A sexy, passionate, beautiful, romantic, messy, hot, entertaining and interesting read!

A huge thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster publishing, for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

WOW this book, just WOW. This book is about a young woman who has a second chance at love, after the tragic death of her husband, with someone who's off limits.

Romance is not my favorite genre but I loved this book and the romance in it. The age gap was, chef's kiss!

I am screaming, crying, shaking and throwing up at the fact that I don't have such a passionate romance like Feyi and Alim (mess included cause life ain't fun unless it's messy!) I was here for the mess, because like Jonah said in the book about mess being beautiful.... Feyi and Alim's relationship was beautiful! I loved how Feyi had to slowly come to terms with her grief, pain and loneliness. How she had to be brave and alive to find love.

This book was too short, like you don't understand, i could and would love to read a whole series about Feyim? (Feyi and Alim).

Akwaeke Emezi has a beautiful talent! They are talented DOWN. I wish I could write an inch of how tender and beautiful they write....

Believe the hype about this book! And yes it is that good. I ran out to get a physical copy because I know I needed this book on my shelves. So that I could reread and reread this book until I know every word on every page.

I will definitely be reading Freshwater soon (I have a physical copy on my shelves at home) and so much more from them, both past works and future!

This was a story about grief and love. As someone who mostly reads YA I was expecting to be scandalized but it wasn't nearly as messy or spicy as Booktok claimed! It was excellent though because Emezi wrote it and everything they write is excellent.

This book was poetic but I could not get into the storyline. I’m a tough sell for romance as it is, and I felt a visceral reaction to the familial dynamics at play. I know plenty of people who loved this, but sadly it was not for me. Will try more of rhe author’s work for sure though.

“𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦… 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.”

I appreciated everything about the new perspective that Emezi brought to us with this unique, messy, and excitingly nontraditional love story. Their novel speaks to reopening yourself to new people and new experiences after a great, all-encompassing loss. It’s about finding—and being drawn to—the people who understand you to your core. Emezi’s writing is wonderfully compelling and quite raunchy as we follow Feyi’s journey to “learn how to be alive again.” The character’s were flawed, vulnerable, real and amazingly unapologetic. As a final thought, let the record state that the superlative for “best relationship” in this novel goes to besties Feyi and Joy. Agreed??

I read this book back in the spring and it is the first of many reviews that I’m attempting to catch up with after my summer hiatus. Just writing this review is making me want to read it all over again—so if you haven’t read it yet, do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy asap!!

“𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘵, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.”

Thank you to @netgalley, @atriabooks, and @simonandschuster for the eARC copy of this book.

Once again, Akwaeke Emezi can do no wrong, regardless of the genre they choose. To say this is a romance is too simple, yet it is. Just know it is so much more than that, and you will be thinking about the story and its characters long after you finish the book.

I usually love this author and their writing, but this was a difficult read and it did not draw me in like all the author's other work.

i appreciate a messy character, and this definitely delivered, though i don't think this was strictly everything i wanted from the book?

Vibrant and descriptive writing, that eventually feels a little self-indulgent, especially as the romance doesn't move much deeper than its initial insta-love. (And also, I love the cover and the Florence and the Machine title.)

I really wanted to like this one, but it just wasn't for me. I know others will like it though, I just couldn't get into it.

Well-written, excellent banter and a swoony tropical setting made this book hard to put down. I wish I were cool enough to be friends with Feyi and Joy - I couldn't get enough of their fun and honest friendship. Feyi was the definition of a strong female lead, and I admired the way Emezi wove in topics of mental health and trauma.

The main romance in the novel had somewhat of an ick factor (19 year age difference), but it was depicted in a way that made it palatable and I was rooting for the couple to make it by the end. This book was original, had amazing characters, and was just an enjoyable (and sometimes steamy) read.

i really loved the humor and voice of this novel - i loved it at the beginning when it was more focused on dialogue and friendship! - but ultimately the actions and motivations of these characters, especially the side characters, felt too unrealistic for me.

