Let's start by establishing something: I am an adult, white, woman living in the United States. So a book about the teen daughter of Nigerian immigrants living in Canada is pretty far from my lived experience. And my initial response to not understand parts of this book was "okay, so this book is not intended for me". But on further reflection I realize: that's exactly why it is intended for me. A major theme of this book is how these teens struggle to fit into different cultures, how they feel expected to speak for an entire culture. They are weighed down by expectations from their parents and the world around them and it's desperately unfair that they have to act as a bridge. So, no I'm not an immigrant. I don't know Nigerian immigrants. But reading books like this one, books that delve deep into character and ask us to connect with these worlds on a personal level, can help members of the dominant culture understand the unfair ways that they treat people and help us be more sensitive. They endeavor to answer the impertinent questions and maybe prevent us from asking them of real people. And that is valuable. That makes this book absolutely for everyone, both those who will see themselves in it and those who don't know this world at all.

For this story pronunciation is very important so listening to the names and phrases is Igbo pronounced correctly was a really valuable part of this narrative. I also felt like the narrator was at home with this story which is always better for audiobooks!

I listened to the audiobook of this one and I have to say that the narrator definitely helped keep me interested as she did a great job. I loved the poetry bits that were incorporated, especially the very end. I thought that the story had a lot of potential, and I’m not sure it really all came together. It was a little scattered and it moved al title slowly, but overall it was a fun read. I liked the Nigerian cultural pieces that were included and I loved the information about cross cultural kids for the debate.

This story is about Sophie/Ada a Nigerian Canadian girl who has always thought she had a plan - get straight A’s, go to college, go to law school, and be successful. Ada has been working twice as hard to be perfect since her brother ran away from home right before she starts middle school. Six years later she runs into him and learns some things she had no idea about as she is also working on figuring out more about herself.

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends / Macmillan Audio for access to the audiobook of Twice as Perfect by Louisa Onome in exchange for an honest review.

CW: parental pressure, watch for growing list on StoryGraph.

Adanna is a bridesmaid in her cousin's wedding to a well-known Afrobeats superstar. The event is bringing her whole extended family together, and the planning is a little chaotic. Meanwhile, Adanna is 17 years old and trying to figure out what she wants the rest of her life to look like. As her Nigerian parents have told her time and again, if she does not want to be a doctor or an engineer, then being a lawyer is the only acceptable alternative. But as Adanna reunites with her older brother who left home to pursue being a poet, she starts to question whether her commitments to debate team and law school are misplaced. In this coming of age novel, Adanna comes into her own personality and is able to mend relationships with her family members.

A coming of age novel? A wedding with a famous groom? Cultural factors affecting expectations and future plans? Beautiful descriptions of culturally significant foods? A teenager differentiating from her parents and communicating with them about her feelings? What more could you want in a YA contemporary?! This was so fun, and I loved the emphasis on Adanna's relationships with her family and friends and how her Nigerian heritage is at the heart of all her decisions and actions. Definitely recommend for anyone wanting to learn more about Nigerian culture, and looking for a fun time with some romance and celebrity in the mix.

This is another book that a bookstagrammer I was following DNF'd that I loved through and through. Note: I stopped following that bookstagrammer. I loved that this book brought up the third culture kids discussion because you don't see the concept in a lot of fiction, especially not in a YA. Also, the being kicked out of the house by misunderstanding parents is all too relatable and heartbreaking at the same time. If I were to rewrite the book for the author, I would change a single line.

A heartfelt #ownvoices coming of age YA story about a Nigerian Canadian teen girl navigating cultural expectations against a growing realization she might want something else for herself. Seventeen-year-old Adanna Nkwachi has her life mapped out, win debate, help plan her cousin's huge Nigerian wedding, become a lawyer and make her parents happy.

However, when she stumbles across her estranged brother at a slam poetry reading, past hurt and family secrets come broiling to the surface making her rethink what she owes herself and that maybe she doesn't need to be the perfect Nigerian daughter.

Full of rich Nigerian culture and realistic depictions of being a child of immigrant parents this book is perfect for fans of Jane Igharo or TJ Powar has something to prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo. Great on audio too narrated by Yinka Ladeinde. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Song Pairing: For You - Teni, Davido

💭What I thought would happen:

I had no idea. I thought a coming of age. Loved the cover, loved the title!

📖What actually happens:

Adanna Nkwachi is any parent’s ideal child. She is kind, she succeeds in her studies, she’s helpful in the community and polite to boot. Ada knows first hand it’s not easy to be a child of immigrants. There are 3 career paths; doctor, lawyer or engineer, everything else is unacceptable.

After Ada’s brother Sam is exiled from their Nigerian family, Ada is confused about the events that lead up to it and why no one talks about him anymore. She needs answers and sets out to find him.

