The book follows a tight friendship group, with each story serving as an intimate snapshot into the lives of this group of Black Londoners as they navigate the challenges of life, work and finding love in the capital.

I absolutely adored this collection and, if you've seen this book all over your feed as I have, you'll know that I'm not alone. I picked it up intending to read just a story or two in the sunshine (during our whole 3 days of summer) and accidentally read the whole thing.

My favourite thing about stories - writing them, reading them, telling them, listening to them, watching them - is exploring the connections we form with each other.

Shani doesn't just allow you to bear witness to her wealth of characters, she invites you into their circle (if only for a little while), lets you linger on the edges of their conversations, listen in as they build and lift one another up, watch them as they thrive and grow together and on their own terms and it's such a beautiful privilege.

To create a number of fully-dimensional characters in a 500 page novel is an achievement, to breath life and a clear sense of individuality into an entire friendship group when each character is only really afforded a few pages, is a wonder.

My favourite story? I loved Such a Time as This, Ghana in December and Good Goodbye (my heart!). Summer was also impossible to read without smile-crying thinking about my own support team and the group chats and emergency gatherings that make life's bumps that much easier to handle.

A beautiful snapshot of relationships in all their forms. A book full of warmth, light and love. A wonderful love letter to Black British culture. I ADORED it.

If you buy one book this summer, make it this one 💚

So so good, pressed it into the hands of my friends!! Really keen to see what this author does next.

An incredibly rich collection of characters and intertwining stories. The writing was beautiful and confident, it is difficult to believe that this is her debut novel. I really am looking forward to reading more from this author.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

I really enjoyed reading this, I'm so obsessed at book readers becoming authors of their own! I hope she keeps writing some more

This book was really beautiful. Short stories that intertwine into a final story always work well and this is a really good example of it. I normally don't enjoy books about COVID and lockdown but this is explores community and shared experience so well that I just loved it. I really enjoyed the friendships in this and the way all the characters supported each other so much.

It gave me all the feels! I loved reading the interconnected Black stories which included a varied list of important conversations on mental health, workplace microaggressions, complicated relationships and much more.

A group of young, Black British friends navigate their way through the ups and downs of modern London life, in this collection of linked stories.

What an absolutely beautiful short story collection! It covers so many incredibly important topics, such as men's mental health which isn't discussed enough in real life or literature and the issues that the Black community face, for example Ifey gets misdiagnosed for years, until she's finally gets diagnosed with endometriosis, which is something that unfortunately commonly happens to Black people.

I loved all of the stories within this collection and getting to know the group of friends - both together and individually - but my favourite story by far was 'Ghana in December'. The way that Shani was able to write about male's mental health, the stigmas associated with it and the pure emotion that filled that story was absolutely stunning and something that needs to be spoken about way more in real life and literature. I loved how raw and vulnerable this story was and I could relate to David so much. It was also a beautiful testament to male friendship, which I loved to see.

The friendship aspect is one of the things that this story collection did so well. I loved seeing the existing friendships develop as well as new ones form. I truly adored how much of a core theme friendship was to this collection - it was refreshing to see such beautiful friendships. I loved seeing so many people find their place of belonging. Another thing this story collection did well was the settings. It felt like I was in a movie with how vivid it was. I really enjoyed how this was written and cannot wait to see what else Shani writes.

⚠️ CWs: car accident, cursing, mental illness, racism, alcohol use, cancer, blood, Covid-19 pandemic, grief; mentions death of a parent and sibling, suicide, bullying, animal cruelty resulting in death, pregnancy, absent parent, derogatory language, vomit, suicidal ideation ⚠️

Thank you NetGalley and One World Publications, Magpie Books for an early copy, in exchange for a honest review.

5 ♾️ stars

Wow! This was a stunning love letter to millennial black Londoners.
Reading this felt like home, a hug with a close friend,putting the key in the door to your family home.
This collection of interconnected stories made me cry,laugh and sit in deep thoughts about issues affecting the millennial generation of the afro Carribbean community in London and the entire UK.
I cannot wait to read more from this author.
Thank you to Netgalley and one world publications for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for review.