STUNNING cover! 10/10 am obsessed but sadly the story wasn't quite as compelling for me. I loved the idea of following three college friends as their lives and loves evolve over thirty years. However I found the way the story went back and forth in time and switched POVs between each of the three women to be a bit hard to follow. I loved learning more about Nigerian culture and traditions and really enjoyed seeing how the women's friendship altered over the years. Some heavy issues were handled, including gun violence and abortion. Recommended for fans of These impossible things by Salma El-Wardany. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

This book was DNF'ed due to different preferences in writing style. The rating was given so as not to hurt the general rating of this book.

A story about three Nigerian women who meet in college. They form a bond that lasts into adulthood. It's also a story about relationships between husbands and wives, mothers and daughters, and the women themselves.

Well-written and realistic. The dialogue brought me back to my time in Ghana, West Africa.

Book review: 'Dele Weds Destiny' a touching story about power of female friendship
By ASHLEY RIGGLESON FOR THE FREE LANCE–STAR Jul 9, 2022

Based on the premise of Tomi Obaro’s début novel, “Dele Weds Destiny,” I was not sure that I would like it. I decided to try it anyway, and I am so glad I did. I loved this novel!

“Dele Weds Destiny,” it has very little to do with these characters. Instead, it follows the mother of the bride, Funmi, and her two college friends, Enitan and Zainab. It has been many years since they have all been together, but all three come to see Destiny get married. Obaro starts with the present moment, exploring the relationship dynamics between these three women, and showing how they have grown away from each other over the years. Later, she delves into the past, describing what happened to each of the women during their college days and explores how they became the women they are. Meanwhile, although she does not talk about it, Destiny seems to be in crisis, and readers wonder whether she will have a happy ending.

“Dele Weds Destiny” is truly a lovely book. Obaro’s voice is warm and wise, and there are many tender moments here. Obaro depicts something not often seen in literature. This is a work in which, though they do sometimes betray each other, three female friends come together to love and support each other.

This novel is also incredibly smart. It has been about thirty years since Funmi, Enitan, and Zainab were last together, and Obaro uses their individual life paths to discuss a variety of issues, including (unsurprisingly) family and friendship dynamics, immigration, Nigerian class structure, patriarchal norms and more.

While “Dele Weds Destiny” is, overall, a very touching novel, some readers may wish to know that there are some traumatic events discussed in these pages, And I would like to warn readers that there is a scene about an abortion that could be triggering for some.

I love other Nigerian writers, and I have been waiting eagerly for a new voice. I think Tomi Obaro is that voice, and although this novel has some flaws, I am looking forward to seeing what she does in the future. “Dele Weds Destiny” is poignant and well-paced. Obaro tells a stunning and feminist tale about being yourself and claiming the life you want.

Ashley Riggleson is a freelance reviewer from Rappahannock County.

This review was originally printed in The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, VA.

This novel bears a striking resemblance to These Impossible Things, coming soon from Grand Central. Both novels feature trios of women bonded at college because of cultural connections, Nigerian here, Muslim there. Both explore relationship choices and are connected by wedding preparations for a marriage that doesn’t in the end happen. The other book is more obviously a genre offering, and includes comedy as well as drama. But it has an ease and a charm that isn’t so apparent here. This novel takes a more serious line and possibly intends to be more literary. Both novels are compelling in their soapy ways. Both are being published for reasons to do with a greater emphasis on Black and Brown writers. Is this a great, unique book? No. But it’s engaging and culturally informative.

This novel tackles many issues, class, ageism, religion and how we each imagine our lives versus how they turn out. These women, friends, and in many ways friends, carry such history and yet hide from one another some of the most fundamental aspects of their lives. Compelling read.

- DELE WEDS DESTINY is a beautiful character study of three wildly different women, whose friendship has endured across decades, distance, and differences.
- I was quite engrossed in their stories, particularly once we got to the flashback section and found out where the cracks in their relationships began.
- However, I found the ending totally abrupt. Not only did the book end at the climactic moment, but hardly anything that was unearthed in the flashbacks was addressed in the present day, and not in any let's-work-through-it sort of way. It was just told to us and then left there. I found it to be a bit baffling for a story and characters that had such promise.