I raced through this - probably one of the most well-written romances I have read! The fabulous setting and glamorous characters make it fun, but it also packs some emotional punches.

You Made A fool of Death with your Beauty, is the story of Feyi who lost her husband and is trying to rebuild her life, it is not a romance novel or a romantic story for me it was sadder and had a few things that like many other readers mentioned was chaotic or too much for my slow life.

Some of the things that happened are not what I was expecting and made me feel like I was reading another book rather than the one in the blurb.

I don't want to give many details, I think is better for the reader to discover and decide if this story suits them, as the story was good but it wasn't for me, I was looking forward to reading more but I just couldn't.

I highly recommend you to give it a try and decide for yourself.

Thank you, NetGalley, and Atria Books for the ARC of You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty in exchange for my honest review.

The book actually started with a bang and went on from there. I struggled to get into this one but I’m sure someone out there liked it.

While I have read and enjoyed Akwaeke Emezi's earlier works, this book was literally a "miss" for me -- based on the above-average rating (at the time of this submission), I clearly missed the point of the plot and/or the author's intentions with this offering, thus my extremely low rating and scant review. At best my takeaway lands at this being a story of a selfishly beautiful woman indulging in bad decisions and sexual liaisons as a means of coping with a traumatic event. She has no sense of empathy or sympathy towards her partners’ feelings. It seems as if her pursuit of happiness is all that matters, and we the reader(s) should understand (and accept) her behavior as a result of her loss and mental space. I went along with this for the sake of the story and to finish the novel.
If this wasn’t a review book, I would have abandoned it early on – something I rarely do. I had no connection to any character and found the plot dull and pointless -- the twists/turns to add drama felt forced and over-the top. As mentioned, I realize my assessment is in the minority. It is a well-written book; but not engaging on any level for me. I will continue to support the author and look forward to her upcoming work.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.

Emezi is such a force. The ways in which they can write so successfully in so many formats and genres is deeply impressive. This novel starts hot and heavy and continues to be throughout. You are pulled in right from the beginning and want the best for the characters. While it was propulsive I did find myself not intentionally reaching for it. There was something that was not pulling me back.

I had no idea what this book was about when I started it. From the opening sentence I was hooked. The way the characters are carefully crafted and woven together makes the plot flow beautifully. Feyi is such a complex character and you slowly peel back the layers to learn about her past and watch her find strength as she moves forward in her life. I devoured this book in 24 hours - it is well worth your time.

Beautiful writing abounds in Akwaeke Emezi's romance entry, You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty. This will not be for everyone -- the twist in the middle was something that I was definitely surprised by, and something that I probably would have been apprehensive about picking up if I knew straight out of the gate. Luckily, I had gone in with very little context (please do the same!!!) and was blown away by the mediation on grief, love, and art that runs throughout this novel. It doesn't hurt that much of it takes place in the world's most beautiful-sounding house in the Caribbean with some of the most mouth watering food you'll ever read on page.

I wanted to live within this world, with all of its beauty and tension, even with the messiness that comes from complicated relationships and unrequited love. There are so many wonderful characters throughout, particularly the protagonist Feyi and her best friend Joy, who have an honest and open friendship that reminds me so much of my own. Both thematically and emotionally, this reminded me a lot of Seven Days in June, where a running melancholy is offset by moments of wonder, passion, and connection between characters. I'll end with a quote: “And that’s something I’ve learned in the years since, that there are so many different types of love, so many ways someone can stay committed to you, stay in your life even if y’all aren’t together, you know? And none of these ways are more important than the other.”

This is a book I'll be thinking of for the rest of the year -- thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early review copy, all opinions are my own.

There is a lot going on here. It's, of course, beautifully written because Akwaeke cannot write anything that isn't beautiful. But the trope just wasn't exactly for me, despite that.

This is vastly different than a typical lighthearted romantic novel. I admire the goal of the plot but ultimately just couldn't connect with the characters and in fact really, really disliked the MC.