Title: Welcome to Lagos
Author: Chibundu Onuzo
Published: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 368
Rating: 3/5
Summary:
A group of mismatched individuals leave their homes for Lagos in search of freedom and a new life, and eventually end up in the midst of a political scandal.
Review:
I had quite high expectations for this book, and it sure ended up being an interesting read.
I absolutely love the setting of this book and the author manages to bring it to life vividly. I found most of the main characters absolutely fascinating and the group dynamic was unquestionably fascinating; seeing them come from completely different places and coming together as a family of sorts. There are perhaps too many characters in this though and the further into the novel we get, the more characters appear and it's difficult to form a connection with them all.
This book discusses politics and doesn't shy away from commenting on both actual history and current events, and this becomes clearer and more bold the further into the novel we get. However, I felt that the more the book did that, the more the characters started suffering for it; they retreat into the background and the connection starts to falter. As a reader that generally gravitate towards characters more than plot, this was a bit disappointing to me.
The story has a rather open ending which I think suits the story wonderfully, as that's just what life is like, and I do catch myself wondering what these characters would end up doing, which I think is a very good sign.
It's not a perfect novel but I think it's worth the read nonetheless; it brings up interesting discussions and it's worth getting to know the characters, even if it's only for a little while.
You can get this book at The Book Depository*
You can read more about it on Goodreads
Author: Chibundu Onuzo
Published: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 368
Rating: 3/5
Summary:
A group of mismatched individuals leave their homes for Lagos in search of freedom and a new life, and eventually end up in the midst of a political scandal.
Review:
I had quite high expectations for this book, and it sure ended up being an interesting read.
I absolutely love the setting of this book and the author manages to bring it to life vividly. I found most of the main characters absolutely fascinating and the group dynamic was unquestionably fascinating; seeing them come from completely different places and coming together as a family of sorts. There are perhaps too many characters in this though and the further into the novel we get, the more characters appear and it's difficult to form a connection with them all.
This book discusses politics and doesn't shy away from commenting on both actual history and current events, and this becomes clearer and more bold the further into the novel we get. However, I felt that the more the book did that, the more the characters started suffering for it; they retreat into the background and the connection starts to falter. As a reader that generally gravitate towards characters more than plot, this was a bit disappointing to me.
The story has a rather open ending which I think suits the story wonderfully, as that's just what life is like, and I do catch myself wondering what these characters would end up doing, which I think is a very good sign.
It's not a perfect novel but I think it's worth the read nonetheless; it brings up interesting discussions and it's worth getting to know the characters, even if it's only for a little while.
You can read more about it on Goodreads
*AFFILIATE LINK
