Vagabonds! was one of my top reads of 2022, and I was eager to dive into Osunde's newest.

Necessary Fiction explores the stories we tell ourselves—and the stories that create ourselves. Like Vagabonds! it is told mostly through interconnected short stories, this time weaving in and out of a queer friend group in Lagos. While spirits do make an occasional appearance here, they are not nearly as central as in Vagabonds!. Still Osunde’s voice is full of magic when exploring these characters’ lives. The friend group itself in some ways is the spirit, and as a reader we get a peek into the vastness of it. And it is almost like we are being welcomed into the group over the course of the novel, being introduced to members’ histories in fragmented pieces, learning a story that has continued to build as a collective over the years. A story that is not told in an easy, linear way. With language that is practically poetry with lines like “rebels with strong knees,” the voice manages to be both lethargic and reflective, but also incredibly urgent. Full of promise and pain.

The character study and reflections are the main driver here. There is an extensive cast of characters, and the narrative trusts us to keep up as we weave in and out of them. I will admit, especially at the beginning, I did appreciate the character list so I could double-check myself on relationships as we switched between points-of-view. We follow our main modern friend group, but we also explore how they’ve been shaped by their parents, with occasional peaks into the lives, and disappointments, that lead to the present pains, predominantly around expectations and expressions of queer identity throughout the generations. And while there is triumph in writing a story in spite of this, there is also grief to be explored in both the before and how it bleeds into the present. And, especially in part 1, I enjoyed the explorations of how there is no space for loud grief in the city, especially with Maro. And this novel makes room for the fullness of that emotion with understanding, in some ways serving as a purging of that emotion, while still feeling tempered. This is not a book I rushed myself through but one I allowed myself to experience in small sips, letting the full spectrum wash over me. And, ultimately, this is about what makes a family, the families we’re born into and the families we find.

Complex, layered, tender, bold, and necessary. Thank you, Eloghosa, for writing the stories you do and for the way you write them. Thank you for Yemisi and Awele, Isoken, Tega and Hassan, Maro and Jekwu, and every other character in Necessary Fiction. Also, really fascinating to me is the way Eloghosa uses language, and how they take their time to carefully describe everything, which makes everything in the book seem so intentional. I also really appreciate the fluidity of Necessary Fiction and how each story takes its own shape.

3.75⭐️

In a similar vein to There There and Girl, Woman, Other, this book follows the beauty, culture, and magic of a queer community in Nigeria through interspersed POVs. In each chapter, we get a different member of this group’s life story, most involving their coming out, how they accepted or tried to suppress their identity, and how this found queer family has impacted them for the better. There are also a few POVs written from some of their parents/family members discussing their own suppressed identities. These stories deal with culture, religion, shame, repression, identity, queerness, and gender. There is also beautiful asexual, poly, and nonbinary/gender nonconforming representation among the stories.

I loved this author’s poetic, deeply felt prose. I definitely connected with some POVs more than others, and at times this felt like a short story collection. But in all, if you are a queer person, there will be at least a few characters in these pages that you will feel seen and heard by.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC!

Thank you Riverhead books for mailing me an ARC of this book!!

FIVE STARS! I've read a lot of books this year and not one of them can compare to this novel. This story takes place in Nigeria, mainly in Lagos. The main theme is found family and we see how a lot of these characters are not accepted by their blood family. The relationships they form with each other is beautiful. The PROSE is top tier. There are a ton of characters in this book and the pacing of these stories is quick. So many characters stand out to me. I loved this book and can't wait to recommend it.

"Because we know what the silence cost, we no dey keep expensive quiets."

Eloghosa Osunde offers us character study after character study in vivid emotional Technicolor with his latest showing, Necessary Fiction. Unsteady and deeply impactful truths about queer Nigerian love, life, and the nature of humanity are framed in portraits of one precious chosen family. Lagos shifts in dreamlike fog; relationships bloom and fade; love endures. It's surreal, earnest, and often a bit overexposed. Aphorisms saturate the pages. I found myself longing for time to rest between portraits, between conversations, between weighty revelations that the characters simply tell one another as often as they experience them.

