You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

This came highly recommended by someone who will likely see this review and physically attack me, but the more it went on, the more I struggled with it.

Feyi is an artist in Brooklyn. She lives with her friend Joy. About five years before the book takes place, Feyi's husband Jonah died tragically in a car accident. She is finally starting to open herself up to romance again, but grief is making the process painful and unpredictable.

I think there is something to the idea that the heart wants what the heart wants—that feelings are not simple or cooperative, and sometimes our desires are not what we consciously know is right or good for us. I also passionately believe that the friendzone is a made up term for the entitlement that some (stereotypically, men) feel to someone's affection and body in exchange for pretending to share their interests. I think it belittles how great friendship is, casting it as a (manipulative) means to an end. So I didn't object to any of those aspects.

What really bothered me was how selfish Feyi and Alim were. Even though they were apologetic, I felt they were still self-centered in their response to Nasir and Lorraine. Like their love alone was important enough to warrant such wreckage. Both seemed resolute that it was worth it, and that was something they could decide on behalf of others. Emezi definitely tried to address this and add nuance, but I just wasn't convinced. I don't think I'm supposed to be, but I am firmly Team Lorraine. This is far more trivial, but also Alim said “sweetness” excessively. And Feyi would not stop justifying everything by saying she was alive. WE KNOW. To be fair, I think those things are more obvious and grating when listening to an audiobook.

All that said, Emezi is undeniably a fantastic writer, and I'm interested to read more of their work. I think they have a lot of talent, a lot of range, and a lot of stories to tell.