Reviews

Patience Is a Subtle Thief by Abi Ishola-Ayodeji

bobbieshiann's review

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reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

“Patience is a subtle thief. It’s a thief of time  and a thief of money. See this country? People have been patient for democracy. Patient for change. All their patience will eventually steal their hope. They say fraud, and they say 419 when they speak of what I do, but the government is really the biggest fraud”. 

The relevance of this quote seeps within this story. Set in the 1990s in Nigeria, a story of a girl seeking her purpose while searching for a mother who left when she was a child. With a wicked stepmother, a father consumed by greed, and a stepsister who loves her unconditionally, Patience has rebellion sitting at her fingertips and leaves home to attend university. Patience is not my ideal character. She is naive and gullible and I almost forgot how childlike she really is. Sheltered and seeking independence is no easy tasks but what Patience finds is no true happy ending. 

Of wealth and yet not wealthy at all. What one defines as rich may be present in different forms. Patience slowly detours away from college with a dream to return to America to find her mother. “Wasn’t it so— to be American born meant problems were misunderstandings? Hardship to the American born, a foreign concept?” But with doing so, she encounters a group of friends who are seeking a financial freedom that will alter their lives forever. Though money seems to fix all, their is an election at hand and one character , Mayowa symbolizes hope as his belief in doing what’s right and voting in a rightful president will change the dynamics of their lives and will give men like Chike (Patience’s boyfriend) a job he is deserving of after graduating university and yet his current occupation is an Okada driver. 

The dynamics between patience and Chike bothered me. How long do we beg a man to fully commit before you call it quits? Granted, Patience fell in love with him as if she’s been dehydrated for years and finally got a drop of water. Chikes character changes and  his development shocked me but what do you do when change does not come?

“Poverty can be like a mental disease that affects people in two ways: either you succumb to it for the rest of your life or you spend your days searching for ways to be rid of it. And for those lucky enough to escape poverty, there can be an obsession to never return there”.

Patience shows us what’s it like to seek independence and how everyone who smiles in your face is not friendly. How greed can change and how putting your faith in something does not mean the outcome will be in your favor. In fact, if so, the sacrifices may not be worth it in the end.

cassieloo2's review

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes

4.0

amanda_89's review

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dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

hainezee's review

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adventurous hopeful fast-paced

2.5

arminam's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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dpearson5257's review

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This story definitely took me on a couple different turns that I wasn’t expecting but in a good way. We had a story about a girl trying to get to her mom but it was really so much more than that. I will say the one thing that I felt was off was the pacing. And maybe even the side portions of the story, were done well but they were drawn out and then we were back on the main plot. And then the end just kind of stopped, we’re here! 

The imagery was well done, I definitely felt like I was outside of the States, I’ve never been to Africa so I can only hope that what was described is a fairly respectable representation, as with anywhere there are more successful areas and poorer areas. I felt like I was going through the motions of these characters in each chapter. 

A heavy-ish bit of political intrigue, again another side story that impacted the main plot. 

Overall a very good debut from this author!

anj_t's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

signediza's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

hbreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

brewsandbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book is an interesting book, I will give it that. Patience is a complex character who does quite a bit of growing up throughout the entirety of the plot. I enjoyed the discussions of wanting something so badly you feel like you must make specific choices. It is a book about wanting being more than principals and desperation leading you down paths you didn't think you'd go down. There is no winning often in the game of life. I also think the Ishola-Ayodeji did a spectacular job looking at the way people view young adults and how, in some worlds, keeping them in the dark is often seen as protecting them. There is a danger to that, and the author knows how to write about it. Overall, the book was a fun, interesting read. It isn't spectacular, but well worth a read.