I really enjoyed the writing in this book. Nwabineti is a beautiful writer. Though this was a difficult topic it was a good read. It did take some time as this book is heavy and breaks are needed. At times there is some dark humor which helps lighten the mood. Even though the book is about grief, it was not a tear-jerker. I also enjoyed the Nigerian characters and family. I have enjoyed several books featuring Nigerian individuals in Britain. I would definitely read anything by this author!

I received a copy of this through NetGalley.

An emotional read right from the beginning, Onyi Nwabineli discusses issues of grief, suicide, and racism without the platitudes often given to these topics. While a difficult read at times I appreciated the honesty she gave to how relentless and surprising grief can be. My favorite parts of the book were how she incorporated aspects of Nigerian culture-food, language, and family dynamics- and her individual relationships with each of her family members.

Special thanks to the author, publisher, and netgalley for my advanced reader’s copy.

It took me awhile to get through this book. Eve’s grief was endless and I felt there was no depth or progression to her character. But that also made me understand there’s no timeframe on how long grief will last and it’s not an exciting thing.

How can you overcome such a traumatic experience when you’re left with so many unanswered questions?

There’s nothing peaceful about death and the topics covered were so heavy. The writing was emotionally compelling to the point you literally experience every stage of grief with the MC.

Her husband did the unimaginable committing suicide. How can she get past this? How will she go on without him? Is there something she could’ve done to prevent it? These are the questions Eve tortured herself with from the day she found Q’s body. Then she lost her job, had to deal with the mother-in-law from hell, and overly supportive friends and family. While still dealing with the worst situation anyone could endure. Yet somehow she eventually found light at the end of the tunnel.

Now her mother-in-law Aspen really irked my nerves. The fact she blamed Eve for the loss of her son was beyond me. I doubt I could’ve held my tongue the way Eve did with her because she was definitely pushing it.

When Aspen said “Did you find the facilities, dear? You were gone so long I thought someone had mistaken you for the help and dragged you off into the kitchen or something!” That would’ve been the last straw. Not sure if I could marry someone whose parents don’t accept me. Let alone make remarks as such and you don’t say anything to defend me. But Eve and Q were happy together so Eve said. I don’t know if I really felt that from the stories Eve would reminisce over.

Favorite Quotes:

“What is love if it misses that which drags your husband beneath the surface, never to be rescued?”

“People think because you have cried in their presence they have witnessed real grief.”

“Grief is not neat. Pain is not dignified. Both are ugly, visceral things.”

By the end of the novel Eve does experience some form of acceptance. Did she ever get past losing Q? Of course not. But she did however experience another life changing event that I feel helped her cope with the loss.

Overall this was an okay read the only downside for me was there was no explanation as to why her husband committed suicide. But that also leads me to say this though. Had Eve found a note or was given a reason as to why he did it. Would that have really made a difference?

This book may be difficult for some to read based on the realness and level of grief that the main character goes thru. It is hard to read at times, heartbreaking as it is so realistic. But it is also a hopeful story, an inspiring story of family, friends and picking up after the worst thing in the world.

Someday, Maybe, I’ll find the right words to describe this book by Onyi Nwabineli but in the meantime, I’ll go with this: while heavy, this book is an emotional gem with narrative wit weaved together with the required vulnerability and ugliness that makes a story about grief successful.

Someday, Maybe begins with blunt facts narrated by Eve, who, just before the story begins, finds her husband—whom she loved very much—dead by suicide with no note of explanation. What follows is her journey through grief and the abrupt changes Q’s death causes.

This book begins slowly, because most of what happens is narration of sadness and actions of staying in bed. This, obviously, makes sense in the situation and is cleverly done: it very easily could have turned the story into a boring nightmare of sadness that no reader would want to continue trudging through, but, through dry wit and subtly holding back the gory details of How? Q killed himself underneath the much larger question of Why? that Eve so desperately tries to answer, the story keeps a thread of interest for the reader to follow until about halfway through the novel, where the heaviness begins to lift and the reader is greeted with more action and less straight narration as Eve’s grief becomes more manageable.

The success of this story, in my opinion, besides the clever writing and the honest humanity found in Eve’s choices, is also through the cast of real characters that surround Eve, each with their own lives and troubles that brush up against Eve, subtly pulling her in different directions. It helps to keep the story interesting in the first half and helps to lead action and change in the second. Even the title is clever, suggesting that Someday, Maybe Eve will get over this hurdle of Q’s death and then halfway through shifts meaning in a small tidbit Eve offers the reader…that she and Q always talked about kids “Someday, maybe”.

Overall, Someday, Maybe is an excellent option to read, even offering discussion questions at the end that pair beautifully for reading groups to touch on all the layers found in the novel. This is a book to recommend! (Even if it needs to be read in small doses, with happier things inbetween).

NOTE- if you are dealing with, or suffer with suicidal
Ideation and deep depression pls don’t read this book.

