When It All Falls Down

I’m on the hunt for the first book The Miseducation of Obi Ifeanyi. This was a great read. I wish I had read the first one before this one. However it’s not required.

What a thoughtful book. I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend it to other readers. Don’t sleep on this one.

I didn’t read the fist book but it was good to read about such a resilient family and even though they were starting over form scratch they still had each other and the love they had was enough for them to want to get to the other side of adversity together.

This eArc from Netgalley was definitely a interesting surprise. So since this is a second book I feel that I should probably try stating that even if I did enjoy When it All Falls Down, I actually ended up DNFing The Miseducation of Obi Ifeanyi, I went trought 10% of it so it was enough to at least know some of the plot and recognize the name of family members. I didn't outright hate the first book it just wasn't for me, that book really feels like a time capsule of 2012 and I was basically ten so even though it was interesting seeing that year trough the lens of an adult I didn't read too far before got kinda bored. Nothing wrong with it, I'm just not the target demographic. But I did give this one a chance and I'm kinda glad. Obviously i'm way more familiar with the political athmosfere of 2020, I was already an adult and paying attention to politics. Also I'm glad that one of the things that I did like about the first one is present in the entirety of the second wich is the "slice of life" feel that Achebe's writing has. This is a novella set in 2020 the plot revolves around the characthers living their lifes and seeing how much they've grown since the eight years gap from the first book + the pandemic, the ellections, the characthers sex life now that they are parents of two kids. The topics really changed from the casual tribalism and misoginy coming from the relatives is the first one (and despite being controversial topics, they sure are realistic in both books, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the writer just anotating what uncles and aunties say and then turning it into characthers, I kinda like it, they are not perfect and definitely feel way more grounded.)
Also, I don't know how long has he been writing this book, but the timing of Kamala becoming the new candidate for president + how many times she was mentioned in this one, first as candidate and then as Biden's vice president. I'm gonna be honest I'm not an American, so I never really payed too much attention to Kamala, before Biden won, but considering how much things have changed since 2020 I can definitely see a third one coming setting in this period of the 2024 election and honesly I would definitely be down for it.

I enjoyed reading this. The cover drew me in and I'm glad I chose it. I enjoy reading political books

Rating 4.5 stars

Chinedu Achebe is a new author to me. I liked the cover and the blurb, so I decided to give it a read.

When It All Falls Down is the story of a black Nigerian-American family navigating the year 2020 in the USA. This included politics, covid-19, and other important events that year - such as the racial divide and cop killings.

The story delves into the challenges faced by Nkechi and Obi, a couple whose marriage is strained. Their struggles become very relatable as they grapple with the pandemic, working from home, and home-schooling their kids. Answering questions regarding how much as a family, black children should be exposed to the realities of life in the USA and even further the world.

I enjoyed reading this story and will look for some more stories from this author.

This book was a great story. It was the story of as a person of color navigating in America during and post covid-19. It was a moving story. I enjoyed it so much.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The touch on the presidential topic in the beginning had me reliving the times too, like we really had Trump as President! Let's not do that again!!
- The mention of Kobe Bryant ❤️‍🩹.
- To me Nkechi was a very strong FMC, for the sake of sticking it out to make things work for the sake of her family during the hard time they went through. Obi didn't keep her back from getting her's 😂 these men are something, thinking you going to be out here desperate and waiting on the side from some attention with all this good technology made for us 🤭
- The saying "the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree" is so true!
- I love how Uncle Ugo was peeping Obi & had to check him because life really is too short, cherish what you have right in front of you and stop trying to have your cake and eat it too.