I'm a huge fan of Emezi's work, and I was really excited to read this book, partially because it's a genre I wouldn't be very likely to pick up on my own. I've seen some reviews of people reading this book and being disappointed that it isn't more like Vivek Oji and honestly? It isn't! This book is its own thing, and you gotta take it as it is.

I think I've seen Emezi describe this as a queer Black girl having a hot girl summer, which is a pretty good summary! Feyi was widowed five years previously, and the book opens on her decision to try and get back into the dating scene again. The story reflects on grief, relationships, and art, and was also really messy in a really human way.

As always, I adore Emezi's writing, and I felt it was really successful in this book: sensual, lush, hedonistic. This book is coming out at the perfect time of the year, and I think its a great summer read.

Out May 24, 2022 [Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!]

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Feyi is a young woman still grieving the death of her husband several years before when she meets Nasir, a charismatic young man who is not shy about professing his attraction. She agrees to travel to his island home with him to participate in an art installation that will advance her career, but quickly becomes pulled into an unexpected and complicated attraction that threatens to derail her fragile new happiness.

I’ve seen a ton of amazing reviews of this one, and I completely understand why—Emezi is an outstanding writer, and they crafted a story that is beautiful, poignant, and, yes, romantic. I also think it is a story that many people may connect with deeply, and Emezi beautifully renders discussions and depictions of grief, healing, and self-understanding. The book also showcases and celebrates Blackness and queerness, and I adored seeing that kind of representation.

If I’m being honest, there were parts of this one that didn’t completely “click” for me, probably because I’m not a huge fan of the primary tropes involved. But, while I found the beginning to be a bit of a slow burn, the final third of the book moved fast and was deeply engaging. In the end, it was a unique literary romance with great representation and stunning writing, and I’m glad that I read it—and certainly understand why this one may land on a lot of favorites lists.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: forbidden love/age-gap tropes; literary writing; diverse representation in romance.

CW: Grief; death of a loved one/spouse; some homophobia/biphobia.

When I first started You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty, I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it. The premise sounded incredible, but it didn't draw me right in. I'm glad I stuck with it though. It's a beautiful story of loss, overcoming grief, and finding love again. I found the writing to be truly mesmerizing and at times lyrical. The descriptions of the main character Feyi are incredible and I imagined her to look just as the image on the cover of the book does.

Truly a beautiful story and I'm happy to have read it.
4/5 stars

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was warned...The author says it's a romance...and yet I kept expecting something else...here we are.

The question of whether it's a good romance though? I don't know. The first third feels like the set-up for an entirely different book, and THEN the romance tropes kick in. It's not a traditional romance, but I don't know that it has to be. I enjoyed reading the book, but I felt like emotionally I didn't take as much of the ride as I was expecting, mostly because of the set-up.

I really want to sit with this book more, but unfortunately that's not how feedback and ratings work. I'm more looking forward to other people reading and reviewing this book than discussing it myself.

Wow! I wish I could read this again for the first time. Feyi is still dealing with the loss of her husband 5 years later, but knows she has to move on with her life. The story weaves together love interests and overcoming loss and discovering artistic passions again. The writing style sinks you into the friendships and relationships Feyi experiences as if you were right there too. I highly recommend this read.

This plot is hard to describe without giving too much away. Feyi is an artist in her 20s, who is widowed after losing her childhood sweetheart in a car accident a year after their marriage. That was five years ago; she now wants to get back out into the world and date, though she doesn't want anything serious. The book opens with Feyi and her best friend at a party, where Feyi immediately seduces a guy to sleep with. The book eventually takes a more romantic turn, as Feyi falls in love with someone she shouldn't, but the way she gets there is so wrong that I had a hard time supporting it. (And, the insta-love seems fake and not worth the wrongdoing.) Meanwhile, the characters all speak in such extreme Gen Z slang that I found it hard to take seriously; I can't believe anyone actually talks like this, and it just made me feel like all the characters were extremely stupid, insecure / trying to fit in, or both. It was an interesting read, but not one I can really recommend.

Read this book if you like: Stories of grief, LGBTQ representation, forbidden romance,

Feyi is a twenty something year old artist. She has her own studio and lives with her best friend. I love the relationship between her and her best friend. It’s been five years since the accident that killed the love of Feyi's life. Her friends insist she starts dating again. Feyi isn’t ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could have never imagined. She ends up on a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the glamorous home of a celebrity chef, and a major curator who wants to launch her art career.

