I don’t usually read romance books. I picked this up because I’ve read all of Emezi’s other books and have loved all of them! This one is no exception. Emezi is such a good writer and storyteller! This was fun and steamy and well-written!

WOW! I really had no idea what I was stepping into with this book but the writing was incredible! The visualization of the landscape and area our main characters reside in is breathtaking. Very steamy but completely appropriate for the storyline. I love a good artist story too! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The perfect summer read, get ready for messy and summer vibes. After not dating for eight years, the main character decides to start dating- you wont believe what happens next.

I will say that I think the characters/the romance involved lacked any and all substance, and it was not an enjoyable read for that reason.

DNF. Unfortunately, this was a book I started multiple times but could just not get into. I appreciate having the opportunity to read this book, it was just not a good fit for me as a reader. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my gifted review copy.

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING!!! I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT. It was the perfect story and right amount of smut.

I really wanted to like this, and I did like the characters, especially Joy. I think that romance might not be my genre, but I also just wasn’t rooting for any of the couples in the story. I liked the second half better than the first, but in the end I was left just feeling meh.

From the first paragraph, I knew this book would be a good one. I immersed myself into the book from the first chapter and I cannot say enough good things about this book! Honestly amazing! The writing is incredible and the plot is just one to die for. I am absolutely obsessed with this book. My favorite part would have to be the character development throughout the book. Character development is something I look forward to and this book did not disappoint.

Lush, and messy, and sumptuous, and queer - I adored this book. It was beautiful and tender, and bold and ferocious and unapologetic, and i honestly haven’t read anything like it before. Truly incredible.

This book is unapologetic in every aspect of its main character Feyi's choices. The story at times feels reckless and is meant to be on purpose. At least that's how I read it. This is a grieving 29-year-old story. She is in a sad transition because she doesn't feel good about commitment. Not after such a loving and consistent presence with her dead husband five years before.

Everything comes down to either pushing away in the name of friendship or folding to desire. I think it's beautiful how the loss of something makes it easier to step back. To not feel pressured to commit to a romantic relationship. And this is the aspect of this story that I related to throughout the majority of the story in certain ways.


Fair warning I finished this book back and February this year and this is my review from Storygraph but with the last line slightly changed. I still feel the same about this book. It's so good.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is my first read by Akwaeke Emezi. Feyi is a young widow navigating her life again after the sudden and tragic death of her husband. As an artist, she is coming into the prime of her life. Socially, she is putting herself back out there, not looking for anything lasting; just a moment with someone. Feyi now lives with her best friend in New York and her life is about to change again. After meeting Nazir and taking a chance trip back home with him to unwind, as friends, her life may never be the same. Nazir has connections and Feyi finds herself in one of the best galleries to show off her newest exhibit. Finally someone is taking notice of her work and her. Feyi finds herself in the company of Nazir's father and she can't look away. Could she fall for an older man, her "friend's" father?!
Akwaeke Emezi shows us an uplifting story of learning to live again after tragedy. I really enjoyed her story of Feyi. But take note this story is not for the faint of heart, the language is real and so is the sex. If you are easily offended, this is probably not for you.
Special thanks to NetGalley, Awaeke Emezi, and Atria Books for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. I will be recommending this one to all my book loving friends! 4 stars!
#NetGalley

A very interesting, unconventional love story wrapped around grief. The writing is very well done, and the characters fleshed out. It is a polarizing book for sure, but I was not put off by the romance element. I really enjoyed this o e!

Akwaeke Emezi never ceases to amaze me. They are constantly reinventing themselves; nimbly switching from genre to genre. I have loved each and every one of their books and <b>You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty</b> is no exception.

While y'all already know I am not a romance fan by any measure . . . and let's just say that things got heated HOT, HOT, HOT real fast . . . Emezi just has a way with words.

