who enjoy romances (especially something like Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC!

I absolutely hate how i can't really explain my feelings about this book, but here's an attempt.

I love everything i've read about Akwaeke Emezi so far and i know one of their biggest atribute is their imagination and flexibility to write about anything but always having like a mark that makes u know Emezi wrote it, unfortunately, i didn't see that here. I couldn't believe that what i was reading was made by the same author that wrote Freshwater. The writing was offputting? And i think it's because they were cattering for the straight romance readers? I liked Feyi and Joy and i wished we could see more about them (i'm a lesbian so of course i wanted that) and i couldn't see her and Alim the way they wanted me to see them. Overall, i just didn't connect with it, mainly because my expectations were really high and this didn't hold up. Akwaeke Emezi will still be my fav author forever but this wasn't for me.

This is my first book by Akwaeke Emezi and the writing was great, it flowed well which made a very easy read. Although by the last few chapters I found myself skimming; I thought it became a bit repetitive. Other than that, I don’t think this is for me. I don’t want to say more.

DRC provided by Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi is a spell-binding, romance novel in which Emezi managed to infuse their own unique and brilliant writing style.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty (wow what a title) introduces Feyi, an artist in her late 20s who is mourning the loss of her husband five years prior. Feyi decides to give dating a try again and a chance meeting at a rooftop party kicks off her hot girl summer and changes her life.

This book is a romance, but it also studies grief and the complexities of relationships/intimacy, Emezi’s writing is so rewarding and you could feel Feyi’s grief and cautious hope as she begins to experiment with hooking up/dating in a post-Jonah world. The characters in this book are complicated and messy at times, so I didn’t always like them, but they were always well-developed and interesting. Joy and her relationship with Feyi was my favorite.

I haven’t read anything else by Emezi (though I have all of their books on my shelf), so visiting the backlog is part of my summer plan. This sounds different from any of their other works and I love when writers aren’t afraid to mix it up with every book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for a review copy.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty was one of my most anticipated reads this year. I thought we were going to be blessed with another Vivek but we weren’t. I LOVED that book and was so excited for this one. This is going to be a bold statement BUT this is hands down the worst book I’ve read this year so far.

I’m almost afraid of writing this review because I’ve seen the author rant about people not liking the book on Twitter but I still want to be honest and need to rant.

Starting with the good, I did like the friendship between Joy and Feyi. Joy deserved more page time and I found her drama much more interesting than Feyi.
I liked the unapologetic cussing and didn’t mind Feyi going through a hoe phase because there’s nothing wrong with that. Some parts the writing were lovely but everything else was so bad that none of these points could have saved it.

The entire book made me cringe. Feyi’s entire personality is that she has nipple piercings. She’s a pick me girl, thinks she’s entitled to anyone due to her past trauma, and honestly not really a good person overall - yet we are expected to believe that everyone is in love with her. She also mentions that she’s alive every other page and it drove me insane.

Everyone is extremely HOT and beautiful and gorgeous and I find that so unrealistic. The author did address this by saying that this book is meant to be about beautiful black people finding each other beautiful and there’s nothing wrong with that - I don’t want to take away from what the author was trying to do but I don’t agree with the way it was done.

Everything that happens in this book is so unrealistic, it’s almost like a fantasy. For example, everyone is hot, rich, successful, helps Feyi accelerate her career, etc. It’s all way too good to be true.

Nasir was a good friend to Feyi and she turns around and dates his dad. Now I agree that she didn’t owe him anything but I think that is such a low thing to do to someone who you know is in love with you. He was a good guy the whole time and when he finds out about Feyi and his dad Alim, he gets violent. I found that out of character and not really consistent.

The romance with your friends dad is just icky. The entire thing grossed me out. He could be her father obviously, and I found it too convenient that they are both grieving over dead spouses. Like I said everything is so unrealistic and too good to be true. I really hated this book and no one is more disappointed than me.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Feyi is just emerging from a five-year period of mourning the death of her significant other in a car accident and finally ready to dive back into the dating world with her best friends and roommate, Joy, by her side. Feyi begins her foray back into the dating world with an encounter in the bathroom. And through a friend of this new friend (or could he be something more?), her eyes are open to a different kind of life; one that includes tropical islands, high-end art curators and a celebrity chef whom she may also have a crush on. The problem is, she’s now dating his son. What I liked about this novel was that it wasn’t the typical, predictable trajectory found in romance novels. The focus is on Feyi exploring her sexuality and grappling with her identity once she makes the choice to move forward with her life. The question the book asks is, who will Feyi be? A different take on a romance novel. Thank you to Atria Books and to NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

(ARC from NetGalley) First of all, the title sold me I am a Florence stan. Secondly, the writing is gorgeous. It’s definitely more romance than expected (side note: that first page tome me OUT), but I feel like at its heart it’s about finding your way back to yourself and female friendships. Feyi and Joy enable each other’s more questionable behaviors out of love. Their conversations sound exactly like mine with my friends so the characters seem real. I LOVE MESS!!!!!