So now she is with the perfect guy, but their new relationship might be sabotaged before it has a chance. Feyi becomes infatuated with the one person in the house who is most definitely off-limits.

Akwaeke Emezi’s writing is good. It's very descriptive. I like how this book depicts grief, dating, friendships, and more. This is one of the most beautiful covers I have ever seen. The book is good too. It's very different. I will warn you that if you hate cuss words then this is not for you. I cuss all the time and even I was jarred a bit by the amount. I really liked it though. I will be reading more of their books. I recommend this book!

Thank you to Akwaeke Emezi and Atria Books for the gifted copy! ❤️

- OMG, this book! I think YOU MADE A FOOL OF DEATH WITH YOUR BEAUTY is going to be divisive, but count me firmly in the "loved in" camp.
- Trust in Emezi to write a painful, messy, literary romance novel, full of intense feelings and complicated relationship dynamics, all draped in decadence.
- My one quibble is that it veers real close to insta-love, but everything else about the book is spectacular: the setting, Feyi and Joy's friendship, the queerness, the connections sparking off the page.

I was huge fan of The Death of Vivek Oji; that book has really stuck to me and I think about that book a lot. Thanks to NetGalley, I was provided a copy of Akwaeke Emezi's new book. I'm usually not a fan of romance books, but I must admit this was hot, hot, hot from beginning to end. Though it's different in terms of genre, Akwaeke Emezi's storytelling and writing is strong as ever in this latest book. I enjoyed reading about how one deals with the aftermath of losing your partner or loved on and trying to navigate life as it happens. The romantic and sexual relationships in this book, like I said, were spicy, and that is definitely no complaint on my part. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and was always on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next.

I can't wait to read more romance type stories from Akwaeke Emezi.

Feyi is a young widow crippled by grief after tragically losing her new husband and high school sweetheart in a car accident. Five years later she's channeling her pain into art and, with the help of her best friend and roommate, Joy, ready to explore dating again. Feyi gets involved with Nasir, and though they intend to take things very slow, he soon whisks her away to the tropical island where he was born to work on an art installation while staying at his celebrity chef father's luxurious home. When Feyi meets Nasir's widowed father, Alim, sparks fly in unexpected ways and Feyi is left to navigate complicated feelings and relationships and perhaps a second chance at love.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is a lush and engaging romance. And while it is very much a romance, grief is central to the story adding a layer of complexity and, not unwelcome but perhaps somewhat unexpected, darkness. Love in many forms as well as a range of sexual orientations are depicted as well as so many amazing descriptions of food, I always appreciate that. Some readers will likely find Feyi unlikeable, but I was rooting for her, I love that Emezi has crafted a complex heroine.

This book is poised to be a hit of the summer and film rights have already been sold! Highly recommend picking this up if you like a romance with heft.

Wow! What a book. I wasn’t sure where the story was headed in the first half, but the second half took off in such a spellbinding, beautiful direction. I was surprised to relate to the main character, Feyi, as much as I did. She is given a second chance to find love after heartbreak, and her fear, grief, and confusion in this situation is so relatable. This is not your typical lighthearted romance novel; I’d encourage anyone to give it a try, especially if you’ve lost hope in finding true love.

A great take on grief and love and how deeply they can be intertwined. It was a beautiful and fast romance between Alim and Feyi but it’s wholesome and lovely.

This is a great read for readers that enjoy:

Instalove and Age Gaps

I personally don’t love instalove but I liked how it played out in this book.

Emezi was born and raised in Nigeria and identifies as non-binary transgender and uses the pronouns they/them. Their previous novels are "The Death of Vivek Oji" and "freshwater". This new book features the character of Feyi, an artist, who was widowed five years ago and has finally felt ready to enter the dating world again. The story includes a trip to a tropical island to stay at the home of a wealthy and famous man and a 'forbidden' love. It is about romance, grief, family, friendship and art and is a good recommendation for readers interested in reading from a more diverse author pool.

You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty is unique, emotional, beautiful, and infuriating. I actually finished this a while ago but honestly didn't know where to start with my review. I do not want to discuss too much of the plot in my review because I think readers will enjoy this one the most if they go in with no idea of what to expect! I do want to add that this isn't a "traditional" romance and there is A LOT to unpack within this novel. I think if you go into this with the understanding that while this is a romance, it is primarily a story of a widow's reawakening, it will help you be slightly less infuriated at Feyi's self-destructive behavior. I have said this a million times but I really do LOVE a fucked up protagonist so I loved this so much. Emezi has a unique talent and I am honored to have been given the opportunity to read their work early.