I don’t read the blurb or summary of the book I’m going to read or when I’m buying books. I rely on the title, author and the cover. This is the case with this book. The cover is beautiful no doubt about that and of me wanting to love this book but turns out just okay.

The title doesn’t talk about the Dele and Destiny, not even their life or how the met. This is about the lives of three friends from their University days in Nigeria until they grow old and have a family. One of their children is getting married and they reunite in Lagos after thirty years. Basically, that’s the story is all about. Nothing life shocking issues, no big twists, not much drama, nothing new to add to the blurb and I wish there are more to the story.


I love the author’s take on the past and present Nigerian culture, the old and the new ways. I like how she presents the three characters past which I find more interesting than their current lives. They are not perfect with their flaws and all but they are just okay. I don’t think there are any stand outs and nothing that much in-depth about each one. I am expecting it to be like Nikki May’s Wahala, which I enjoyed very much, but not much different to add to the dynamic friendship. But would I read anything the author writes in the future? Defintely! Still enjoy her writing given that it’s a debut novel/

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you @netgalley for an advanced copy of this book. I love reading about complicated friendships, generational differences, and the Nigerian setting. I spent many years in Nigeria during the 80s and I loved reading about the food and the culture. This is a slow-burn character story of three women Funmi, Enitan, and Zainab to celebrate the wedding of Funmi's daughter Destiny. These three women have stayed close over the years and I enjoyed the book's focus on their friendships as they mature. We are introduced to the characters at the start of the book and then we go back in time to look at these characters as young women and how they have evolved. I found the ending a little abrupt and underwhelming but overall a good debut!

This novel is interesting and compelling but it felt unfinished. It appears that while the author managed to give insight into the characters’ upbringing and coming of age, a large part of what seems to be the point of the story is left out, this making this novel incomplete. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style and the evocative situations and decisions portrayed but am disappointed at what can only be described as a missed opportunity for a developed arc. I look forward to another book from the writer and, if it should be a sequel to this one, all the better.

This was a perfectly good book. If you enjoy a gossipy, emotional female friendship story, you’ll love it. I feel like the beginning dragged on for a bit too long (there was a lot of telling, not showing) and the daughter characters were stereotypes and could have used some more development. Not the best book about female relationships I’ve read, but still fun. Also enjoyed reading and learning more about Nigerian culture. It’s an easy read, I’d recommend it.

Honestly? I fell in love with the cover of this book and immediately requested it on NetGalley. I didn't know what I was really getting into, but this debut took me by total surprise. Set in Lagos, three friends from college are reunited when one of their daughters gets married. Each lady led a very different lifestyle and it was interesting to see how each of their individual choices worked out for them. Ultimately, I enjoyed this book that celebrates female friendships and demonstrated the ups and downs of life so well. I especially liked Part Two and that's where the book took off for me. I have seen some say the publisher's blurb gives away too much, so maybe steer clear about reading that until you've finished the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this eARC.

Funmi, Enitan and Zainab have come together for the first time in many years to celebrate the wedding of Funmi’s daughter, Destiny. They have stayed in touch since university, and their friendship remains close—a sisterhood, really—in spite of the trials they have encountered along the way, both personally, and through the ups and downs of the friendship.

I love what Obaro did with the timeline of the book, first introducing us to the characters in the present day, and then taking us back to the university years to flesh them out, and finally bringing us back again. I found that my initial view of Funmi, especially, changed, as I understood more about her background; but all the characters are taken through plausible and interesting arcs.

This is not exactly a light read, and falls more into the category of literary fiction, in spite of the seeming lightness of the main plot. My only criticism, really is that—in the ARC, at least—there is a lot of telling, and I look forward to reading the published book, which will hopefully be a tighter story.

A lovely and enjoyable read about older women, their path to maturity, and their relationships. Also a good read about mothers and daughters.

My rating: 7/10. Well worth picking up.

