I just reviewed The Sun Sets in Singapore by Kehinde Fadipe.
Thanks to Netgalley for an ebook ARC.
I have been reading this book intermittently over a few weeks until I got to about 1/2 way through, then I could not put it down and simultaneously did not want it to end. I have no experience with many of the main themes , the legal world, living in Singapore, or being Nigerian. However the underlying story is relatable, relationship struggles, betrayal, being a foreigner/a different religion with the prejudices that can bring and doubting our choices in life. A really great debut novel. I look forward to more from this author.

This was fun, but it wasn't great. Fadipe does well at representing Black women and not doing it in the ways readers may be accustomed to but it still was just an average story. It felt a bit too much like a soap-opera was trying to make an appearance and it could've used a bit of humor to tie it together.

Super quick and inspirational read, even being fiction! Loved the way that Dara, Amaka, and Lillian navigated their own challenges and interpersonal challenges even in a work environment constructed to work against them. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

📣📖 Book Review: The Sun Sets in Singapore by Kehinde Fadipe 📖📣

I snagged a "Read Now" copy of this on Netgalley last fall after it was announced as a Read With Jenna pick, and I finally got around to diving in. This book tells the story of three very different women of Nigerian descent living as ex-pats in Singapore. Circumstances that brought them there vary, but the women find themselves in the same social circles. The ways their lives intersect and the bonds they make and break are brought to life on the page with drama and conflict. Some thoughts:

What worked for me:

🌅 The women show growth and character development, and each has her own arc that resolves in a satisfying conclusion.
🌅 The book club scenes, listening in on the characters' colorful commentary about books I'm interested in, drew me in.
🌅 Reading a story from perspectives entirely different than my own - of black immigrants in Southeast Asia - was interesting and made an impression on me.
🌅 The cover is gorgeous!

What didn't work for me:

🌄 It irks me that despite these being interesting women to read about, everything turned on their involvement in some way with the same man. This book is not for fans of the Bechdel Test.
🌄 It's melodramatic at parts, which felt Soap-Opera-esque.
🌄 The setting of Singapore and its culture wasn't really made significant or central to the story. I felt like these characters could have been ex-pats anywhere. Also, the depictions of Asians seemed a bit shallow or underdeveloped. I realize the focus of the story was the characters of Nigerian descent, so maybe my complaint here is misplaced, but with Singapore being in the title, I expected more exploration of the culture and maybe more nuance about the experiences of living in a completely different society and culture than one's own.

This book has mixed reviews and I can see why. Even so, I enjoyed it overall. Would make a good beach read. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for my complementary e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The first 20% of the novel should have been workshopped. It was mad boring and slow. But then it got really intense and really deep, which I loved. I fell in love with each of the characters and their friendship. What I also appreciate is the depth this book brings to the world of Singapore and it’s chase for wealth and luxury. The book is critical and not just all CRAZY RICH NIGERIANS IN ASIA. I do really wish that would have been brought to the forefront of the book a lot sooner bc I almost DNFed it after slogging through the first 15% for a month.

First off, this cover is beyond stunning! And the book itself more than lives up to the art.

I enjoyed this story of Nigerian ex pats living in Singapore. There was lots of soapy drama and the food talk made my stomach rumble. Fadipe's writing is vivid and lyrical and this look at women's friendship kept me entertained throughout. Would make a great beach read!

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing for the copy to review.

This was 100% want to read because of the cover - it’s gorgeous! Did the cover live up to what was inside? It was a good tale, but the pacing was slightly off. I found myself getting very into a character’s arc only for it to be set aside for a slower moment, and my interest had waned by the time I was back.

It was interesting to learn about life as expats in Singapore, but sometimes, I couldn’t decide whether I was interested in the details of life or the characters.

I liked the descriptions and alternating PoVs enough to read another book by Kehinde Fadipe, but not enough to keep this one on my shelves.

Thanks, GCP and Netgalley, for the arc!

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Content Warnings: infertility, familial death, infidelity, racism, misogyny, classism

The cover of this book is so beautiful and what initially drew me to this one. The story started out so good with all the drama and the POV of the 3 women; however, it began to become too much. After about 25% I began to loose interest in the characters and it didn’t seem to hold my attention. I think the most interesting character out of the 3 women was Amaka. I seemed to like her sides of the story more than the others. The humor of the story was the best parts. I would have loved to have more of that. I did have some laugh out loud moments and enjoyed them while they were there.

