I N C L U D E S A F F I L I A T E L I N K S
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Title: Speak No EvilAuthor: Uzodinma Iweala
Published: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 215
Rating: 4/5
Summary:
Set in Washington D. C., we meet a young man who seems to have everything going for him but he carries with him a painful secret; he's gay. He's only ever told his best friend, but one day his conservative Nigerian parents accidentally discovers the truth.
Review:
This is a relatively short book but it's surprisingly powerful. It's not perfect, but it's definitely one of the better novels I've read this year.
There are a lot of interesting themes in this book. I especially liked reading about the experience of being the child of immigrant parents and being torn between two worlds and two cultures. I think the friendship we see between the two main characters in this book is a really interesting dynamic as well. The story does touch on several other themes as well, many of the important and interesting, but it doesn't really delve that deep into those, which I would've loved if it had.
I thought it was really interesting to get to know all the characters in this book. We get pretty deep into the heads of the main characters and reading about this young man struggling with his sexuality and self worth felt raw and painful. The writing in here is beautiful and has a tenderness to it that I love. The way it describes the characters feelings and emotions is absolutely amazing. Some parts are so painful but captured so well that you can't help but feel it.
I do think the book starts off with its strongest and best part, and I couldn't help but feel that it lost a little of its magic at the point where the perspective shifts to a second character and the end of the story comes about quite abruptly. This book also does that thing where dialogue is not clearly marked in the text, which is not my favorite thing and there were several parts where I felt like that didn't really work.
This is so well worth the read though; it's writing is gorgeous, the themes are important and interesting and overall a well-accomplished novel. Would definitely recommend.
You can read more about it on Goodreads
