4 Stars.

*Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for my own review*

Yinka was a really quick, really lovely read for me. It's similar to Bridget Jones as it's a British woman navigating dating though Yinka is of Nigerian descent and accompanying pressure.

I loved how raw it got with the pressures she felt in comparison to colleagues/friend who weren't Nigerian. I also loved how for a woman waiting for marriage the story was as raunchy and entertaining as my usual mess of romance that resembles my shambles of a life. Also I found that the secondary storyline around her family and their expectations of her was amazingly well done.

My only qualm with it was unrelated to writing/story because I loved those. My only annoyance was how Yinka seemed so young - not so much as naïve but as immature. Some the things she said and did had me angry/frustrated (though it also had me dying of second hand embarrassment so maybe Lizzie just invokes a tone of emotional responses from me).

I will add that the ending had me extremely, amazingly satisfied.

Recommend for anyone wanting a contemporary romance but urge 18+ just as it's revolving more around marriage/family dynamics than it is about boyfriends/girlfriends.

Such a fun and lovely book. The characters were all fantastic and it was a joy to read from the first page

LOVED THIS!!!! So happy to see a debut book like this, amazing content! Can't wait to read more books like this

I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about Nigerian UK families and a bit about Colourism that I didn't know before. I liked that the story didn't take the easy way out, but a challenging route for Yinka. Love yourself!

REVIEW: Yinka, Where is your Huzband?✨

(ad-pr product thank you @vikingbooksuk for my gifted copy)

It’s blog tour day, (with a twist as I am in in hospital so we have to make do with the hospital wall as the background🤣)

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end, it is full of laugh of loud moments all while being full of Nigerian Culture. Yinka’s character is relatable and there were several points I felt for her throughout the book.

I was routing for Yinka and although I didn’t necessarily agree with all of her decisions I admired her character.

Definitely a book I recommend!

This was such a funny and relatable read.
Yinka is 31 and wants to find love, however her mum and aunties feel they are better qualified to find it for her. When her cousin announces she is getting married, Yinka sets herself a task of finding a partner to take as her date. Until then we enjoy the ups and downs of her attempts at dating and her everyday life escapades.
The character Yinka reminds of me a modern day Bridget Jones. You can’t help but root for her. All the characters are well written.
The story is uplifting and touching and focuses on culture and family and friendships.
This is a fantastic debut and it would make a great film or tv adaption.

This is a fabulous read. “Yinka, where is your huzband?” is full of humour and an also insightful look into Nigerian culture.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an arc of this book in exchange for my review.

This book is far from your usual rom-com. Witty and joyful to read.

Yinka struggles with confidence and wants to find love. After many hurdles and obstacles to overcome she eventually recruits the help of her mother and “Aunties” to find a husband.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This felt very much like a rom-com without the romance. I enjoyed some aspects a lot, such as learning about Nigerian culture and seeing the world through the eyes of someone quite different from myself. But I get Yinka could be quite immature at times and wasn’t as well rounded as she could have been. I’m not the biggest fan of religion, and while I’m not against reading books that have a religious aspect, it was something I struggled with. I did have sympathy for Yinka, and her situation. I wanted to like this book more than I did but unfortunately I didn’t love it.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book blew me away! A must read I’d say, and don’t sleep on it if you’re white, okay?
I may not know what it’s like to be Black British but this spoke to me.
This isn’t a love story per say, or a romance, but about self love.
It shows that you should be whoever you want to be. Love your natural hair or if you want to wear it differently, your dark skin, your ambitions, follow your dreams even if it’s not the most profitable, even if you don’t speak your native language or cook Nigerian food, even if you don’t have a husband.
Yinka has so many expectations weighing her down - her mum, her friends, her sister, her cousins, her aunties, her church. Even herself.
But yinka has to realise that changing yourself to be who you think others want and will love isn’t the right road. She’s got to learn to love herself and stop telling herself that her skin doesn’t make her beautiful.
Even if you’re not Black this story tells you a lot about the black British experience - I recognise things my friends have said, things they’ve told me they experienced, and things I’ve seen - but I also came to understand it all better. When it’s not you it’s hard to see and so reading from this perspective you realise all these little things. How much being seen for who you are matters, which I’m sure will resonate with anyone. But it’s especially exciting to read about a dark skinned Nigerian British woman learning to love herself and being accepted by the people the matter. I also appreciated that the book didn’t explain terms from the Black community to the reader. If I don’t know Google is right there and this book isn’t to cater to my whiteness, it’s to love the Blackness of Yinka and her friends and family.

Joyous fabulous and full of love and laughter, I adored Yinka Where is Your Huzband from start to finish. Yinka is a successful 31 year old living in London with a wonderful job and supportive group of best friends and family, but for her mother and aunties, its all for nothing if she is single and alone. The book follows Yinka's journey through the dating world, with her family offering 'helpful' advice and love matches. We've all read romantic fiction before so the ultimate end isnt too much of a surprise but the route Yinka takes to reach it was a joy to read about and very cleverly written.

I'd heard a lot of good things about this book and was excited to review it.

Yinka is a warm, lovable character and I was definitely rooting for her as she battles through life's ups and downs.

It was interesting and refreshing to read a story with a central character from a different culture and I enjoyed the close relationship Yinka has with her family as she comes to terms with finding herself and valuing herself as an individual.

