This novel really shines when it comes to portraying strong female friendships and painting a vivid picture of life in modern Nigeria. It’s honest about the female body and raises important questions about how much of a woman’s dreams are shaped by society. The writing is beautiful, and the themes—love, friendship, immigration, and finding your own path—are handled with care. That said, it could go deeper in places, especially when it comes to exploring different views on gender and power, giving more dimension to the male characters, and fleshing out the American academics so they feel like real people.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie quite literally never fails to disappoint. I loved the way she weaved together the stories of these women and their lives. It sort of reminded me of "Girl, Woman, Other" the way the characters where connected but had independent story lines. The writing was powerful and moving, though heavy at times. This is not a book to go into lightly because serious topics are addressed, but Adichie approaches them in such a human, raw way. It is impossible not to connect with the characters and share in their triumphs and hardships. If you like Adichie's other books, this will not be an exception; it is literary fiction at its best. The only reason it is not five stars for me is because I prefer more plot-driven books, but I can't deny the work of art that this is.

A novel taking place in the U.S., Guinea, and Nigeria, circling a group of women with close ties to each other. The focus shifts between them, not chapter by chapter but in larger sections, becoming almost entirely different stories from each to each. Really interesting use of perspective—I'm still thinking about what it might mean that one and only one section is told from the first person (I have multiple theories). The centering events are the years of the COVID pandemic and a sexual assault experienced by one of the women.

This book was so sad! I felt so bad for Kadiatou and what she went through. The story was so compelling. and I really enjoyed reading it, even though it was so dark.

I love the opening sentence, the idea, the presumed setting, the author’s note, and some of the language of Dream Count by Chiamamanda Ngozi Adichie. Unfortunately, I struggle with the book itself. The stories of all the women focus on the men and their role in society and in these relationships more than the women themselves. I find myself putting the book down, reluctant to go back. I persevere, but I am sad, for I so wanted and expected to love this book.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2025/04/dream-count.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

I’m a big fan of this author’s novels and this one was no exception. This latest novel is split into the intersecting stories of 4 African women: Chiamanka, Zikora, Omelogor and Kadiatou.

Chia’s story starts us off as we are introduced to all the characters from her perspective: Kadi was her former housekeeper who she has a strong connection to, Omelogor is her feisty cousin, and Zikora is her lawyer best friend. Chia, a travel writer and daughter of wealthy Nigerians, recounts her lonely struggles trying to find love, before, during and after the pandemic. Zikora shares her story of how her hopes were dashed by a hurtful betrayal. Omelogor is ambitious and does well professionally but is still struggling to find her sense of self and identity. And Kadi, the woman I feel is at the heart of this novel, is the hardworking single mother who follows her heart to America only to find obstacles after obstacle until her simple life explodes into unimaginable chaos.

I really enjoyed this introspective novel following these women and their stories but also how they helped each other through each of their struggles. While the novel starts and ends with Chia’s story, I felt most invested in Kadiatou’s story and loved how all these women came together to support her.

To note: This novel is broken into 5 long parts without proper chapters. I also did this in part on audio and the cast of narrators was fantastic.

Thank you @aaknopf @pantheonbooks @vintageanchorbooks @netgalley for a #gifted early digital copy of this novel.

It took me a few tries to really get into this book. I am glad to kept at it because the effort was worth it. The skillful writing is a delight to read and the characters are true to life, which makes our protagonist infuriating and yet likeable because she forces us to confront the ways in which we think we understand ourselves and those around us.

Check your trigger warnings before reading!!

Dream Count follows the stories of four African women finding their place in the world and discovering what they really want. Chiamaka is a wealthy travel writer living in America. She receives constant pressure to find a husband, but as she ages she has to decide if that's really what's right for her. Zikora is Chiamaka's best friend and a successful lawyer. When she finds out she is pregnant, she has to reevaluate everything in her life. Kadiatou is Chiamaka's housekeeper. She is raising her daughter in America when a traumatic event alters the course of her life. Omelogor is Chimaka's cousin who runs a successful financial scheme in Nigeria. She is outspoken in every aspect of her life and needs to determine where her values truly lie.