This book is best read in small doses, with space to reflect and reset before staring back into the sun.

[Thank you, Riverhead Books and NetGalley, for providing this eARC in exchange for my honest review.]

This is another evocative piece of writing from Eloghosa Osunde. This book reads as a series of character studies, as we move through the lives and experiences of the individuals in this group of chosen family in Lagos. Each character is unique in their voice and shows a different picture of queer life. Much like Vagabonds! Eloghosa's writing is beautiful and emotionally devastating. I appreciate how the stories cross generations, touching on the parents of the core group. In the end, the power of love and support in this chosen family is clearly shown. This is an incredible window into a world different from my own, but thanks to Eloghosa's voice these individuals came to life in all their trauma and beauty.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Riverhead for providing an eARC in return for my honest thoughts.

Thanks to NetGalley and Riverhead Books for a copy of this, opinions are my own.

At times I felt like there was too much information in this story, but I truly loved the writing. Incredible cast of characters, and the storyline was so good! I hope others pick this up!

Love the way this serves in every sense as logical successor to Vagabonds!, so grateful to be able to turn to Eloghosa Osunde's writing always for ways of living & dying & bleeding both new & anything but—really compelled by the attention given to queer elders chosen & not, who may or may not deserve the title, & with this care toward lineage as always Osunde invokes & works alongside so many artists & artworks across medium, my favorite curator truly, this work is a wonder.

Overflowing with emotion. A cross-generational character study of a group of queer individuals in Nigeria who are dealing with what they were given in life and what they make of it. Dealing with the shame their parents thrust upon them. It asks the question of what does it take to choose to live in a world that wants to erase your existence.

I also found some new music artists to listen to through this book

.

Thanks to Netgalley and Riverhead Books for the ebook. An epic view of a large group of friends in present day Lagos, Nigeria. Queer life is viewed through over a dozen friends who pursue writing, music, photography and wildly inventive forms of commerce, but don’t always know how to deal with family, friends and especially relationships. But they’ve all got each other’s backs with mentorship and/or hard truths. We meet everyone in a jumble, but the following chapters slow down and walk us through all these fascinating lives.

Osunde's voice is incredible. They are a force to be reckoned with. Their novels are masterfully-crafted literary masterpieces. I simply adored this book.

This was my second book from this author that I read this year and like the first one. I wasn't really feeling it. I feel like it's too much information condensed in one story and it's just not that interesting. One thing I will say though is that the cover art for this author's books are always so cool. I just wished the contents were as catching as the covers.

Eloghosa Osunde has wrought magic on the pages of their second novel. While reading this I was shattered then rebuilt in the following sentence, only to break upon the next over and over again. Necessary Fiction is overflowing with emotion that will sweep readers away. I felt something fundamental shift in me while reading this book.

‘If anyone deserves to live, it is us. It is us, after all this dying we have done.’

This is going to be a really important book for some people. Floating between members of a queer found family in Lagos Nigeria, it asks what it takes to choose life in a world that seems determined to erase certain truths. What does it cost to overcome the burden of parental shame?

This book felt very fluid, it didn’t stick to a plot and was more a character study of different members of the friend group. There were lots of moments that felt very poignant and heavy, but others felt somewhat over-therapized and distant.

This reminded me a bit of Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi but with less plot and a more hopeful outlook. I think people who grew up in or are familiar with this space will feel very held and healed by these stories.

I really enjoyed the writing style and was intrigued to continue reading! It wasn’t quite yet formatted enough for an enjoyable ereader experience, so I will wait until this one becomes available at my library and try to purchase it if i see it in stores. The cover is very unique and I want that on my shelf. I also enjoyed the portion I sampled.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to sample this eARC! I am leaving this honest feedback voluntarily. I am excited for this book’s release!