It is unusual for me to be attracted to fantasy, but I was intrigued by Astra House’s description of “God of Mercy”. It promised to depict worlds as they were, are, and could realistically be.

Okezie Nwoka’s striking debut kept my attention from beginning to end, in multiple ways. It is an homage to oral and written communication, beautifully captured in multiple languages and dialects. It is an education at the highest level in the spirituality and sociology of comparative religions. One cannot help but be struck by how the arrogance and violence of colonial Christian conversion dogma disturb and disrupt organic “of-the-earth” communities, cultures, and belief systems.

The star attraction is Iljeoma who is unable to speak, but able to fly. She is seen as a God by some, as the work of the Devil by others. She dominates every scene. All other characters react and respond knowing that she is something special – out of this world.

I am sure that there were scores of subtilties that I missed and would pick up on during a second, closer reading. I will be on the lookout for Nwoka’s future work. He is clearly a muscular talent, and their future will be a joy to follow.

Thank you to Astra House and NetGalley for the eARC.

To be honest, this book took me a long time to get into. I was confused on page one; three words new to me that all started with the letter I! I took this as a sign that this was a book that would open my eyes to a whole new world so I took a deep breath and read only when my concentration was focused. Once I got the rhythm of the English used, I could appreciate its beauty and how well it represents this other world in rural Africa. The language suits the world we enter that challenged my ideas of tradition and culture and the concepts of what’s “good” and what’s “bad”.

The town at the center of this novel takes on a life of its own and I would consider it a main character. Many actions taken by other characters are done so because that’s how Ichulu does it. Living a life at the mercy of all the various Gods was very interesting and not the easier and I enjoyed the education into how much of the world sees life. The idea of community based around the traditions of this town was intriguing and the loyalty of its occupants was awe inspiring.

This book was SO worth the effort. I loved the story of Ijeoma as she is forced to leave all she knows for a world so far from home. Her trials and tribulations as her culture clashes with a Christian church are heartbreaking to read. Her friendship with Chinwe was heartwarming and her letters to her Gods were so sad. I would have liked more of her story.

This is an amazing debut and now that I’ve gotten used to the writing style I look forward to more from this talented new author. I would advise that you need to be quite awake to read as there are many characters and the names are quite a challenge, at least they were for this scatterbrained reader. I’d have loved a glossary and/or family tree to remind me which God was which. I might also suggest working on the pacing a bit – some descriptions, such as the introductory description of the church service, could, in my opinion, have been shorter without losing anything.

If you enjoy a challenging read with a reward, this is the book for you!
Thanks, Astra and NetGalley for the ARC.

God of Mercy centers on a young Igbo girl named Ijeoma who stands in the crossfire of tradition and change. We witness her juggling her growing yearning to embrace her spiritual gift and destiny with her enduring desire to be loved by her emasculated, insecure father who shuns his mute daughter. There were many themes and topics that I was both excited to see unfold after reading the synopsis and surprised to encounter, especially the conflict between old and new religions. that made this book a compelling read.

But I'm disappointed to say that the character development, writing style, pace, and plot all fell a bit flat for me. I felt that the first few parts dragged a bit with insufficient development on Ijeoma's personality, motives, and inner thoughts that made her who she was. I thought that her being mute would serve as a heavy, poignant juxtaposition to the rich inner world that the author would create for the reader. But it's almost like she's an afterthought and the limelight was lit more on her disgruntled father, exiled cousin, and the deeply entrenched traditions that forced Ichulu's people to make reluctant decisions for the sake of maintaining their customs.

Then all of a sudden, everything just hit like a ton of bricks in the last few chapters, and the plot felt extremely rushed and unearned. I had so many questions about why characters (especially the newer ones introduced in later chapters) were the way they were, and some of their decisions seemed forced to make the plot work. It's like watching a movie and feeling like certain things just happened too easily, and you know why they made the story turn that way, but you're still irked that they weren't subtle enough to prevent you from noticing. Why was the pastor's wife nice? Why did Ikemba make the decisions he did in the way he did? How was Ijeoma able to "trick" people for nine long years that she was a certain type of person? There were way too many unanswered questions that took me out of the moment, and I couldn't enjoy and relish the ending that was undoubtedly meant to be a big payoff.

I'm sad that this didn't work out for me, but I hope that for many others, it will. Wishing this debut novel the best of success although we weren't the best fit.

My reflection here if dog an advanced review copy, which I received in exchange for a review. A well written, but complex book dealing with difficult issues of emotional and cultural trauma. Ijoema is a mute Igbo girl born to a father who is deeply disappointed by her affliction, even more so when he discovers that she has a connection to the Gods and can perform miracles (or is it witchcraft?). This tale makes a decidedly dark turn for the heroine and spends most of the novel exploring the ways in which she is isolated, exploited, and brutalized.
I was very interested in this book. Conceptually, it was right up my alley—and I can see it being a popular choice for book clubs and on many short lists for potential awards because it is an beautiful achievement, especially for a debut novel. It is ultimately a story about love, more than anything else. But it is difficult to rate because this story is very much not for me. I recognize the artistry of Nwoka and the beauty of the novel, but I did not enjoy it. How does one rate a book like that? I liked it, but I found myself frequently stepping away from it (it was often hard to stay engaged), and would not read it again. But, as I said, I do not doubt that there is an audience out there that will absolutely love this book in all its complexities.