You study hard in school, go to a good university, get a good job, find a husband, get married, have children and live happily ever after. At least that's the expectation except it hasn't worked out for Yinka. She has the degree and the job but no husband and her mother and aunties are on a mission to find her one. With her cousin Rachel getting married, and she has but a few months to find a date for the wedding. Armed with post-it notes and a planner, she sets off on a mission to find a date for the wedding.

Yinka Where is Your Huzband deals with many important issues including colourism and the effect it has on some women's self esteem, the pressure that women from certain African communities go through if they are still single by a certain age, religion, and the importance of seeking therapy when it is needed.

I enjoyed reading the book. It was an easy read and it kept me engaged but I cannot say that I was blown away by it. I like the fact that it deals with everyday issues that black women go through without being overburdening with questions of race and identity, although they are touched on lightly. I also like that Yinka embraces counselling even though she is hell bent against it at the beginning. As a community we tend to not consider therapy as a way of dealing with our issues and in fact frown upon it. I like that it was normalised in the book.

There are two things that I struggled with. I found Yinka utterly infuriating, at some points, I felt like grabbing her and giving her a good shake to make her see sense. I question how credible she is as a character. She's supposed to be intelligent, Oxbridge educated, with an extended social circle, and yet she's incredibly naive.

I also found the book very predictable. The moment Donovan came into the story I knew exactly what was going to happen. And I pretty much predicted at every turn what was going to happen next for Yinka, be it with her mother, her aunts or the men that she had liaisons with. Overall, I would give it a three out of five stars, it was an enjoyable but not compelling.

"Yinka, you’re beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Remember, the midnight sky is just as beautiful as the sunrise."

Yinka wants to find love. Her mum wants to find it for her.
She also has too many aunties who frequently pray for her delivery from singledom, a preference for chicken and chips over traditional Nigerian food, and a bum she's sure is far too small as a result. Oh, and the fact that she's a thirty-one-year-old South-Londoner who doesn't believe in sex before marriage is a bit of an obstacle too.
When her cousin gets engaged, Yinka commences 'Operation Find A Date for Rachel's Wedding'. Armed with a totally flawless, incredibly specific plan, will Yinka find herself a huzband?
What if the thing she really needs to find is herself?

I love how Lizzie Damolila Blackburn’s debut novel works both as a fabulous Bridget Jones’ style romance as well as a much deeper introspective piece of fiction. Starting from ageism and colourism, which are the glaring subjects of discussion, the author highlights self-acceptance, and being true to oneself. Women of colour will particularly relate to Yinka’s struggles and her life choices and find solace in her story.

The Nigerian cultural references ranging from food, to fashion, to language are a delight to read and the author adds such gorgeous tapestry to her storytelling with it.

An absolutely remarkable debut, with a lovable lead, a heartfelt story, and a poignant look at the life of being an unmarried thirty-something woman.

This ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Viking Books UK.

I really enjoyed this!! definitely lived up to the hype, I would recommend reading this🥰
it was such a fun read! the characters and plot complimented each other well and i felt consumed in the story!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily.
This book started with dialogue and events that promised an excellent comedy. Yinka's mother and 'aunts' were strong characters, with a solid belief in their culture and her many friends were from a mixture of backgrounds, although this made a lot of characters in the early pages so it was a bit difficult to remember who everyone was. However I found the references to current celebrities and music and the use of modern or Nigerian words / phrases meant I didn't understand everything without using references which interrupted my reading.
I have no doubt that this a well-written book that many young people are likely to enjoy, the fact that it wasn't for me is only due to my age and interests.

I really enjoyed this book. At times, Yinka was very unlikeable but I feel like she wouldn’t have had the same journey of acceptance. A great story about family, relationships & friendship and I will definitely be recommending Yinka, where is your huzband?

Anything but a straightforward 'rom-com' this book covers all aspects of love - family, friends, romance and learning to love yourself.

Yinka is fed up of being asked when she is going to marry and, despite her friends and family interfering, is still very much single! She believes that true love will find it's way and is quite comfortable waiting for it, but her family are not as patient. While all around her are getting engaged, married and having babies, Yinka can't escape the pressure.

This was an easy read with a good heart. Full of funny, heartwarming moments while still having some sobering moments that really made me think. A great bunch of well-rounded and believable characters that all gave something important to Yinka's story.

This was a really clever read - funny, self deprecating while covering serious cultural issues. Yinka's extended Nigerian family are well meaning, praying (literally, loudly and often) for her to find a husband. Yinka is happily single, with a flourishing career. Until she isn't! Her clothes designer best friend is there for her, as are her two cousins, but are they really? There has always been rivalry mainly brought on by their competitive mothers. When cousin Rachel announces her wedding, Operation Rachel's Wedding begins, meticulously planned by Yinka, with KPIs, targets and plans of action, to find a partner for the wedding. Funny, entertaining and ultimately life changing. #netgalley #yinkawhereisyourhuzband

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

If you're waiting for another Queenie, then you should definitely meet Yinka. This book is funny, relatable and emotional all in one. It addresses some important issues such as colourism, self-esteem and sexuality, as well as portraying how we struggle to find our place in the world. I'll be recommending this to all my friends as a great summer read.