Thank you SO much to Atria Books and NetGalley for this advanced copy. Save this book for when you need something to make you FEEL. You don't be disappointed!

The only context I had coming into this book was thanks to a TikTok video referencing "big DILF energy," which ended up being somewhat misleading. Sure, there's a May-December romance, but this book is so much richer than just the spice on the page.

Feyi is slowly venturing back into the dating scene five years after her husband's death. He was her high school sweetheart and died in a car crash which Feyi survived, so she's grappling with the trauma and survivor's guilt. She's a visual artist who uses her creations to work through her emotions, and thanks to influence from a man she's casually seeing, is invited to participate in a gallery show that brings her to his family's Caribbean home. Once there, she meets her partner's father, Alim - a famous celebrity chef - and sparks fly immediately.

The sexual tension that builds as Feyi tries to resist her attraction to Alim, but again, it's so much more than just a spicy romance. Alim is a widow who also grapples with trauma and grief due to his wife's traumatic death, and additionally struggles with the guilt of wanting to be a good father to his adult children, who have not accepted his new partners in the past.

Feyi and Alim find common ground in their grief - they are able to communicate with each other and find support and understanding that they haven't found from their friends or family, because only someone who has experienced a loss of that magnitude could understand where they're coming from. I found myself weeping while reading these scenes of sharing their vulnerability - they're so well-written. If you're coming into this book expecting a spicy romance, you won't be disappointed, but prepare yourself to be deeply affected by these characters and their emotional growth.

I'm going to be the odd one out. This wasn't what I was expecting, even understanding that it is meant to be a romance. Feyi, a young widow, throws caution (and the concerns of her friend Joy) to the wind one night five year after her husband Jonah died, when she meets and hooks up with Milan in a bar bathroom (in the opening pages). She then takes up with his friend Nazir, who introduces her to his father, Alim, an acclaimed chef with a sad back story. They romp (my word) around the Caribbean island where Alim lives and Feyi contemplates her relationships. There's good writing but I didn't like Feyi (I did like Joy). Points for a diverse rom-com (of sorts, especially the com part) with pretty people and good locations. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Wasn't for me but I know others will enjoy it.

Speaking from experience when I say that the easiest thing in the world is to become obsessed with Emezi’s storytelling. This contemporary romance was messy, vulnerable, honest, raw. The main character grows with/heals through grief, and as a reader, you can really feel this push/pull as she is on this journey.

Some other faves about this one include a forbidden romance, a boujee tropical setting, and off the charts best friend energy. YOU MADE A FOOL OF DEATH WITH YOUR BEAUTY is going to be a great beach read this summer, put this on your radar if it’s not already!

“She was hers; she was alive; there was so much to do.” 🖤

Thank you @atriabooks for this advanced copy!!!

I was a little unsure about this book when I first started reading it. Feyi is so wild and closed off at the start of the book and, as she puts it, “messy.” She’s lost her one true love in a terrible accident 5 years ago and has had to navigate her grief and finally jumps back into the dating world (literally head first and immediately having sex with a man she’s just barely met in a bathroom). She doesn’t want to talk about her lost love and tries to keep her relationships light and without feeling. She surprised me when she agreed to go on a trip with Nasir after having been so detached with Milan. And the second she saw Alim, her kind-of-boyfriend’s father, and thought about how hot he was, I felt like screaming at her. As the story continues, you can see Feyi change and she starts to soften. Feyi and Alim have so much in common that there’s no way they could not fall for each other. I would have loved to see Feyi and Alim’s relationship grow even more, but the ending feels like it’s full of possibilities and hope. This is a wonderful, complex book!

✨ Review ✨ You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

This book is ELECTRIC. Its sensory-laden descriptions absolutely sizzle. It's filled with rich flavors, distinct sounds, beautiful colors and textures, sensual romance, and so much more. I loved every moment on this roller coaster as we moved between grief and joy with just SO much emotion along every bit of the way. The descriptions of people, places, food, and more were just so gloriously lush.

