Brilliant read! I was drawn into the lives of Simi, Boo and Ronke, three Nigerian - British best friends navigating their way through adult life. Wahala means trouble or problem in Nigeria Pidgin English and also used by the Yoruba tribe and commonly used throughout Nigeria. Which is exactly what happens when Isobel enters their friendship group and stirs everything up! This reads well and keeps you wanting more, an absorbing read that feels like binge watching your favourite tv series. It was described as Sex and the City with a Killer edge and I’d definitely agree. I had to re read the last chapter as I was quite down hearted that it was over. Worth every star! A definite 5 star from me! It is also going to made into a TV series for the BBC which I can’t wait to see.

I was given this Arc before publication date and it took me this long to complete as I did not want to Dnf an advanced copy. This book to me was a failed project, and wasn’t giving what it was hoping to achieve judging by the synopsis which was an exploration of female friendships in a Nigerian/mixed race group based in London. Instead, what it gave was colourist, anti black sentiments sprinkled all over the book, I put this book down so many times due to this, and I’m shocked I actually finished considering it wasn’t an enjoyable experience spent with this story. I understand there’s a push by publishers to bring more inclusivity, but books like this aren’t inclusive and can bring more triggering harm to some readers. The characters are so bland, I listened on audio hoping this will help me finish but I could not distinguish the characters from each other as they were all boring, Unlikeable and shared the same views of holding unpleasant opinions about blackness and the image of unambiguous black features. The plot wasn’t interesting, and . it dragged and dragged, This could also be because it was a slog to get through as I did not enjoy it. I will never pick up another book by this author and will not recommend to anyone.

Thank you to Random House UK and Netgalley for this ARC.

Review
I can’t believe this is Nikki May’s debut novel. The book is written perfectly, making the story easy to read and follow. I went into it expecting a rom-com, but ended up with a thriller, and honestly, no complaints! I enjoyed the mask slipping twist. If that’s even a phrase? I might have just made that up. If not, queue my Alexandra Burke ‘Elephant in the room’ moment.

Anyway back to 🪅Wahala 🪅…

I was excited to read a book that centred mixed-race women, and it was a great depiction of flawed characters, each with their own issues going on because of things that have happened in their past. I favoured some characters more than others (Team Ronke, please let me be your friend?!) When Isobel came along, I knew she would be trouble right away, and oh boy. Next to Wahala should be a picture of her. But I shall say no more, because if I speak you will say I am speaking.

Whilst the writing was superb and the story was of genuine interest, at times, I struggled to pick it up, and that was because of the colourism. Throughout the story, I hoped that there would be a lesson shared about colourism along with the fat-phobia of our poor Ronke (love you girl!). But there wasn’t, and I think that’s okay if, as a reader, you don’t need it, but I did. I also think the story would have been incredible without those complex layers and issues, and that’s not to say the issues aren’t important they are, but for me personally they didn’t add to the story in the way I hoped.

Overall it was an exciting read, and I know it is being adapted to TV. I think it will be a great show, and I will tune in to see Boo, Simi, Ronke & Isobel brought to life. Also, I loved that the author left recipes at the end of the book! A rom-com turned thriller and a cookbook in one? Love to see it.

Once again these are just my personal views and if you do read it expect a hol eap o’ madness.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dear people, first things first: don't go into this book expecting a thriller. That's not what this is. Instead it's a story about a female friends.

It's an incredibly well-written story. NIKKI MAY has done a great job in giving everyone a distinct personality (although I had a hard time remembering who's who at times, but that says more about me than about the novel).

Boo, Ronke, Simi are best friends. Isabel joins their friend group, and she shift the dynamics in a big way. So much so that the friends hardly recognise each other.

The ending was a bit out there for me. It wasn't necessary, everything unravelled in such a way that I didn't need the big reveal/twist.

I recommend this novel to people who like contemporary fiction about friend groups, if you like SEX AND THE CITY and the REAL HOUSEWIVES, you might like this as well.

Boo, Simi and Ronke are great friends and their lives seem perfect. Until Isobel, an old friend of Simi’s from her early life in Nigeria, arrives and things start to go awry.

