i really loved the humor and voice of this novel - i loved it at the beginning when it was more focused on dialogue and friendship! - but ultimately the actions and motivations of these characters, especially the side characters, felt too unrealistic for me.

I raced through this - probably one of the most well-written romances I have read! The fabulous setting and glamorous characters make it fun, but it also packs some emotional punches.

You Made A fool of Death with your Beauty, is the story of Feyi who lost her husband and is trying to rebuild her life, it is not a romance novel or a romantic story for me it was sadder and had a few things that like many other readers mentioned was chaotic or too much for my slow life.

Some of the things that happened are not what I was expecting and made me feel like I was reading another book rather than the one in the blurb.

I don't want to give many details, I think is better for the reader to discover and decide if this story suits them, as the story was good but it wasn't for me, I was looking forward to reading more but I just couldn't.

I highly recommend you to give it a try and decide for yourself.

Thank you, NetGalley, and Atria Books for the ARC of You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty in exchange for my honest review.

The book actually started with a bang and went on from there. I struggled to get into this one but I’m sure someone out there liked it.

While I have read and enjoyed Akwaeke Emezi's earlier works, this book was literally a "miss" for me -- based on the above-average rating (at the time of this submission), I clearly missed the point of the plot and/or the author's intentions with this offering, thus my extremely low rating and scant review. At best my takeaway lands at this being a story of a selfishly beautiful woman indulging in bad decisions and sexual liaisons as a means of coping with a traumatic event. She has no sense of empathy or sympathy towards her partners’ feelings. It seems as if her pursuit of happiness is all that matters, and we the reader(s) should understand (and accept) her behavior as a result of her loss and mental space. I went along with this for the sake of the story and to finish the novel.
If this wasn’t a review book, I would have abandoned it early on – something I rarely do. I had no connection to any character and found the plot dull and pointless -- the twists/turns to add drama felt forced and over-the top. As mentioned, I realize my assessment is in the minority. It is a well-written book; but not engaging on any level for me. I will continue to support the author and look forward to her upcoming work.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.

Emezi is such a force. The ways in which they can write so successfully in so many formats and genres is deeply impressive. This novel starts hot and heavy and continues to be throughout. You are pulled in right from the beginning and want the best for the characters. While it was propulsive I did find myself not intentionally reaching for it. There was something that was not pulling me back.

I had no idea what this book was about when I started it. From the opening sentence I was hooked. The way the characters are carefully crafted and woven together makes the plot flow beautifully. Feyi is such a complex character and you slowly peel back the layers to learn about her past and watch her find strength as she moves forward in her life. I devoured this book in 24 hours - it is well worth your time.

Beautiful writing abounds in Akwaeke Emezi's romance entry, You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty. This will not be for everyone -- the twist in the middle was something that I was definitely surprised by, and something that I probably would have been apprehensive about picking up if I knew straight out of the gate. Luckily, I had gone in with very little context (please do the same!!!) and was blown away by the mediation on grief, love, and art that runs throughout this novel. It doesn't hurt that much of it takes place in the world's most beautiful-sounding house in the Caribbean with some of the most mouth watering food you'll ever read on page.

I wanted to live within this world, with all of its beauty and tension, even with the messiness that comes from complicated relationships and unrequited love. There are so many wonderful characters throughout, particularly the protagonist Feyi and her best friend Joy, who have an honest and open friendship that reminds me so much of my own. Both thematically and emotionally, this reminded me a lot of Seven Days in June, where a running melancholy is offset by moments of wonder, passion, and connection between characters. I'll end with a quote: “And that’s something I’ve learned in the years since, that there are so many different types of love, so many ways someone can stay committed to you, stay in your life even if y’all aren’t together, you know? And none of these ways are more important than the other.”

This is a book I'll be thinking of for the rest of the year -- thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early review copy, all opinions are my own.

There is a lot going on here. It's, of course, beautifully written because Akwaeke cannot write anything that isn't beautiful. But the trope just wasn't exactly for me, despite that.

This is vastly different than a typical lighthearted romantic novel. I admire the goal of the plot but ultimately just couldn't connect with the characters and in fact really, really disliked the MC.

Listen…. I went into this book completely blind and it threw me for a loop more than once because I did not see so many things coming but I loved it. I thought we were getting a typical meet cute at a party from the first page and it was not that, and I am so glad it was not that. This book was beautiful. The writing was gorgeous, the journey through grief was incredibly done and just the fact that this author let Feyi experience life and didn’t shy away from the ugly side of things. This story was so well done. It was messy and fun and kind of crazy but I loved every second of it. And Alim? I am in utterly in love with that man. I am so happy I picked up this book, I absolutely devoured every single page.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me an early read of this story!

DNF @25%

Sorry, I just couldn't get into this novel. I've read from this author before, I didn't like that novel either. I think it's Emezi's writing style. Her prose is very long-winded and awkward. As for the story, I couldn't relate to the main character. She made idiotic choices and the ending was underwhelming.

So sorry for my late review!! Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this book! It was a great romance to read. I would read any novel this author writes. It was so well written and deeply touching. The book cover was just so beautiful I believe this author has so much fame that they hardly need this praise.

Thanks again

I tried to read this book several times and just couldn't really ever get into it sadly. I know a lot of people love it and I enjoyed The Death of Vivek Oji, but this book just wasn't doing it for me or holding my attention. Nothing objectively negative about it, just wasn't something that kept my interest personally. Thank you to the author and publishers for this advanced e-copy! I really do appreciate it!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Another favorite author of mine. This was so beautifully written, I am a sucker for everything they write

This wasn't a knock your socks of read, but I think it shows the continued maturing of Emezi as a storyteller. I look forward to more from her

I started this one, got about 10% in and it just wasn't for me - the style and characters were hard for me to connect with.

One of the best books I’ve read this year. Even though the writing style sometimes did not resonate with me, I loved this story so much it eventually became irrelevant.

Great insight on how grief affects our life.

I love the way Emezi writes. This book definitely felt a little more messier than previous ones but as usual the writing is incredible. One particular thing I loved is how the characters were written and described by the space they take up in the situation, whether its an expansion or diminishing of their presence. It really added depth to the story. This love story was so pure because it was based on the foundation of finding love while also healing from the loss of a spouse. Feyi and Alim both found that in each other. I'll admit that the connection didn't feel strong to me, maybe it's because of all the messiness that it took to get them to that point and how quickly everything happened. Also, Joy was the comedic relief that I needed. She was always on point and I loved that about her, even though it seemed like she was struggling with some stuff in her own life.

For anyone who wants to follow along a messy, grieving character who is figuring herself out this book is for you. I think I went in with wrong expectations, because I figured this would be a romance novel - spoiler alert, it isn’t.

This is a story about how a young woman finds herself after losing the love of her life. It isn’t clean. It isn’t simple. And it definitely isn’t conventional. While I enjoyed the realistic nature of how Feyi went through life, I didn’t have enough time with the love interests to really care. I felt for Feyi (and I love Joy), but this is for literary fiction readers more than romance readers.

If you like Sally Rooney (but lighter hearted), I think you would like this. Complex female character, tropical vacation with friends, deeper messages of loneliness, etc.