<b>You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty</b> is reminiscent of Terry McMillan's [book:How Stella Got Her Groove Back|122205] with Feyi's roomate Joy being the comically loyal Delilah to her Stella. Feyi is still going through the stages of grief after losing her husband Jonah five years ago to a horrific accident.

Feyi makes a compelling and intriguing, if not messy character, as she turns away from depression and numbness to exploring life and her sexuality.

<blockquote><i>“He loved people being messy as fuck—he said it was one of the best things about being human, how we could make such disasters and recover from them enough to make them into stories later.”</i>
― <b>Akwaeke Emezi, You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty</b></blockquote>

Emezi's descriptions exude sensuality. Not just in depicting the sexual act, but also in the way they describe the island and Nasir's home, Alim's concoctions, and Feyi's art.

<img src ="https://static.onecms.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2021/10/11/Akwaeke-Emezi-author-photo-1_by-Vo.jpg"/>

In an interview with Elle magazine, Emezi said that they were inspired by the lyrics of Florence + the Machine's song <b>Hunger</b> and the very notion that by living life - freely and unapologetically - one could conquer death.

<blockquote><i>Oh, and you in all your vibrant youth
How could anything bad ever happen to you?
You make a fool of death with your beauty, and for a moment
I forget to worry.</i></blockquote>

This was a DNF for me. It wasn’t the right time or the right mood so I only got 1/3 through my copy. I’d like to revisit it as I’m curious about the trouble and drama that ensues but at my initial attempt I was just impatient.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4.5/5⭐️⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝: : This book was intense from start to finish. Although it is labeled as a romance, it is as much about self discovery as it is about finding love. The grief that both Feyi and Alim are going through is palpable, and their connection is so clear from the moment they met. I loved that their relationship was so focused on how they related to one another through lived experience, and I loved witnessing Feyi’s strength and determination as she experienced the highs and lows of her second chance to love.

I also really enjoyed the exploration of Feyi’s relationship with Nasir and the focus on how, even though he was a “good guy” he didn’t have any right to feel entitled to her love and affection. That really struck a nerve with me and it was an element that I was grateful Emezi focused on.

As is always the case with Emezi’s writing, this novel is beautifully written, and Feyi is a perfectly imperfect main character.
⁣⁣⁣
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞: I never fully connected with any of the characters besides Feyi, and found myself wishing I knew more about Alim, Joy, and Nasir.

DNF @32%
2022; Atria Books, Simon& Schuster Canada

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is a great title on a gorgeous cover. Emezi's writing is both realistic and beautiful, but this novel, or rather the story, did not work for me. I was pretty hooked the first 15-20% of the book, and was down to go on this journey with Feyi (Fay-he). What turned me off a bit was that Feyi seems to have love at first sight with every gorgeous man she meets. And going from friend to father, seemed a bit too much for me. Emery's writing and characters did remind me of Terry McMillan's novels. That gave me a great moment of nostalgia.

I am in the minority of not loving this novel, so please check out some of the great 4-5 stars reviews to see if maybe you would be more into it. I did see some reviews that thought it was a "trashy romance" (which I don't see as a negative thing) but I don't think I would call it that. There is a lot going on in this book, serious issues, and I think this is a realistic look at the emotions. Maybe not the rich bf/friend who flies you to be in a Art show while meeting his celebrity chef father, but like reality show real ;)

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss and Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

Some day, I will reread this book, and when I do, I’ll annotate it, and probably have to hold myself back from underlining half the book. I love Akwaeke Emezi’s writing. They have a talent for distilling complicated experiences and emotions in just a few words that pack a very strong punch.

When I heard they’d written a romance, I couldn’t picture what that would look like. THE DEATH OF VIVEK OJI was one of my favorite books of 2020, and I was curious (and excited!) to see what “romance” would look like coming from the same author.