Rounding up to five stars. This is a beautiful, lush book. While I bought into the deep connection of the romance, to me, it was ultimately a book about grief, friendships, and living your life, even if it's messy (and it does get messy!)

The author's writing really spoke to me, the settings were so real and the characters (even the secondary characters) had so much depth. The tension in the main relationship was delicious and I spent a lot of time not sure how it would (or how I wanted it to) work out.

The language the author uses to describe the small, mundane feelings of grief set the stage for the book in a powerful way. They also find a way to balance the deep and difficult with so many little laugh-out-loud moments. Especially in every conversation between Feyi and Joy! And whether in New York, in Feyi's memories or on the island, every setting jumps to life. But that island and the house - whew - they sound magical!

Warning! These character reflections are mildly spoilery:
I would have liked a little more time with Alim. He seems inhumanly evolved in his emotional intelligence and I'd love to get a little deeper into his flaws but, it's a tight book and I think that's the price of the richness we get with so many side characters. Joy is my favourite but Milan was a surprise delight and Pooja and Lorraine are also stand-outs. Even though I was angry at Nasir for his sense of entitlement, I am left with more hope than I expected on that front.

So much about how the main relationship was depicted was atypical. It kept me guessing and on my toes and I really appreciated the uniqueness of how it evolved.

I am adding Akwaeke Emezi's past works to my TBR right away because I am eager to read more in their voice.

This is a romance novel, which I don't typically like...I liked this. So that says a lot right there. Some serious, difficult topics but I flew through it and loved the writing.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 rounding up.

This is absolutely a case of it's not you, it's me. Emezi is an excellent writer and the plot flowed well enough, but I just didn't jive well with it. The romance is one I do not seek out; if I had known that it was going to be the romance in this novel, I would not have read it. So the majority of my dislike (harsh? maybe) with this novel is about my own personal preferences, though I do think the romance could be classified as insta-love which I don't think is great in any romance. I also had some problems with the main character's motivations, but I'm not sure if that's a me thing or a character thing, you know?

I'm definitely going to read other books by Emezi; this one just didn't do it for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am declaring this the book of the summer! Pure tropical island escapism and forbidden love romance where the MC gets all the joy and love she deserves.

This book is dripping in gold, mango juice, and beautiful prose. Akwaeke Emezi is probably best known for the award winning novel The Death of Vivek Oji, but has also published YA, a poetry collection, a memoir, another literary fiction novel, and now a romance! I am in awe of their ability to genre hop and succeed in all categories. YMAFODWYB answers the question, what if a literary fiction author wrote a commercial romance?

Emezi is known for sensory-laden writing and, even if you knew nothing about them, you would be able to tell that this novel was written by a multidisciplinary artist. The MC herself is an artist that works in mixed media, the love interest uses gourmet cooking as a love language, and the attention to fashion detail is noted throughout.

This is a must-read for any romance reader, especially if you’re a fan of the forbidden love or forced proximity trope or are seeking bisexual representation in your romance finds.

Add this to your summer TBR if:
🧳 You’re deciding which books to pack for your summer beach vacay.
🏖 You NEED an exotic vacation and need to be transported.
🧑🏽‍❤️‍💋‍🧑🏾You’re a romance reader of any sort.
💜You enjoy Tia Williams’ romances.

Y’all know I stan Akwaeke Emezi so I had to get my hands on their romance novel a little bit early. The only thing I really knew about it was that it was a romance novel, and now reading the blurb I think the less you know about this book the better so the twists are truly unexpected! The opening chapter absolutely floored me and I was hooked, but when the setting changes from Brooklyn to the Caribbean, I could not put it down. Don’t even get me started on the early morning hikes to the top of the peak or the mango scene…. screaming!!

While I loved the romance aspects of this, Feyi and Joy’s friendship was probably one of my favorite parts. Also how clearly grief, anger, resentment and shock are all tied in to a book that is so hopeful—it’s so well done. Emezi’s writing always grabs me, whether it’s The Death of Vivek Oji or meeting several gods in Freshwater or their harrowing memoir, they can do it all. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a romance with some grit this summer 🥵🥵

Thank you for the ARC of this very beautiful book (with a cover just as beautiful)!

I had never read anything else by this author, but their writing was gorgeous.

I tend to enjoy literary writing, and to me this felt like literary fiction that happened to include some very steamy romance. I do not think this book is written in a way to make you agree with characters or to think you relate to everyone. This is a time when art mimics life, and to me that was what made this book fascinating! I had similar feelings to when I read Queenie and Luster.