🗯Thoughts:

I very much enjoyed reading about Nigerian culture and the pressures that are put onto the children of first gens. I learned so much listening to this book. And shout out to the 🇨🇦 setting!

Oooph the drama in this had me in a heated rage. I felt uncomfortable until all issues were resolved with the characters 😂

Would highly recommend for fans of Yinka, Where is Your Huzband?!

Onome's talent in crafting a story that draws you directly into the protagonist's shoes should be lauded. For it is my own growing distance from YA stories that I find responsible for why I was disinterested in continuing the story past the first 25% of the book. Fans of the genre are in for a treat when it comes to reading about a protagonist who is forced to confront how she sees the world in black and white after running into her ostracized brother six years after he disappeared from her life.

Twice As Perfect
by Louisa Onomé

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Blurb] Twice As Perfect follows a Nigerian Canadian girl dealing with an estranged older brother, helping her cousin plan a huge Nigerian wedding, and pressure from her parents about her future.

[Review] This book was so good. I want to go back and re-listen. I'll probably buy it because all the food in this book has piqued my interest. I want to try it all. I love that everyone in this book get their own growth arc. That everyone is allowed to grow and change. Being in my 30s, the love triangle brings me back. When all I wanted was love and to be loved. When I was so worried about if this boy liked me and what it might be like if we got married.

I loved the imagery that this book evoked. Its almost like you could feel the textiles with your fingers and you could smell the food. How each house smelled different but spicy the same. how everyone danced towards each other. The feelings and emotions in this book are all so raw and real. I love this book. Highly Recommend.

This is a perfect YA book and a lovely HEA

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC copy of this audiobook
Thank you Louisa Onomé for writing such an amazing book.
Thank you Yinka Ladeinde for lending your voice to these characters and giving them life.

Ada aka Sophie has always planned to be a lawyer. Ever since her brother, Sam, got into a fight with her parents and bounced (thus crushing their dreams that he become an engineer), Ada has felt the weight of her parents' expectations. When she happens on a poetry night, she also happens upon her estranged brother. Hoping to reconcile Sam and her parents, Ada gets Sam an invite to her cousin Genny's wedding to afrobeats superstar Skeleboy. But things don't always go as planned, and Ada finds herself questioning so many things.

July has been a horrible reading month for me, so I was super happy to read something that was actually really great. Onome captures the duality of someone trying to exist in two cultures at the same time. Ada even has two names. She's Adanna to her family, and Sophie at school. Then there's the duality of her life, and what happened with her brother. Throughout the book, it seems like Ada is constantly being pulled in two directions, whether it's in regards to her future, or her brother, or even the boy she wants to date. I really enjoyed reading Ada's story. She was a well-crafted, believable character, and I think that many kids, whose parents have high expectations for them, could probably relate.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC.. I really enjoyed Yinka Ladeinde's narration. She really made the book for me, bringing a whole Nigerian family to life. I definitely recommend this book.

Ada was such a relatable character, I saw myself & I saw so many of my students in her in so many ways! When I was younger, my siblings and I attended private and charter schools and we were the minority. I can recall the times I tried to fit in with my white friends to hide the fact that I was so different from them. I definitely appreciated the representation of all the high expectations that immigrant parents place on their kids to go to college and get into a specific career for a “better future”.

𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃:
👌🏽 Aspects of the Nigerian culture
👌🏽 The character development of Ada & her parents
👌🏽 The lovable MC

As beautiful as this story was, I do feel as though it dragged for a bit, I found myself wanting it to just end already at some points. I think the plot around the wedding could’ve been shortened tremendously in order to focus on the main plot a bit more. I also wish we had more insight from Sam, he seemed like such a great guy.

4 stars

Readers looking for a layered young adult heroine who is easy to root for and still has a lot of room to grow will likely fall in love with Ada (aka Sophie, depending on the environment).

Ada, Onome's m.c., is really trying to live up to the title of this novel, but she still can't manage to meet the unreasonable expectations of her parents. The pressure keeps building as Ada's brother leaves home (several years before the novel begins). In leaving home, he also leaves his little sister to achieve all of their parents' dreams on her own, leaving little room for *her* actual dreams.

Unlike many (even most) YA heroines, Ada's reactions are not overblown, extreme, or filled with histrionics. She's upset, and this appears to be wholly justified. Additionally, as Ada starts to find opportunities to release some of the pressure, she begins to feel both relief and new fears about who and what she'll be if she deviates from the clearly determined path. Her ongoing impressions of her parents and brother seem a bit confusing based on the ample evidence that surrounds her, but she does learn and expand her thoughts moving forward.

There's a dash of romance, a big dollop of family drama, some fantastic and intriguing work with identity, and some enjoyable interpersonal platonic relationships, and these ingredients combine to make this novel *twice as perfect* as so many of its fellow YA contemporaries. Fans of the genre should let the lovely cover enchant them into reading; they won't be disappointed. I'm already looking forward to more from this author.