This book took me a while to get into but it was so worth it. These stories were often difficult to read, but beautifully written and deeply emotional. Seeing all the stories weave together was my favorite part. The author's note at the end wrapped the entire story up perfectly. My only issue with this book is the format. While I love the idea of spending one chapter diving deep on each character, this makes for four exceptionally large chapters. I found myself not wanting to pick the book up because I wasn't ready to read 100 pages in one sitting. I would have preferred shorter chapters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC of Dream Count.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Dream Count is a deeply introspective and emotionally resonant novel that explores the lives of four West African women navigating love, ambition, and identity. Set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the novel follows Chiamaka, a Nigerian travel writer reflecting on past relationships; Zikora, a lawyer grappling with heartbreak and single motherhood; Omelogor, a successful financier questioning her life’s meaning; and Kadiatou, a Guinean immigrant facing immense personal struggles in the U.S.

Adichie’s storytelling is as sharp and evocative as ever, weaving together themes of migration, womanhood, and resilience. The novel does not shy away from difficult topics, including systemic barriers, cultural expectations, and the complexities of relationships. Yet, despite its weighty themes, Dream Count remains engaging and immersive, offering a nuanced portrayal of its characters’ inner lives.

Adichie’s ability to craft fully realized, flawed, and compelling characters ensures that Dream Count will linger in the reader’s mind long after the final page. I enjoyed it's depth and emotional honesty. It felt very timely and touching to read this through Women's History month.

This author is an amazing writer, but at times I felt like this book was just so long that it was unnecessary. Like I didn't need ALL the extra details that had nothing to do with the story. Certain parts of the story was made clear, but others wasn't which was probably due to length of the book which I struggled with.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I was excited to read this book as a big fan of Adichi and Americanah. I found this book hard to get through, but stuck with it and was glad that I did. It does drag on at times, but the writing is sharp.

Many thanks to the publisher, the author and to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! Generally, I enjoy Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's work. In fact, one of her books ranks among my favorites. But Dream Count was not a winner for me. At times, the characters were so introspective that I (as the reader) felt detached from, and inaccessible to, them. I note that a book centered around four women spent so much time ruminating over men (although I acknowledge the significance male characters played in the plot of the book). And the subject matter was incredibly heavy to work through. By the end of the novel, I felt as though the four women had exhausted every experience and emotion imaginable. However, the central characters were engaging, the story was thought-provoking, and I always appreciate the inclusion of character voices in literature from nations in Africa and around the world. I'm grateful for the opportunity to read and review a book from such a talented author.

Rating: 3.5

Review:

Let me start off by saying some of the prose in this books was absolutely beautiful, emotional and thought- provoking. Which is why I have been confused as to why it has taken me weeks to get through this book. Americanah is one of my favorite books and I have also enjoyed Adiche's essays in the past. The stories of the four women ranged from uninteresting to disturbing and hard to get through. Something essential about my experience was missing in large chunks of text and it was just beyond my reach to be able to figure it out. The juxtaposition between beautiful words but the dullness of the storytelling was a little disappointing. Even so, I found value in the way the book challenges the way people look at the world though their own cultural lens and to expand our understanding of the larger world.

After reading a few other reviews in the hopes of figuring out why I was having this reaction, I realized that it's the format of the book. It's less a novel and more 4 short stories interspersed with each other. It think these stories would perhaps work better as a novella series.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb:
Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, is a lawyer who has been successful at everything until—betrayed and brokenhearted—she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Omelogor, Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin, is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America—but faces an unthinkable hardship that threatens all she has worked to achieve.

In Dream Count, Adichie trains her fierce eye on these women in a sparkling, transcendent novel that takes up the very nature of love itself. Is true happiness ever attainable or is it just a fleeting state? And how honest must we be with ourselves in order to love, and to be loved? A trenchant reflection on the choices we make and those made for us, on daughters and mothers, on our interconnected world, Dream Count pulses with emotional urgency and poignant, unflinching observations of the human heart, in language that soars with beauty and power. It confirms Adichie’s status as one of the most exciting and dynamic writers on the literary landscape.