This book is a romance, but not your typical romance. Feyi is entering back out into the world of dating and hook-ups almost five years after her husband died in a car crash. This is isn't your typical linear romance novel, but instead a brilliantly messy book that recognizes romances and loves of different kinds. As she explores what she wants and needs as she moves forward, she leans on people in different ways in this story while also moving her art career forward.

This is the first book of Emezi's I've read, and I am HERE for their writing. It was absolutely brilliant and I was hooked, praising this book to friends by the end of chapter 1 (which by the way is 🔥 🥵). They brilliant weave in nuanced understandings of race, gender, sexuality, identity, and more. I can't wait to read more of their books.

This is absolutely one of my favorite books of this year, and you NEED TO READ IT.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: m/f bi romance , women's fiction
Location: NYC, an unnamed Caribbean island
Reminds me of: Six Days in June
Pub Date: May 24, 2022

Thanks to Atria Books and #netgalley for an e-copy of this book!

Blog: Angry Angel Books (angryangelbooks.com)
Posting Date: 5/24/22
Link: https://angryangelbooks.com/2022/05/24/you-made-a-fool-of-death-with-your-beauty/

Source: DRC via NetGalley (Atria Books) in exchange for an honest review
Pub. Date: May 24, 2022
Synopsis: Goodreads

Why did I choose to read this book?

My answer to this one is complicated this time. I am finishing one of the most difficult school years I’ve ever taught through; I feel so dead inside that I’m not sure how I’ll bring it all back to life again. I’m tired, but not the normal kind of tired. There’s a word that hasn’t even been invented yet that would describe how my entire being feels in this moment, after everything, just going through the motions with this weight heavy over my entire soul. I know that sounds over dramatic, but it’s real.

So when the very first line that describes this book said “Feyi Adekola wants to learn how to be alive again,” Akwaeke Emezi had me. Maybe if I read this book about this woman’s journey, I could unlock something in myself that could have the chance to regrow into something different but alive. What would that look like? I was excited to find out.

What is this book about?

Feyi lost her husband in a car accident 5 years prior and has decided to try to re-enter the dating scene. Her journey from a friend with benefits to a caring partner to rediscovering her own desire and learning to live again is where this book will take you. Emezi’s story is marketed as a romance novel, and I suppose it is given how much relationships and physical intimacy play a role, but I think that this story is about Feyi honoring her love for the husband she lost, opening her heart to the possibility of new love, but most importantly she’s learning how to fall in love with herself and her own experiences again.

What is notable about the story?

The language Emezi uses to describe everything is so lush and decadent. Your senses will be engaged throughout this novel and I absolutely love that. I can see the tropical birds, smell the spices and busy city streets, I can taste the foods; all because the story is written beautifully.

Its exploration of grief is also beautiful. There were a few sentences that really hit me about halfway through the book:

Those were moments that broke timelines, that cut them so deep and so bloody that they would never stitch back together again, that they life before the cut was as dead as the person who was lost. Just memories through a haze of hurt.

Recognizing how to move forward from events that knock you completely off course, away from anything you every would have imagined for yourself, is something that is very difficult to do, and I speak from multiple experiences. It’s complicated and terrible and you’re always haunted by the other timelines. The best you can hope for is to learn to live with the ghosts and move forward on whatever timeline you ended up on.

Part of this also is the imposter syndrome that Feyi struggles with as her art gains more and more attention. When you remake your life and go in another direction when you thought you would be elsewhere, it is natural to feel like you do not belong, that you didn’t get there by your own merits, that you are a charity case among stars and soon you will be discovered and thrown out, onto yet another timeline where you must recover and rebuild. The strength to know that you belong where you are because you are you and you worked hard and smart and any other combination of things to be in that moment is something that must be built as well – the strength to demand to take up space because you are worthy. This journey spoke to me so loudly that had points I had to set the book down and take some deep breaths.

The line that made me cry, that hit me deepest though, was:

She wanted to be someone she could recognize.

I could try to describe this, but then this would turn into a personal essay and not a book review. All I’ll say about this at the moment is that if you know, then you know. And it’s devastatingly heartbreaking.

Was anything not so great?

Honestly this book was a straight up banger. No notes. Everything Emezi was trying to say with this story needed all the elements present in order to deliver those messages, and it’s done so exquisitely that there’s nothing to critique, really.

What’s the verdict?

5 stars on Goodreads, this is one of the most immersive stories I have ever read and it left me wanting more. I hope that there are many more stories left to be read by Akwaeke Emezi, because I will be first in line for as many more as they plan to write.