She’s back! And she does not disappoint.

This is a timely commentary, with a touch of COVID, some he said she said, and a bunch of friendship and family and love. With all the mess that comes with.

One thing Ms. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie does so well is bring characters to life. These women are easy to like, root for, and, at times, people the reader may want to reach through the pages and tell, ‘open your eyes!’ There are also secondary characters who are wonderful and/or terrible. All are beautifully written.

Settings mostly from the US and Nigeria- with stops around the world,( as one of the main characters is a travel writer)- are colorful and lush. Food is tasted, sights are imagined, sunshine is felt.

And the story: No one can tug the heartstrings quite like this- female expectations, friendships and family are the main focus, but a reader can easily find much more in here. Like systemic racism, misogyny, classism, and grief, just for starters. The language is exquisite- each word is chosen to perfection.

This story moves along at a nice pace. 400 pages were enough, but if she’d wanted to, I’d have read more. However, the end was perfect.

I’m so happy to have been able to read an ARC of this book- thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read and review this novel from one of my must-read authors! Highly recommend

I love Achichie's writing and have loved every one of her previous books, but I could not get myself to finish this one. The writing is beautiful as always, but I couldn't relate the characters. I like reflective characters but I admit to finding the reflections of the first two stories (as far as I got) to actually be tedious and not terribly insightful. I missed having any kind of story, and I got tired of the seemingly endless stream of unlikeable men. I am quite depressed about this as I had been looking forward to this book for a long time.
I will not be posting this review elsewhere as it was not positive.

This was my first novel by CN Adichie and I went in totally blind. I can definitely see the talent in her writing but wish I would’ve started with an earlier book. This brought up the tender and angst filled days of early covid where we were forced into a quarantine situation. I think it was a vivid reminder of time spent wanting and needing to be with loved ones. The characters individual stories did not tie together for me. The book seemed too long and did not flow well at all.
Thank you NetGalley, CN Adichie and Knopf Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review Dream Count. It was beautifully written but was not the book for me. I could not get past the first character's storyline for Chiamaker, living the loneliness of the Covid-19 epidemic and considering her prior relationships. It may be because, as a health care worker, I lived the stress of uncertainty and loss of life that was associated with that time period and the writing was so authentic, it brought out too many negative emotions. Also, it hurt to see Chia trying so desperately to please her self-righteous, resentful partner who continued to take advantage of her wealth while criticizing everything about her. This was a DNF for me but hope many others can appreciate it.

I am in love with Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche's work and this one was no exception. I will enjoy everything written by this author

Firstly, Dream Count is Adichie's first fiction book published in a decade, and needless to say, the book community is elated. I had been eagerly awaiting to read this book for so long, and the best thing was that it was exactly as beautiful as I thought it would be. Adichie is a proficient writer, and her prose is readably profound, flowing smoothly through digressions, and the emotional core of this story engrossed me thoroughly.

This story is about four women: Chiamaka, Zikora, Kadiatou, and Omelogor, who are unlikely friends in many ways, and the way they navigate the disconnect between their expectations from life and their realities. Each character is carved out meticulously by Adichie, their interconnected stories explored from different perspectives, their thoughts realistic and discrete. Every time I believed to had understood a character, Adichie revealed another layer, and I grappled with how to feel about them. I ended this book with a lot of thoughts, a lot of feelings, and a lot of respect for Adichie's raw talent for writing.

Reminiscence and yearning lie at the core of this book. All of the women are in their early to older forties, looking back on their lives, and pondering what they could have done differently. Very little in the name of plot appears, and when it does, it is visceral and poignant, beyond infuriating. For a book that is so feminist and that centers women and their lives, it revolves quite a bit around men. Then again, it makes sense in the context of the meaning behind the name of this book. The central question that runs through this novel is <i>What is it to be truly known?</i>

Adichie writes in her author's note, <i> Novels are never really about what they are about</i>, as she reveals what really led her to write this narrative, and end it as she did. So much is packed and explored in this novel—race, belonging, class issues, societal norms, immigration, sexism, corruption, morality, and choice. The characters, with all their differences, embody different belief systems that clash sometimes, and turning the lens upon them through each other's gazes as well as tertiary characters is an innovative written analysis of coexistence.

I'm not even sure who to recommend this to. The writing gets ornate to the point of flowery, the setting seems more haphazard than intentional, and you don't really get a resolution or tension in the story so much as endless introspection. I fell in love with the book, so I'd still herald this as an absolute work of art, and I'd say pick this up if you want a story with a deep emotive core and masterful writing.

Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor publishing for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thought provoking. Interesting. Sometimes confusing. This book was all of this and more. It is a long read, so be prepared for that when you settle in with it. It's also a bit painful at times as you think about our current situation in the U.S.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

Thank you to NetGalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for allowing me to read this work prior to its publication date. Set dying COVID lockdown, “Dream Count” is centered around four women grappling with lost love, regrets, sexuality, abuse and identity. It reads like four short stories, but the narrative is woven together seamlessly. “Dream Count” focuses on the many identities women carry, and the expectations that accompany them.

An achingly beautiful story of four interwoven women who share stories of feminism, motherhood, fulfillment, love, family, and race. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s skill shines brightly throughout the novel.

The Afterword is particularly excellent.

“What is it to attempt to fictionally humanize a person? "Humanize." Of course she is human. It is rather to create a character as rumination on what this often-quoted notion of humanizing means. As an idea it is solemn, serious, somber. But as experience it is messy and unformed, laughter and pain, cowardice and bravery, it is how we let ourselves and others down, how we emerge or don't from our failings, how we are petty, how we try to overcome and strive to improve, how we seethe in our self-pity, how we fail, how we hold on tenaciously to hope. There is grandeur to our humanity, but to be human day to day is not, and should not be, an endless procession of virtue. A victim need not be perfect to be deserving of justice.”

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

A story about four women, connected by family and friendship, and the longings, desires, and challenges of their lives. There is a large focus on love in particular, with some absolutely painful relationship dynamics that were tough to read at times, especially in these otherwise strong women. The book takes place in both America and Nigeria, and as usual Adichie's writing is strong. The different sections on each woman feel more like loosely linked novellas, which was fine but not what I was originally expecting or hoping for. I was much more interested in each woman's family relationships than I was in their romantic ones. Overall, a strong novel but not my favorite of Adichie's. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for a digital review copy.

Dream Count follows four African women (Chiamaka, Zikora, Kadiatou, and Omelogor). The story centers around Chiamaka as she recalls her previous relationships and choices during the pandemic. It also follows the perspective of Zikora (Chiamaka's cousin who experiences a devasting heartbreak), Kadiatou (Chiamaka's housekeeper who faces a difficult hardship), and Omelogor (Chiamaka's outspoken cousin).

I may be in the minority, but I did not love this book as much as I thought I would. The book started SO strong. Instead of alternating POV chapters, each character's story is told almost in a novella format. I didn't mind this structure, but each "novella" read like individual stories and didn't really intersect with each other, except for Kadiatou's story. Also, Kadiatou was the only character who had a true ending to her journey. The story of the other three characters tapered off at the end.

I liked that the theme of this book was self-reflection. I enjoyed Chaimaka's introductory story the most, while Kaidtou's was the most heartbreaking.

This was the first book I've read by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and I'm not sure if this was the best introduction to her work. The writing style was beautiful, so I'm definitely willing to read some of her older books. I recommend reading this if you enjoy:

- Books that have African perspectives
-Character-driven stories
-Multiple POVs

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

There were several things i enjoyed about the book...the harsh reality that are some of their stories, the depictions of life in various African countries, the realities of dating Black women in America. But I found the book to be overly long and with too many similar stories among the women. While i liked the structure, I never felt that it pulled the characters together in a cohesive way. As an example, the character of Omeligor was interesting and it mentions that she is going to therapy but there is no "self-awareness" that comes from that therapy. For a relatively long book, most of the character's stories seemed unfinished.

If you have not read this author, I would suggest you go back to Americanah.

I really liked this book and how it built on each woman's life and how they interconnected, but I did find it challenging when the perspectives switched to get back into each story. Also each story was non-linear and kept skipping around over the course of each POV which also made it a bit hard to follow at times.

Set during Covid times, this book follows four strong women. It is reflective and poignant while highlighting the emotional consequences of the choices we make. Adichie's uncanny ability to beautifully capture pain was a highlight throughout the novel.

Early on, I felt fairly certain this would be one of my favorite books of all time. I wanted to just read the book for the rest of my life. Its split up into four very different perspectives, but the voice of Chia to me was the most engaging and powerful. I found Kadiatou's story pretty depressing. I don't know I guess I was liking the direction of the book going toward self reflection of past relationships and the rumination on those failures, the question of why exactly we end up here, current day. I think that this was a powerful and very relatable theme, the very human aspect of this reflection while enduring the uncertainty of the pandemic. The writing was beautiful and quotable and lovely.

