I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

This was a heartbreaking book and the characters really came into their own. Learned lots about Africa too. Good book!

I liked this book! It dealt with some pretty heavy topics but still managed to feel like a lighter read. This book tells the story of three women set against a post Apartheid South Africa also touching on the AIDS epidemic. This story was an emotional journey and I was quickly invested in the lives of these three very different women. I am so glad that I finally got around to reading this book.

Zodwa lives with her mother in extreme poverty in a squatter’s camp. She is about to have a baby which will present a whole new challenge. Delilah has spent her life working to help others after being forced to leave her role as a nun. Ruth is Delilah’s sister and polar opposite. Ruth has lived a much wilder life and is currently in the process of another divorce. A baby found by Delilah and Ruth will bring these three together. These women have lived through horrible things and my heart broke for them as we learned their stories.

I thought that this book was very well done. I liked the fact that we get the opportunity to see South Africa during this post Apartheid period from very different points of view. Zodwa sees things very differently as a young black woman than the sisters do as middle age white women. The stigma of AIDS was also an important issue in the story. I enjoyed seeing each of these women work through some of their personal demons while learning to trust each other.

I listened to the audiobook and thought that Bianca Amato, Katharine McEwan, and Bahni Turpin did an incredible job in bringing this story to life. I think that each narrator did a great job in capturing the emotion of their character’s story. I think that their voices worked well in this story and I really liked that each point of view had a different narrator. I think that the narrators’ performance added to my overall enjoyment of this story.

I would recommend this book to others. I was quickly captivated by the lives of these three women and felt invested in their lives. I definitely plan to read more from this talented author.

I received a digital review copy of this book from G.P. Putnam’s Sons via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

This was a heartbreaking book and the characters really came into their own. I know little about South Africa and its history and I enjoyed learning more.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Three women in Africa during the age of age and apartheid. Their stories intersect, and they form an unlikely family. I love the message and the child who binds them together.

Great fiction. Fascinating characters development along the way. Ongoing surprises. A look at history and culture. I highly recommend you get yourself lost in this book.

This is one of those books that will stay with you and leave a permanent mark on your heart. The author tackles big issues with boldness, compassion, and sensitivity. Bianca Marais, you have a new fan in me.

If You Want to Make God Laugh by Biana Marais follows three women who's lives become intertwined on a ranch in South Africa in the early 90's. The reader follows a pair of sisters, Ruth and Delilah, who come from a well-off Christian white family and Zodwa, who comes from the black slum settlement in town. The sisters are brought together after two different personal tragedies and end up living back at their family ranch while sorting out their lives. Zodwa gives birth to a baby that she received due to being raped by her best friend's boyfriend. All of the women's lives converge and the reader becomes deeply connected to each story.

Between the political landscape of the setting, the very different views and financial situations of all the women, and the personal trials that they all go through, the story is well rounded and very compelling. The writing style is very easy to follow with the chapters changing perspective from woman to woman and lets you dive a litte deeper into the thought process of each character.

Overall, very good read!

Heartbreaking but beautiful and such a phenomenal read. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. It will be on my mind for weeks.

I knew I would love this sophomore novel If You Want to Make God Laugh by Marais after loving her debut, Hum if You Don't Know the Words. I met Bianca at Booktopia 2018 and chose Hum for my four book groups to discuss later that year. Both are powerful, emotional and hopeful stories about strong and brave women. We had the most fascinating discussions about South Africa, apartheid, race, class. Marais is supremely talented at tearing your heart out, exploding it with unimaginable emotional encounters and then piecing it back together and returning it to you fuller than before. We loved this story about two sisters, what defines motherhood, the AIDS epidemic in the 90's. Read it!

I studied a lot of South African history during undergrad, and because I double-majored history with literature I was always on the lookout for for ways that the two disciplines intersected. What I found most compelling about this was how much it actively engaged with history and it’s legacy as an ongoing process - particularly that the “end” of apartheid wasn’t an end to many of the ongoing problems and harms that it had caused within the country. The deeply entrenched and systemic issues caused by colonialism and apartheid in South Africa and the echoes of its legacy are really well explored in this story. Using the lens of three women really enabled discussions about class and privilege, and primarily race, to inform so many of these important discussions too.
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This was such a compelling story about three women in South Africa as the country transitioned from apartheid to the first elections, encompassing so many important social topics including racism, the AIDS crisis, sexual violence, sexual-health miseducation, the Truth & Reconciliation Commission, and more. There were so many intricately layered details that came together at the end and allowed for a really complex reflection on a country at a momentous turning point, and with characters that allowed for this to be explored fully.
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I really enjoyed this read and look forward to reading the author’s earlier work, HUM IF YOU DON’T KNOW THE WORDS, soon (I bought a copy at @octaviabooks having a pretty good feel that her writing and themes would be totally in my wheelhouse 😍) Thanks also to @blackgirlthatreads for getting me a copy of this ARC 😘