This most beautifully heartbreaking book about grief. Living with, and trying to deal with grief and it’s effects on everyone, and everything around.
The book opens with Eve, finding her husbands dead body after he committed suicide. What follows is how her life unravels and she attempts to put it back together. She has the most amazing family who stand by her, gently (and sometimes not so gently) pushing her. Onyi Nwabineli did an amazing job capturing the myriad of feelings around grief- how people intentionally (or not) have a timeline and expect that people “move on already”. The feelings of absolute heart wrenching pain the sufferer is in, and how they also understand that no one can help, or can grasp what they are going through.
I’d definitely recommend this book, probably not to everyone because it was a hard read. Not in a bad way- but because damn life is hard.

The audio narrator for this book is phenomenal. I really loved the first half. I thought it would be a five star read for me. The second half wasn’t bad, but it just dragged, kind of a lot of the same thing. Suicide is such a tough topic to sit with. It is also a love story and beautiful, but it sat on a time when she was evading people and was stuck. I felt like the book became a little stuck, but maybe that’s just how it feels.

I loved so many passages within the book.

Ugh I wanted to like this book, it’s so well written. Unfortunately I don’t think I will ever be in the right headspace to read a book that talks about suicide so so so heavily. Especially an unexpected one. I was unable to finish this book due to that. It just put me in a bad head space.

4.5⭐
G spice because this not a romance

Are you ready to have your heart ripped out of your chest and stomped on a little bit so you can have some of the painful parts of life explained better than you could ever put in words? Because that is what I experienced reading this book.

Eve's husband committed suicide and she found him, so this book follows her journey with grief as she navigates the funeral, her mother in law (who is the worst villain I have read of 2022!), and the loss of her job. And Eve would never survive without her large Nigerian family, who stay with her through every moment. This book is as much about them as it is about Eve and her husband.

There was not much hope or happiness in this book. It is approximately 99% sad girl energy. But the statements Onyi makes on grief throughout this book are so poignant that I think it will resonate with anyone who has lost someone close to them and struggled to move on. This book will made me feel seen in the grief I still carry for the loss of a loved one earlier this year.

If you enjoyed Grief is Love and are looking for it in novel form or simply want to feel validated in your own grief, definitely read this book.

Major content warnings for suicide, depression and unexpected pregnancy

My favorite quote:
"You're not sick. You don't need to describe grief like it's an illness... You have a right to your feelings and they have a right to be felt. Time dictates you'll hurt less eventually because that's what time does but one of the big problems work mourning and with loss is that people think they need to skip it and get right back to normality; like this emotions aren't important and aren't part of the road to 'better'."

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 was an emotional and stunning debut. There is unrelenting grief as Eve endures life after the death of her husband by suicide. It doesn't hold back. While the subject matter is heavy, it is also compelling, heartfelt and heartbreaking. This story will stay with me.

My friend said it perfectly- "𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥.

𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺."

I started reading something else right after this — but couldn’t stop thinking about Onyi Nwabineli’s “Someday, Maybe.” So I took a break to write my review.

For starters, Nwabineli’s writing is brilliant — causing this reviewer (already in mourning IRL) to laugh out loud (multiple times) in the middle of such a sad story.

And to make reading her book as engaging as viewing a live stage performance, Nwabineli infused Eve’s family and quirky friends with the perfect balance of love and all the other aspects of each individual’s unique personality so that every character seemed real enough to jump out of the pages directly into London (and two more locations).

Finally, I learned a bit of the Igbo language (while keeping Google translate open) along with some new recipes (worth seeking out in local restaurants) as well as a few fascinating Nigerian traditions.

“Someday, Maybe” is destined to inspire deep, heartbreaking book club discussions — can your group handle it (perhaps aided by some tongue-loosening beverages)?

Exceedingly highly recommended — an enthusiastic five stars. Can’t wait for Nwabineli’s next masterpiece.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Someday, Maybe.

Someday, Maybe is a powerful debut novel. Nigerian-born Eve is happily married to the love of her life, Q. When he commits suicide seemingly without any warning signs and leaves no note behind, Eve spirals into a deep depression that she can't seem to pull herself out of. Yes, this book deals with some heavy topics, but the people who surround Eve and help her learn to live again make it worth the read.

Someday, Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli

Someday, Maybe is a debut novel. While it is a story of unbelievable grief, it is also filled with love. This novel is centered on the suicide of Eve’s husband and the enormous support and love that her family responds with. The author writes of the heartache and undeniable grief that she feels upon the death of her husband. She tells of her feelings in so many different ways, never seeming to repeat any of them throughout the novel.
This novel will move you into a place of extreme sadness as Eve works through her grief in many stages. She is surrounded by her loving supportive Nigerian family and a best friend who will drop anything and everything to support Eve. She also has to deal with a mother-in-law who never accepted Eve and blames her for the death of her son.
Eve works through the stages of grief on her own terms. She refused to eat, gets fired, can’t sleep, takes medication to drown out her thoughts and feelings. She goes away for a while, not letting her friends and family know of her whereabouts. She tries counseling at the request of her family (which is foreign to Nigerians who depend on prayer) but finds something else that helps to move her along in her journey.
While the novel is a sad story filled with grief, I felt that I wanted to continue reading in hopes that Eve will come out a stronger person at the end.

