The writing style of this was really cool, like 'Beloved' meets 'a Certain Hunger' meets 'Bless the daughter raised by a voice in her head' (i.e. lots of the royal "we" , lots of lust, and all the prose) . I loved listening to it on tape so i could hear the Igbo read by the author and the pronunciation of stuff, Igbo is so beautiful to listen to! But I feel like i had known that this was autobiographical before i read it i would have liked it more, but i was definitely expecting a novel so it definitely felt really slow.
Super interesting writing style and I'm not sure i LOVED it especially towards the end but it was so unique that i feel like i want to recommend it to people. The perspective from the young child was so accurate it kind of freaked me out loll and all the extra details just made it super Meta or something it was very fun. It kind of gave me both AHS Ragnarok plus a more avant-garde film vibe lol
I definitely really enjoyed this but I think reading it so close to 'Nightbitch' made me feel like it was kind of unoriginal? Or idk i feel like i've seen this exact plot in like 3 books this year. I feel like none of the characters were very complex besides our MC. Kind of all stereotypes. I did absolutely love the main character and her inner thoughts and i loved the witchiness. Super fun to read, for sure and good for Halloween time! Loved the ending especially.
Definitely going to re-read this I loved it so much! I think I'm going through a prose phase because this was extremely metaphorical and very abstract.
“Most had bellies full of plastic. The plastic would grow and grow in their bellies until, years from now, as they mingled, as they drank expensive wine, their bellies would burst and out would come all the plastic, dribbling onto the floor. Pressing cool and bloody against some synthetic floor.”
The stories really sent shivers down my spine it wasn't what I expecting at all out of this series. Hella bomb
I liked this a lot but it was not my favorite. I liked the moral complexity it all but the plot was structured kinda weird imo, I didn't feel super attached to any of the characters. Whereas in Strange Bird i literally cried over a lab experiment the whole time.
Honestly this wasn’t my favorite book ever but i can tell its a really good book if that makes sense? I thi nk that if i knew more about basketball i would love it, and the writing was phenomenal but i think the prose fell a tiny bit flat for me. I do think that Abdurraqib is an amazing writer and it definitely made me want to read his other work.
this book is so ahead of its time i can’t even believe it. Some of the most complicated and experimental prose and writing i have ever seen and so incredibly beautiful. The story is extremely tragic and its a historical setting but i just really was not expecting the horror aspect nor the poetry of it. It honestly was so scary for so many reasons. Must-read!