This book has a LOT going on. At first I sort of got Wahala vibes, with all the friends and the drama, but then it veered off and on audio it was hard to keep track of everything.

We get the POV of three women, but then they have a bunch of other friends, and then there’s the spouses, boyfriends and work rivals and it’s just a LOT of characters.

Each character has money issues, family issues, mental health issues, so much drama.

The book wasn’t bad, it was just a lot and I wasn’t sure where it was going and I feel like the message gets buried in everything going on around it.

In the end each of the girls has bettered themselves in someway which is good, they overcame whatever obstacle they needed and came out in the other side, but in audio it was tough to follow. Also the accents were all over the place in the audiobook, sometimes they were there, sometimes they weren’t. It felt inconsistent?

Overall, this was just okay.

Thank you @netgalley and @grandcentralpub for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This book took me by surprise; I was expected a lighthearted romance with some cultural narratives. While pieces were this, and it was a fun read, it also explored darker themes of grief and identity, which were very well done. Excellent insight into multiple cultures and enjoyable approach to the different characters; very enjoyable read.

Kehinde Fadipe presents a busy novel with some dynamic characters. At times I did need to go back and reread as it did get a little confusing. However, their 3 lives were intertwined and very well developed. I found it a beautiful realization of family relationships, I can see this being a great book for a book club as there would be a lot to discuss. The realistic view of Singapore was poeticly created and was enjoyable to read. Dynamic female relationships make this book a must-read.

This book was just “meh” for me. I felt like I was reading it because I had to finish it instead of reading it because I wanted to finish it. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was.

Book Review: The Sun Sets in Singapore💐

Author: @kehinde_demilola_fadipe
Publisher: @grandcentralpub
Release date: out now (October 31, 2023)

⁉️: Do you prefer city, small town, or in the suburbs or rural areas?

I lived in Singapore from the early 1990s to 2001, and I continue to consider Singapore my second home. We tend to visit every two years. During my graduate days and before I started seeing Mike, my dream had been to move back there. However, the Singapore I knew of the 1990s has transformed radically since early 2000s. The prices of hawker center food, though affordable, have risen drastically, malls have changed, and stores that used to carry cut fruit have also reduced greatly. At least, that was my observation last year when we were there for a week in 2022.

So, when I learned that there was a book set in Singapore, I knew I had to read it. In the novel, we meet three women: Dara, a workaholic lawyer from UK, Amaka, a banker from Nigeria, and Lilian, a former pianist who is described as the “trailing spouse” from the US.

This richly crafted and immersive novel paints a complex picture of the old and new in the cosmopolitan Singapore, especially through the ideas of the diverse populations who make up the country. Fadipe, in particular, focuses on the Nigerian community that is based in the country. Reading the novel felt like a journey back to my hometown, mentioning of names of familiar locations, the intensity and pressure that people who work face that often does not encourage work/life balance and the nuances in the accents captured by the author made the novel come alive in my imagination. It is indeed true that books can transport you around the world without a flight ticket needed.

I wanted to thank @grandcentralpub for the finished copy.

#KahineFadipe #TheSunSetsinSingapore #GrandCentralPub #bookstagram #shnidhi

Dara is a highly successful lawyer in line for a partnership and the only Black woman working at her Singapore law firm. She's best friends with Amaka - a banker from Nigeria who has a secret shopping addiction and a lot of family drama/baggage. The friends then meet Lillian, a Black American woman, nursing secret trauma, who is in Singapore with her husband. When Lani, a super hot British Nigerian lawyer joins Dara's law firm, he throws the lives of the three women into unexpected chaos.

I really, really wanted to love this (the cover alone!), but it ended up being kind of slow yet simultaneously very soap-opera-y in a way I didn't super enjoy. It felt very Sex in the City/90s "chick lit" (I absolutely hate that term, but it gets the point across, I guess). I'd definitely read another book by Fadipe in the future because her perspective as a Black woman and ex-pat living in Singapore is fascinating. I do think this would make a great book club pick because there's lots to discuss (and I love that the three women are in a book club together)!

Boring and didn’t keep my attention. Had to push to finish. Surprised this was a Jenna book club pick. There was some drama along the way but took way too long to get there.

The Sun Sets in Singapore is a drama-filled, entertaining romp through sun-drenched Singapore, with a narrative that tries to do a lot -- sometimes too much. Focusing on the lives of three expats -- Dara, Amaka, and Lillian -- Kehinde Fadipe explores topics ranging from female friendships, to romantic relationships, to the intricacies of corporate law.