Isobel is wahala, a veritable cuckoo in the nest, but the 3 friends seem blissfully unaware of her troublesome influence until their lives are turned completely upside down.

The plot verges on the plausible, with money never an issue, but takes a turn for the ridiculous as the story reaches its climax. The change of tone jars badly and even a happy ever after epilogue can’t erase the dissatisfaction.

If you want a fun read to escape with then this is for you !
It’s a “bingeable” book that sort of reads like it’s a tv drama ( and I can’t wait to see it when it does land on the BBC) , it’s fast paced with a great set of characters .
Our 3 main cast members are Ronke, Simi and Boo who met at University and are now dealing with adult life. Ronke wants to settle down , Simi appears to have a coveted lifestyle and Boo has the adoring child and husband but then arrives Isobel to stir things up ……
It’s a tale about female friendships, relationships and Nigerian culture ( with a big focus on food!) but also has a slight thriller sort of edge to it which keeps the reader guessing right until the end .
Perfect reading and I can’t wait to see what comes next from the author!

I was very excited to be given the opportunity to read this advanced copy. I loved the different perspectives given by the 3 women and how they navigate their female friendships, even through the difficult times. I also learnt a lot about the Nigerian culture. Very excited to see this book on screen!

I really didn’t know what to expect from this book but I got was a really great exploration of female friendships and an insight into Nigerian culture, which for me was an added bonus. In a complete aside, I’m so pleased that some of the most mentioned Nigerian food was put in recipe form at the end of the book - thank you Nikki May. Although I could work out where the story was going from an early stage, this didn’t matter as I enjoyed the unravelling of signals and misinterpretation of intentions. At times I wanted to strangle a certain member of the group, but I think this was because maybe we weren’t shown that side of the story. A really interesting intriguing book. Well done Nikki May and I look forward to more

This is the story of 3 mixed race friends living in London. They are all questioning their future when a glamorous friend from their past arrives in town and tries to fix their futures for them.

I loved the friendship and bond the 3 main characters, Ronke, Simi and Boo, had at the beginning of the story. It was heart warming to read their love for each other and also lovely to read about protagonists in their 30’s.

I was really engaged throughout by this book. It had a warm, gripping tone which I raced through. I also learnt a lot about Nigerian culture through the book despite it being set in London.

I thought the plot was well paced and kept me guessing until the end. There were quite a few twists and turns, and I wasn’t expecting the ending that happened!

This is a fantastic debut novel, it was gripping and entertaining throughout!

AD - This copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

⭐️⭐️⭐️

TW: Racism, fatphobia

In Wahala we follow three friends in present day london. Ronke, Boo and Simi’s lives are completely turned upside down when Isobel, a glamorous party girl, crashes into their lives bringing a whole bunch of wahala with her.

This was a very easy read, extremely character driven, and each character was flawed in ways that made them feel so real. At times I was so frustrated with the characters for being so selfish even though you could empathise with them in a way because they were so unhappy in their lives.

The twist in the ending was great, I wasn’t expecting it and personally thought that in was going to go in a completely different direction, so it was amazing being caught off guard.

I loved hearing about the Nigerian culture, especially the food, and the recipes were such a nice touch too.

I will definitely keep an eye on Nikki May’s next releases!

Idk, I feel like the blurb doesn't really tell you the truth. This book is not "darkly comic", it's just dark and sad and frankly depressing. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because I did enjoy it a lot, but come on... the blurb gives you the impression it's a light breezy beachy read. It is not.

It's a really good book, even though the twist a bit over the top, but I liked it and I enjoyed reading. I didn't like any of the characters because they were all doormats and I found myself annoyed with every single one of them.
If you're not familiar with Nigerian culture (I was not) it's an interesting starting point to do some research on it (it was for me).

This was an intersting novel. I don't think I really liked one of the characters and sometimes was really irritated by the choises they made of the things they said. But it was such an addictive read and I couldn't put it down. It reads like a very real group of friends with one very toxic relationship.