To realize that Kadiatou's story is based loosely on true events is even more upsetting, but of course completely believable and infuriating. But I am exhausted with everyday infuriation. This book simply put me over the edge. Maybe this is why I placed the star rating lower and left me feeling glad to be done with it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie knows how to write about women. I discovered this by reading her "Americanah" many years ago and was surprised by how beautiful and insightful the author's view of women was. What great news is that after a 10-year break from fiction, one of my favorite authors is back with a new novel, "Dream Count." "Dream Count" is about the lives of four Nigerian women and takes place partially in Nigeria and partially in the US. Knowing that I may sound shallow, it reminded me of the almost legendary now original TV series "Sex and the City." However, "Dream Count" is, of course, much deeper, more elevated, and simply a literary gem. It's also highly entertaining, touching, and a joy to read.

Chiamaka, the main character, is a young woman and travel writer from a wealthy family who doesn't have to worry about money. She's a dreamer in search of true love, and as a beautiful, intelligent woman, she draws the attention of many men, yet no one understands her completely - and some of her choices in men are simply awful! Chia's best friend is Zikora, a successful lawyer, who worries that she's still unmarried and childless at thirty-one, a disappointment to her family.  Another woman, Omelogor, is a financial wizard, and eventually, she uses the traditionally male world of Nigerian finance to help people, almost like the Robin Hood character. She is also the most outspoken of all four women and intimidating to men; however, she also attracts them because of her self-assurance. Then there is Kadiatou, who immigrated to the US to give her daughter a better future. She is Chiamaka's housekeeper and a great cook, working two jobs. Her life dramatically changes in just one day, and it's the most heartbreaking story of the injustice to read about in "Dream Count."

The novel is written in chapters, each devoted to one woman and showing her perspective while interweaving with other women's stories. I love this format: it was clear and allowed me to explore one character at a time. I noticed that one chapter of this book was published in the recent issue of New Yorker magazine, celebrating its 100th anniversary, proving that it could be read as a separate piece, a teaser to reach for the novel.

"Dream Count" is an extraordinary book about women, about life and love, that can be discovered on many levels: the relationships between women and men, parents and children, the immigrant issues of fitting in while preserving one's own culture, and the pretense of being tolerant while not able to see the deeper problems. And, as I mentioned, it's just such a good read—the kind of novel you want to read one more page!

This book is a deeply moving and thought-provoking novel that explores love, loss, and the weight of choices through the lives of four remarkable women. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has this rare gift of making characters feel so real, so lived-in, that I found myself deeply invested in Chiamaka, Zikora, Omelogor, and Kadiatou. Each of these women is wrestling with love, loss, and the weight of their choices, and I saw pieces of myself in their struggles, their regrets, and their quiet hopes.

I especially connected with the way the novel explored female friendships and mother-daughter relationships. The tension between love and expectation, the way we hurt the people closest to us without meaning to—it all felt painfully authentic. And as always, Adichie’s writing is both beautiful and razor-sharp.

The only reason I’m giving this four stars instead of five is that some storylines wrapped up a little too quickly for me—I wanted more time to sit with certain moments. But even so, this book stayed with me long after I turned the last page. It’s a story about love in all its messy, complicated forms, and it’s one I won’t forget anytime soon.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received this book because I moderate for BookBrowse.com's book club, and this book will be the focus of an upcoming discussion. Because of that, I haven't written my usual 600+ word review, since my employer hasn't paid me to review the novel.

... And I have to say I'm grateful that I didn't pick this as a review book. It was such as disappointment! I've loved this author's other work, and I was shocked at how much I hated this one. It may be my age and temperament, but seeing these young, talented women obsess over men and having children just seemed so silly. Or perhaps I couldn't get into it for cultural reasons; my family never made husband/children a priority. And it made me angry that they kept choosing such awful men.

The only part of the book I thought was worthwhile was Kadiatou's story, but even there, after her chapter ended the rest of her story wasn't well-developed.

Sorry, but I haven't disliked a book this much in a long time.

I have always enjoyed/admired Adichie's writing, and this book is no exception. Dream Count focuses on the stories of multiple women navigating the difficulties of life, love, and trauma. While there were moments in the story that I could not relate/connect to, I still found value in reading the women's stories. Some story elements may be triggering, but I highly recommend others read this book.

There is no question that Chimamanda is a beautiful writer. We follow 4 women who struggle with many things including relationships, trauma, cultural identity, and their own desires. Unfortunately some of the characters storylines I had a hard time connecting with since it was just a lot of choosing bad men and then repeat. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the format. I felt there was so much more that could have been explored and woven together instead of the multiple povs. Just be warned that Kadi's chapter is absolutely gut wrenching and I encourage everyone to look up trigger warnings before proceeding.