All three women are of Nigerian descent, but with very different backgrounds and life experiences. Dara is an ambitious lawyer/workaholic who is trying desperately to make partner in her white male-dominated firm; Amaka struggles with a shopping addiction and complicated relationships with both her family and her romantic partners; and Lillian is a former pianist who is dealing with the effects of several miscarriages on her emotional health and her marriage. When a British/Nigerian lawyer named Lani arrives in Singapore, he affects the lives of all three women in surprising ways, serving as a catalyst for their individual journeys of self-discovery and personal growth.

The Sun Sets in Singapore is richly atmospheric and immersive, bringing the luxurious Singaporean setting completely to life. It completely transported me to a location and culture I don't know a lot about, and I love it when a book takes me somewhere new. At the same time, Fadipe peels back the paradise-like facade as she explores her characters' personal and professional struggles.

For some reason, though, I couldn't totally connect with the story and the characters. Everything was a bit too drenched in drama for me, veering a bit too far into soap opera territory, rather than thoughtfully examining authentic human relationships. Some of the more serious topics like racism and microaggressions, infertility, infidelity, grief, and sexism are dealt with somewhat shallowly, with no room to breathe in a narrative that is too focused on moments of melodrama. It's like Fadipe couldn't decide if she was writing chick-lit or a literary character study, and that identity crisis is felt in the book.

That said, though, The Sun Sets in Singapore is a worthwhile read for its important perspective on race and culture, while also serving as entertaining escapist fiction.

This book was very character-driven, bouncing around to the three POVs of its leading women. I enjoyed the lush backdrop of Singapore and the full cast of characters. The author did a good job at carving out highly distinctive personas for Dara, Amaka, and Lillian, and I enjoyed the character development throughout the novel (especially at the end). I felt like I learned more about the Nigerian diaspora through each of their backstories.

Ultimately, while intermittently entertaining, this book fell a bit flat for me. I didn’t connect with Amaka or Lillian, and some of the plot points felt melodramatic.

I struggled with this book. I didn’t find any of the main characters particularly likable, which is key for me as a reader. To me, Amaka leaned towards all the wrong decisions, Lillian was satisfied with miscommunication, and Dara complained without taking steps to make change. And the story, while well-told, is complex which is both good and bad. That being said, I can certainly appreciate the story-telling and the writing.
To start, each main character is fully fleshed out - I didn’t feel like any details were missing or more time dedicated to one of the three versus the others. They are all separate women with separate lives, which is where a lot of the complexity comes in. I did love how they all tie together despite their different circumstances, and we get a cohesive narrative even with three separate characters to focus on. I also like the puzzle piece of Lani fitting in to all their stories without playing the same role for each of them. Like book club, Lani means something different for each of the women and that is a compelling thread throughout the book.
Though I couldn’t connect with the story and it was hard for me to move past a lot of choices the main characters made, I do think the author gives this story a great resolution, tying everything up at the end in just the right way. With the three women, there is a lot to muddle through, but they each have their moment of realization and a chance at redemption. As a very character-oriented reader, that is what ultimately tipped the book over the line into “would recommend.”

The Sun Sets in Singapore is Kehinde Fadipe's debut novel following the lives of three Nigerian expat women living in Singapore. Dara is a lawyer on the brink of partnership at her law firm. Amaka is a banker in the middle of an intense family dispute and Lillian is a professional pianist seemingly at the end of her marriage. The arrival of Lani, a handsome British/Nigerian banker, changes the trajectory of their friendship in devastating ways.

The author uses a multi-perspective approach, allowing readers to experience the story through the perspectives of each woman. While the characters are undeniably intriguing, some may find the narrative slightly fragmented. However, the storytelling exudes a vibrancy that held my interest until the very end. If you're a fan of the dramatic twists and turns reminiscent of soap operas, consider adding this one to your TBR pile.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

A fun read that keeps the drama flowing to capture your attention. Following the lives of expat women in Singapore who are all facing their own struggles while trying to keep the mask of perfection on, there's no shortage of edge of your seat twists and turns.

This is very much a character-driven story versus plot so expect some highs and lows with these women. There's a lot to unpack with each in terms on background and personal struggles but in some moments lack depth. The character of Lillian for example had some off the wall obsessions and frankly, was the weirdest portion of the book and I struggled to redeem the connection with her.

If you're looking for a fast-paced, reality tv show feeling, drama filled poolside read? I'd recommend grabbing this to fill your time.