Okay. Wahala is a hard one for me to review because I liked it but there were some things that I didn't like about it. Yeah.

I really liked the premise of the story: a new girl infiltrates a group of friends and chaos ensues. I am all for stories like this. The character development was great. Each character had clearly defined roles - you knew the voices of the three protagonists. Again another plus. The thread of the protagonists wanted what the others had - really clever and relatable. Again another positive.

For me though the problem lay with the pacing. There was too much exposition and character development to the detriment of the plot. The action took place in the last 100 pages. Before I knew it the story was over and I kind of felt cheated.

What is good that you can the kind of writer that Nikki May is going to be and that is quite exciting. I am really intrigued to see what more Nikki May has to offer.

Wahala by Nikki May is available now.

For more information regarding Nikki May (@NikkiOMay) please visit www.nikki-may.com.

For more information regarding Random House (@randomhouse) please visit www.randomhousebooks.com.

Really enjoyed this book, a different perspective on female friendship from the mediocre white chick lit genre. It had a couple of good twists and although was pretty over the top in places towards the end was hugely entertaining.

This was a brilliant book with lots of amazing twists and turns. I thought this book was very interesting and rather funny. I just knew from the start that I was going to love it. As the writing style was really good and it flowed brilliantly with a humorous style. I really do like a book that I can have a laugh with as it puts you in a great mood. I really loved the characters as they all had different personalities but together they worked so well. The character that stood out for me was Isobel I thought the author did such a brilliant job at creating this very complex character. This book really was a great page turner. For a debut novel this one really packed a punch and is definitely one to add to your watch list. I also found out that its to become a TV series so I can't wait for that. What stood out for me was the progression of the characters drawing me into the book and really making me read between the lines. The amazing story line was so unique and very exciting. I must say I loved the suspense, tension and atmosphere at the end of the book. Wow the ending may blow your mind. I really went through an emotional roller coaster reading this book. I really do recommend this book.
So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for really creating such a fantastic gripping and exciting story that you won't be able to put down.
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/wahala-by-nikki-may-random-house-4-stars Under either names ladyreading365 or lady Reading365

This was a book I enjoyed, it had themes I love food, friendship and just general musings about life. I did, however, think it was light on the thriller element, I was about halfway through the book before I remembered there was meant to be a thrill element. For the most part, it read like a contemporary novel and remembered during the second half that it needed to add some suspense.

I enjoyed getting to know Ronke, Simi and Boo and it was nice to hear about their backgrounds and how as mixed-raced Nigerian women they all had different experiences with their identities. Ronke was by far my favourite and I loved the sections of her cooking! May is great at describing the actions that Ronke takes when she cooks and I love that we get some recipes, I enjoy books that talk about food so this was a lovely bonus for me. Boo as a character had me laughing, which is rare because she is an unlikeable character and also very easily swayed. It’s rare that an unlikeable character does anything other than irk me, but Boo really had me smirking and pitying her because there was no need for her attitude. But I liked that we had a character like Boo in the story, it added depth amongst the other two who were facing issues we always see in books. They weren’t boring issues, but the ‘want to settle down’ and the ‘feeling of not wanting children because you enjoy your marriage’ are issues discussed in books and real-life a lot. Books don’t often focus on characters like Boo because women like her are just written off as ungrateful, but I liked the addition in this book because it just made their friendship all the more interesting.

I’ll be honest following these three women and their lives and how they interacted as friends were enough for me. However, it is a thriller novel and we are introduced to another character, Isobel who is supposed to bring this element. To be fair, we are introduced to Isobel quite early on, and we see we watch as Isobel befriends the group and how cracks start to form. However it doesn’t feel suspenseful, it just feels like someone shit-stirring and friends not communicating properly. The book is told from the perspective of the three main characters and we get to see how they each interact with Isobel and what leads to the cracks forming. Like I said earlier, it’s like this book forgot it was meant to be a thriller and towards the end were thrown into a whirlwind which seems rushed and incredibly unrealistic. It definitely would have been better to have included the suspense element earlier in the story and perhaps have some sections from Isobel herself. To truly build up the suspense we should have had some insight into this oh so clever “mastermind.” This part of the story was truly underwhelming and I’m not sure why this wasn’t just a straight-up contemporary novel. You can still have everyday villains without the dramatics, and I actually think her infiltration of the group and subtle manipulation of the group could have been more damaging to the group than the crazy revenge plot that was revealed.