One thing is certain that being different makes you stand out and when you stand out, you are threat, often to yourself and most of all to others.
God of Mercy, follows Ijeoma- a young girl from Ichulu, an Igbo village that despite the changing times is still set in their ancestral ways and they still worship and believe in the deities of water, sky and the land. From birth, Ijeoma is feared and seen as an outcast because she cannot talk, and when she starts to fly, her body slowly being lifted off the ground- then her people partly fear her and partly assume that she communicates with the gods. With changing times, colonization at it's peak she finds herself exiled into a Christian community and is labelled a witch and has to grapple with the beliefs of other people- just as she did as a child among her own people.
Reading God of Mercy was like finding a familiar face, friend and neighbor in the busy streets of a foreign country. The language and tradition, dialogue between the characters- was akin to watching afro-sinema ( if I may say so) and it was refreshing. However, there is a lot to unpack, to unravel in this story that transcends religion and culture but moves more to conflicts in beliefs, challenging beliefs and what it means when you are other than what the people around you know.
Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher for the eARC.

This is a book with its own unique rhythm that I don't mind saying it took me awhile to understand and embrace. Because the payoff is so entirely worth the sense of displacement in the early pages, any struggle I experienced back there on page 20 was well-rewarded on page 220.

This is the story of an Igbo girl in a fictional town in what I presume to be Nigeria, though it could be elsewhere in Africa. She lives in a small village which holds dear the gods of Earth, Sky, and Water. She cannot speak, which causes her to be considered, by her father at least, as defective and a sign of disrepute. When she discovers other skills, many are awed and others are frightened. Her father hopes to restore his good name by taking extreme action to neutralize her influence on his life.

What is magical in this book is the language in which it is written, an English with a certain lilt to it, engendered, no doubt, by the fact that Nwoka grew up speaking both English and Igbo; while his mastery of English is clear, it is his genius to be able to incorporate much of the musicality of Igbo into the other language, a feat of great skill. At first it was a bit off-putting, especially what felt like some very odd word choices and turns of phrase. But what becomes clear is that this self-assured first-time author was extremely intentional in his choices. Not a single word is amiss here, and Okezie Nwoka communicates with great clarity the reality of a life in rural Africa we can only imagine.

God of Mercy is a novel that vividly displays humanity’s fallacies, failures, and a glimmer of hope in a rural African setting.

The villagers of Ichulu celebrate their colonial liberation in the retelling of their willful rejection of the White’s religion (Christianity), language (English), lures of modernity, and the influence of commercialism. The Ichuluans remain isolated in the forest, retaining their native tongue (Igbo), and worshiping the “traditional” gods; venturing to neighboring villages infrequently and only when necessary. They are entrenched in a strict belief system that offers virtually no concession for exceptions; one where little mercy is granted regardless of circumstances. T

Far from idyllic, theirs is a world ruled by an established patriarchal hierarchy offering privilege and dominance to a certain segment of their society while stifling another. When a natural disaster occurs followed by a miraculous event involving a mute village girl, Ijeoma, the tribal leaders immediately seek an understanding from their gods to explain the calamity and this reversal of fate for one once ostracized and thought cursed (due to her inability to speak).

Ijeoma’s father is not pleased with his god’s answers (given via the village’s dibia) and forsakes his daughter, banishing her from the village to another god for healing in hopes his fate will improve. Thrown to morally corrupt, self-righteous Christian evangelicals who instantly label the child a witch (because she can perform a miraculous act and the pastor can not). These adults torture and exploit her and other children to exorcise demons and enforce Christian teaching. The scenes rendered via the eyes of a disabled child (who does not understand English) whose innocence is graphically and brutally taken from her. Ijeoma pleads for understanding and mercy from the god of her fathers and mothers while being forced to renounce them and embrace Christianity/Jesus which is causing her nothing but pain, loneliness, confusion, and suffering.

There was a lot to unpack in this novel and it would be a great choice for book clubs because it explores conflicting themes and a myriad of great discussion topics: freedom versus oppression, old versus new gods (is the latter a regurgitation of the former), the desire to preserve traditions in an evolving world, the treatment of women and children in male-dominated societies, the role of religion in colonization, the need to adapt/change for survivability, human caste systems, and so much more. A very good debut - recommended for the patient and insightful reader.

The Gods are battling for an Igbo village, far away from the modern world. A girl that can fly, favored by the gods, is sent away to a Cristian community and kept prisoner. Rich with humanity, it's a brilliant and complex read!