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago and have been struggling to write a review...not because of the book which was a page-turner and one of my favorites of the year but because I’ve basically been struck speechless by the quality of the writing and story. I’ve been a fan of Marais’s writing since enjoying Hum If You Don’t Know the Words but I truly think she’s outdone herself with this one. .
Set in post Apartheid South Africa, the story follows 3 very different women and alternates between each. I’m not always a fan of alternating perspectives but I was so invested in each woman’s story that when it shifted I felt excited to continue with the next one. And I can’t forget to mention the very sweet, loyal dog. I won’t rehash the plot, but I will say I don’t think I’ve read another book in the last few years that tackled so many important themes - love, loss, fate, friendship, family, classism, motherhood, racism, civil unrest, injustice - and did so in a way that kept me so emotionally invested to the point I felt like I knew these women, I worried for them, cheered for them and cried for them....see, all the emotions...and when I finished I immediately missed them and still do. It’s not often I wish for 100 more pages but I would’ve gladly read at least that much more of this incredible book. If you’re looking to be swept away by amazing writing ( aren’t we all:) I highly recommend picking up this book, you won’t regret it!!

Hum If You Don't Know the Words is one of my favorite books, from this year. And Bianca did it once again, with If You Want to Make God Laugh. I'm not sure what took me so long to read it, but I picked it up and quickly devoured it.

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In this book we focus on three main characters: Zodwa, Ruth and Delilah. They all have a common love, for one little boy. I was immediately drawn into this story, and how these women are connected. I know my review will never do justice, but I can gaurentee this book will forever have a place on my shelf. There are a lot of heavy topics in this book, and I am glad Bianca is one who does not shy away from them, and be sure to read the authors note, to learn more about what she wrote about, in this certain book. Such a heartbreaking but beautiful story.

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I can't say enough about how much I have loved both her books. And even in this one, I loved getting another glimpse of Beauty and Robin. Bianca has a way with words that makes you never want to stop reading, and I can't wait to see what she write next. Pick up one of her books, or both, and give them a try. I really don't think you will be disappointed!

If You Want to Make God Laugh is an uplifting, solid story that is crafted well and includes a huge segment of African history that has not been well-known up to now, the period of reconciliation led by Bishop Desmond Tutu, and the plague of HIV disease that led to an AIDS crisis. Change is a process, not a miraculous moment or miracle. Yet many miracles happen in this tale revealing tremendous violence, sexuality, romance, Church abuse, forgiveness and growth into a new life. You will never forget this amazing story.

If You Want To Make God Laugh is the story of 3 women living in South Africa in the 1990s. Zodwa is a pregnant 17 year old living in a squatter camp. Ruth is a wealthy former star who is willing to create some drama. Delilah is a former nun volunteering at an orphanage. Read this book to learn how these women come together and the story that unites them all.

I loved Hum if You Don’t Know the Words so was looking forward to reading this one. Within a few pages I was reminded of how much I love Bianca Marais’s writing. I felt so drawn in to the story of these women. A lot of heavy topics are addressed - but I think all are handled respectfully and in a way that makes sense for their story. And I loved the glimpses of characters from HUM. With this, Marais has cemented herself as an auto buy author for me - I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reading copy. Available now.

SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS BOOK!
I would give it a 10 star rating if I could.
Told from alternating points-of-view: Zodwa, Ruth, and Delilah
Location: Johannesburg and Zaire
These three women's lives become intertwined around the birth of a young boy.
A page-turner until the very end.

Discussed on Episodes 81 and 82 of Book Cougars Podcast.
www.bookcougars.com/blog-1

Bianca Marais's books are a delight to read, and the perfect pick me up after some of the more heavy natured books that I read. I love the way she writes with spunk and sass. Her personality shows through in her writing. Love a book that makes me laugh, and love having books like IF YOU WANT TO MAKE GOD LAUGH in my personal library, that I can pick up when I need a lift in spirits.

This was a slow build into an excellent, heart-wrenching story! Delilah, Ruth and Zodwa will capture your heart. Another excellent story by Bianca Marais. She's becoming an author I will automatically read.

There's a lot going on and all around these three women - post-Apartheid South Africa, Nelson Mandela becoming president, the AIDS crisis, canned-lion-hunting, abuse, rape, Catholic priests, but it's all done very well and strongly supports their story.

This review appeared only on Goodreads so far. Should I write a longer review and add it to our Literary Hoarders site I will upload here.

Wow, this is truly just such a special book! Five stars for this second book by Bianca Morris that is based on the lives of 3 women (2 white & 1 black) in post-apartheid South Africa. This raw and witty story weaves through the lives of these 3 women over the course of a number of hears and ultimately culminates in how they are connected. It is a story of friendship, motherhood, sisterhood, culture & racial challenges, and how these issues shape our lives. A perfect discussion book for book clubs!