Regardless this book did make me laugh, May’s humour is that well known Nigerian humour and I did find myself smiling at so many things. The book feels warmly Nigerian and I love the exploration of race, family and marriage through the different women and how they were living their lives. The book definitely embodies wahala!

*With thanks to @netgalley and @randomhouse for this ARC*

Wahala (meaning trouble), centers around three old friends; Ronke, Simi, and Boo. Three mixed race women living in central London, juggling the two cultures in their lives: Nigerian and English.

For Ronke that means a real love of cooking Nigerian food and embracing her deceased father’s sister, but also dealing with the racism she faces as a black woman in dentistry, and fearing her boyfriend is only dating her as part of a “mixed race fetish” he has.

Boo feels trapped in her role as a wife and mother, wishes she had more freedom in her career, and overall feels a bit lost. She shuns her Nigerian side as she feels she’s worked hard to assimilate herself with British culture.

Simi still feels the sting of her father’s disappointment after she dropped out of medical school, and can seemingly never impress her Nigerian family no matter how successful she is in her job or her marriage.

At least the three women have each other, that is until Isobel shows up, an old friend of Simi’s, determined to slot into this friendship group, whatever it takes, and whatever the consequences are.

I really enjoyed this book; I looked forward to sitting down and immersing myself in their world. I loved the food descriptions, and the insight into Nigerian culture, and I also loved the women’s conversations, which felt true to life. By the end of the book I was rooting for all of them even when they weren’t being their best selves, cause I felt like I knew them at that stage!

This veers towards being a thriller in the second half of the book, which I was expecting as there was a general sense of unease around some of the characters, but that build up was a bit slow and then the crescendo of the story seemed to happen very suddenly! It is overall a slower paced book, but all the better to savour and take your time with.

Wahala by Nikki May

4⭐️

What if your closest friends betrayed your deepest darkest secrets? You’ve known them since childhood and you share your life with them . How did they get to this place ? Can a new friendship in a group really alter existing dynamics ? Were they really true friends to begin with ?
In this twisty tale we meet three friends .Boo happily married to Didier and their adorable daughter Sophia, Ronke a successful dentist dating Kayode , whom her friends don’t approve of and Simi, living the perfect life with Martin who desperately wants to start a family but she doesn’t .

Enter Isobel.Rich, powerful , manipulative and forcefully opinionated .

Loved all the references to the different types of Nigerian food and culture . Comparisons between life and attitudes in London and Lagos . This story of friendship and betray ramped up towards the end as the drama unravelled and revealed itself .
Thanks to Netgally for an arc of this wonderful debut by Nikki May.

Three friends, Ronke, Boo and Simi, cherish their friendship that sustained them through their lives well into adulthood. Each woman is dealing with their own problems and day to day struggles, but they rely on each other to keep them upright. Into this balanced triangle comes Isobel and with her, comes trouble.
“Wahala” is a contemporary story, set in London and deals with a variety of themes, starting with issues of multicultural identities and the intergenerational connections of three Nigerian British friends, as well as the microaggressions and sexism that impacts their lives as women. The book is also soaked in Nigerian culture, especially the cuisine, and it made my mouth water more then once!
I loved how the author weaved the stories of friends and their lives together, showing the complex threads of connection and differences that get cut and rearranged one by one. Isobel in particular was a fantastically portrayed character and I did not expect the book to turn out the way it did because of her! Bit by bit I noticed the mood changing and shifting from a light-hearted read to something darker and more corrupt. A big thumbs up from me, as I loved this debut and will be happy to read more by the author anytime!

An excellent insight into the lives of three very different friends.

I laughed a lot and cried harder.

A superb tale that I could not put down.

Plenty of ups and downs, twists and turns.

Loved it!!!

Highly recommended 5 stars from me.