But in my mind, this isn’t a romance novel. Yes, it has sex and yearning and tropes. But this book is about Feyi and her art and her having a hot girl summer that helps her move forward from the trauma that’s been weighing her down. It’s possible I feel this way because the tropes here aren’t the ones I gravitate towards (insta-love and age gap), which means I enjoyed the first half of this book more than the second. The romance itself is very quick, plot-wise, but Feyi’s introspection about her feelings are drawn out and sticky and full of Emezi’s incredible writing.

I’d recommend this book for people who liked SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE, another romance novel that felt like so much more than a love story.

I received an ARC of You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty from Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.

After Pet and The Death of Vivek Oji, of course I would be reading the latest Akwaeke Emezi. Of course! I was eager to find out what they would do in the realm of romance, a genre of which I desperately need to read more—and the lush cover and title didn’t hurt. But You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty, although beautifully written, features a frustrating lack of conflict, and it glamorizes unhealthy relationships under the guise of true love. It made me feel gross.

Five years after the death of her husband, Jonah (who was apparently perfect in every way and therefore a very boring character; thankfully, he is dead), Feyi is learning to love again. First she dates Milan, who seems pretty decent, and then Nasir, who seems pretty decent, and then, um—Nasir’s father? Who she has known for roughly five minutes? Whose house (located in a tropical paradise) Nasir takes her to, and where she stays free of charge? Sure, it’s a discomforting power dynamic and age difference; sure, the relationship doesn’t have chemistry or a chance to develop over time; sure, Feyi and Alim can’t be bothered to communicate with Nasir or his sister; only one thing matters, according to You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty—he’s hot.

Yikes!

(To be clear: yes, people make poor decisions in real life, and I expect them to make poor decisions in fiction too. But the issue isn’t the decisions—it’s the tacit endorsement of those decisions by the text, and it’s how uninteresting the characters making those decisions are.)

But it’s not just Alim: everyone in this book is beautiful. While I appreciated the affirmations of Black beauty, the apparent nonexistence of non-beautiful people in this world detaches it from reality (it reminded me of HBO’s Insecure in this particular respect, but Insecure has something else going for it, which is that it’s good). The depictions of Feyi’s experiences with the art world also struck me as deeply dishonest—everything she makes is brilliant, and everyone she meets wants to give her outrageous amounts of money for more of her brilliant art. Even if we accept that Feyi is extraordinarily lucky, I don’t think there’s anything interesting about a character who never struggles, has everything handed to them, and shows no self-awareness of that luck.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty has one saving grace, which is the quality of the writing. I never had an actively bad time reading it. But the more I think about it, the more it sours and curdles in my brain. Fiction is fueled by conflict and Emezi’s latest is running on fumes, and the characters are not compelling enough to outweigh the damaging and dangerous messages perpetuated here (trauma does not excuse hurting other people!). I recommend Emezi’s previous work, but I can’t comfortably do so with You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty.

This book is nothing like Emezi's prior works. I knew that going in. I knew it was a romance. And was it? Well... mostly? But whatever it's genre labeling, whatever the expectations, this is just great. It was a lot more heartfelt than I was expecting, and deals with trauma and family drama and finding oneself after tragedy with gorgeous prose. I don't think I would have made the same choices as the heroine, but I could understand her motivations. And I liked that even though her choice (with her new lover) is far from the typical, it makes sense... mostly... and there are no easy answers.

I actually liked the meditations on art, and self-representation, the best of all of this. Whether it's cooking or visual arts, these are characters who represent the world with their hands. Just as Emezi represents the world with their words. I really loved the prose, and it's sparse elegance matched Feyi.

I really enjoyed this. Not just because of the gorgeous cover and great title (which I adored), but I loved the vibrant writing and language. It’s a sexy, sultry, messy love story, not for those who find insta-love annoying (I’m not one of them!) The complicated, intense attraction and connection through personal loss and creativity made sense to me. And I really rooted for Feyi. I connected with all her messiness, her insecurities and self doubt, her walls she put up one minute, only to take impulsive risks the next. Great summery read.