Trigger Warning: This may be a tough read for anyone touched by suicide in their life.

A lovely, emotional book depicting life after a loved one’s suicide. I laughed, I cried. It was a very real depiction of the ups and downs of grief and all the drama that sometimes comes with death.

Short synopsis: Eve is reeling from the recent suicide of her husband Q.

My thoughts: This is a sad, emotional, heart wrenching book! My heart ached for Eve as she searched for answers and comfort after finding Quinten’s body. The relationship Eve had with Q.’s mother was even more difficult and broke my heart!

I really loved how the author wove pieces of Eve and Q’s budding relationship throughout the story, so we could see some of the good and bad times they faced together.

I did hope for more resolution at the end of the book but loved the piece of Q Eve will always have.

Read if you love:
* Sad and emotional stories
* Amazing debut books
* Nigerian Culture
* Inter-racial relationships
* Developing friendships
* Photography and art

Thank you so much HTP Publishing and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book! Out now!

TW: suicide

Oh, wow. This book is… it’s a lot. It’s a lot of grief, of family, of hurt, of questions, of life endured after Eve finding her husband after his suicide.

This debut novel is stunning in its poetics of words and just so damn heartbreaking. The grief takes over throughout the novel and I guess that’s the point — grief fills into all the gaps, even if you don’t want it.

This is a tough novel but worth the read. If you want a heartfelt and grief filled novel, this one is for you. I wish we would’ve found out the “why” of Q’s suicide but still a good read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for this eARC. Someday, Maybe is out now.

“Grief is not neat. Pain is not dignified. Both are ugly, visceral things. They rip holes through you and burst forth when they see fit. They are constant, controlling companions, and if they don’t destroy you or your relationship with others, they certainly go a long way to damaging you"

This book was beautiful, it was heartwrenching, immersive, and real.

It took me a while to write this review because I was processing my feelings. Having lost someone myself and having to process immense grief this book felt like a conversation.

This book follows Eve who has just found her husband's (Quentin) body after he took his own life. Told in three parts we see their lives from university to when she must say goodbye to his ashes. The pages are filled with grief but we also see her guilt, as she tries to process why her husband who was so in love with her, and seemed quite happy would kill himself.

I won't lie this is a sad book, as the author takes us through this difficult grieving process. While this is Eve's story the many characters in the book added so much dimension to the story.

While this book won't be for everyone, personally I will be thinking about this one for years to come.

This was a very heavy book to read and if you’re not in the right mindset, it could really bring you down. I was completely drawn into Eve’s grief, bordering on madness, as she struggled over the suicide of her husband. I simultaneously read and listened to the audiobook, which I tend to prefer when I’m reading culturally-rich novels, if only so that I can “hear” the true voices of the characters. There is something about hearing the Nigerian voice the enriches the experience of novels like this.

What I liked about this book is that although Eve had many people tell her what she should or should not do, her close family and friends really did give her space to grieve the way she felt able to, sometimes to the extreme that she couldn’t get out of her head. But moments of tough love came at appropriate times and even with that tough love, they still let her make her own choice, which I really appreciated.

I also loved the role that art played in this story, both in Q’s photographs and in her own drawing as she finally found small parts of her healing. I loved both her constant friends, her family, and her new friends, as they each played a different role in her journey. Ultimately, though, it was her choosing to continue living that led to her healing. No, she couldn’t have done it without the people in her life, but she had to make that decision.

This was a heavy book and I applaud the author for completely immersing herself in such grief. I’ve read many books before where one grieves the loss of a spouse, but this was particularly tough as the loss was due to suicide. Those for whom this is a trigger may want to skip this novel, but I did feel that the author handled it with much compassion. There were some amazing poignant moments that were written so beautifully, it helped lift me out of the grief, albeit for short periods. Knowing that there had to be an end in sight did help me to push through some of the harder bits and I did feel that the novel left me feeling much more hopeful for her.

I definitely recommend this book but with reservations for those who may not be able to handle the triggers. It is beautifully written and an amazing debut for this author. I will be looking for future books written by her.

[4.5 stars]

This debut novel about a young woman who lost her beloved husband to suicide and her extraordinary grief is loosely based on true events. Unsurprisingly, it's an emotional story about intense grief, but Nwabineli's tone is sort of dryly funny (similar to Annie Hartnett) and there is healing with the support of family, which takes some of the heaviness out of the reading experience. She talks about grief A LOT, but never in the same way twice. Her writing is out of this world. This is also a bit of a love story, but not a romance (there is a difference), as Eve (the widow) reflects back on her marriage. One of the best debuts of 2022!

A meditation on grief in all its intricacies and mess. This book doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges we face when we lose a loved one. And I applaud the novelist for digging dip and sharing all the parts of grieving that often get overlooked. A fantastic book for anyone who has lost someone and is attempting to find themselves in the midst of deep sorrow.