Dream Count, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is probably more of a 3.5 for me, but for sites with no halves I have to round down. The things I liked I really liked, but some of the things that bothered me were heavy-handed to the point I felt I was being manipulated. Hard to respect that.

I have really enjoyed her work, and I especially like her nonfiction. I don't usually agree 100% but that is true even of those I like a lot. This just felt like at times she forgot she was writing a novel and went into her nonfiction voice, one where she explicitly tells us what to think rather than lead us to think what she wants us to.

I don't mind the pacing of the book, I like spending time in a character's head, whether I like them or their decisions. Those aspects of this were very good. It was often in the comments between characters where it slipped a bit.

The characters certainly make some horrible choices and display some attitudes that I think are detrimental for them. But this is a novel, if every man they met was perfect, if their viewpoints on life were ideal, there wouldn't be a novel. Instead of treating their comments and ideas as static and condoned, maybe look at how they may evolve (not as much as I would have liked, but...) and as a critique of how such views permeate society. Perfect lives don't make for good novels, you need conflict and errors by and between the characters.

I would still recommend this to those who like her, but not to someone new to her writing. If you liked her earlier fiction but didn't love it, you might find yourself not giving her the benefit of the doubt here, but if whatever aspects you don't like don't heavily affect your reading, you may find a lot to appreciate as well.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Dream Count is a beautifully written meditation on grief, memory, and the passage of time. With her signature lyrical prose, Adichie crafts a deeply emotional narrative that sticks with you long after the final page. Every sentence feels deliberate, woven with exquisite detail and quiet power. The story’s introspective nature makes it both intimate and universal, a testament to Adichie’s ability to capture the nuances of human emotion with grace and precision. Highly recommend!

CNA writes with piercing insights. Her observations are revealed through wry, sweeping language. I was moved and tickled often at the same time. I was tickled and wounded simultaneously.

The stories of the four African women are compelling. I initially thought Chia was CNA because the profile and content felt so intimate that only the author herself could disclose such experiences. However, when I read the 2nd and other characters, I came to see how CNA had crafted such interiority for all of them.

She describes four African women and their many men, many loves, and many dreams. I am taken how distinct each woman was certainly. And I marveled how the numerous men were depicted briefly but also in well-rounded ways as to markedly differentiate each of them.

In reviewing Americanah, I described CNA as astute as de Tocqueville. Here, I make that assertion again. She casually issues precise and damning indictments on American society and culture, American academia, and American pretentions. The observations about Nigeria, in contrast, reflect self-awareness and some level of unspoken agreement or acceptance. Americans, in contrast, are gleefully unaware and uninterested in such self-revelations.

I gladly recommend this book and hope we can both enjoy this reading experience and be touched or stricken by how fiction exposes the real world.

Dream count is adichies highly anticipated follow
Up to Americanah. This novel follows the interwoven lives of four Nigerian women during the start of the pandemic as they experience love, loss, career moves, etc. the novel is a meditation on race, class, immigration, and the concept of America as told through the lens of these women.

The novel is not heavy on plot, so if you are expecting big plot twists or a fast moving read, this isn’t for you. If you like slow character studies with deeper themes on the state of the world, then this is a read for you. The prose is well written and poetic-almost lyrical.

Thanks to the publisher for providing this arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a highly anticipated read for me as Americanah is one of my favorite books. Sadly had to DNF at 40% as I just kept dreading picking it up. The storylines just weren’t grabbing me and it felt like it was going nowhere.

DREAM COUNT is your next go-to book if you enjoy novels emphasizing character studies, lyrical prose, and social commentary on American class/race from a Nigerian immigrant lens. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie holds a mirror up to society which leads readers to feel uncomfortable, yes, but also hopeful with the resilience of people. DREAM COUNT is a book meant to be savored, not gulped down in one fast read, but trust me, taking the time to indulge in the beauty of this work will be worth it.

This book was way too hard to get into and too easy to put down. It just seemed like nothing was ever going to happen.