Dele weds Destiny
An interesting piece of contemporary African literature centred on three female characters whose lives have led them on very different paths, since their days together at university. The characters reconnect during a wedding. I found the characterisation sound – the descriptions of the characters inner life was well done. There were strong themes coming across about being an African woman in modern Africa and the diaspora, that is, what it means to be a contemporary middle age woman, also a very strong theme of contemporary African motherhood. All this was well done. I found the work reminiscent of Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a yellow Sun and Americannah.
The novel has a dual timeline flashing back to Nigeria in the 1980s and then to 2015. I think that the 1980s Nigeria and student life during that time was well done – the modern storyline felt abit weak although I do understand that the writer wanted us to see the transformation and growth of the main three characters but I found the 1980s storyline very interesting and the characterisation and motivations of three women came across very strong in this timeframe. I also felt that the ending was abrupt and could have given the reader some closure. All in all a found the book very interesting and I would recommend this book for African literature classes and particularly women’s fiction. I look forward to reading more from Tomi Obaro.

This is a slow-burn drama that spans multiple decades and focuses on three strong female characters--it's a recipe for a strong debut, and Obaro delivers. She explores Funmi, Enitan, and Zainab's history and personalities in a tender and thorough way; I felt like I really got to know them and that she cared about her characters while writing this. Admittedly, the section of the book that focuses on their youth is more compelling than the present-day events, but the whole thing is strong. There are parts of the story that end abruptly (especially the, well, actual end of the book) or could have used more depth, but not everything can be wrapped up neatly.

A trio of Nigerian women who are old college friends reunite as adult women in their 50s for the wedding of one of their daughters. Unfortunately, this novel fell flat for me. I wished the flashbacks to their college days were fully integrated with the present day scenes instead of separated into different sections of the novel. Perhaps this is trivial, but I’m not a fan of the title at all. Based on the title, I thought more of the story would center around Destiny, the wedding, and perhaps how her relationship with Dele relates to her mother’s romantic relationship. While mother-daughter relationships were touched on a bit, I didn’t think they were fully fleshed out or at the core of the story. I did enjoy that the author showed us each woman’s romantic past and how this influenced her romantic present. However, I would have liked more of the emotional connections the women had to be for one another in their friendship over the years, rather than their character arcs to focus on their specifically their romantic relationships with men.

This was a good story, but it was also a little underwhelming for me.

I enjoyed getting a look at Nigerian culture and a big wedding, but the individual story lines of the three friends - Funmi, Enitan and Zainab - we’re just fine. Perhaps I went in thinking it would be a bit more exciting based on the synopsis, or perhaps it was just the right book at the wrong time.

The way the story was laid out felt weird to me. How it jumped between the three women. And then jumped from present to past to share their childhood/college experiences.

I was also expecting the big ending moment to be bigger and it was underwhelming. Basically this book was very literary fiction which just isn’t my genre.

I think this will be great for people wanting family and friendship drama. (3.5 rounded up)

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

Three long term friends get together as grown women to celebrate a wedding. They learn many things about each other's lives.

Dele Weds Destiny
by Tom Obaro
Pub Date: June 28, 2022
Knopf
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. For fans of His Only Wife, this was a great follow-up to experience an unfamiliar culture and experience well-developed characters.
Dele Weds Destiny is a novel about mothers and daughters, Nigeria & America, and above all the power of female friendship.
Good read!
3 stars

Dele Weds Destiny
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 6/28/22
Author: Tomi Obaro
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Pages: 256
Goodreads Rating: 3.77

TW ⚠️: Abortion, Violence

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing Group for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Funmi, Enitan, and Zainab first meet at university in Nigeria and become friends for life despite their differences. Now, some thirty years later, the three women are reunited for the first time, in Lagos. The occasion: Funmi's daughter, Destiny, is getting married. But as the big day approaches, it becomes clear that something is not right.

My Thoughts: The narrators are the three women, Funmi, Enitan, and Zainab, told from their POV. Each chapter is clear on which voice it belongs to, which I love to see in books. The POV also switches the timeline from the past, to the present. This is a slow burn that driven by the characters. The author takes the time to explore each of the women, what they did, where they have been, and where their lives are headed; I appreciated this aspect. The focus of this debut novel was on friendship, how beautiful it can be, how challenging it can be, and how rewarding it can be. The author’s writing was creative, inventive, and engaging. The ending seemed rushed and not complete. May this opens it up into another book, as a series. Either way, overall, it was a good read that I enjoyed.