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imaima's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
alphareads's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
This author has a voice. You can tell his writing apart from that of other authors. He has a gift for good titles—you can tell from the collection title. His openings are excellent and specific, too. They get you hooked. And for most of your reading, you will keep wondering how he comes up with such story ideas. I believe the “originality”—if I should say—of the individual stories is one of the things I like about this collection.
However, I did not enjoy all of the stories, which is not news for a short story collection. You love some, skip over some and simply get lost in some.
I loved the first story, “John 101 or The New Ridiculous Way to Commit Suicide and Be Famous”. Making it the first story was a strategic move because that was quite an introduction to the book. I still wonder how Udenwe came up with an idea like that. I enjoyed every bit of the narrative.
“Obama Talorin Shop” was a weirdly interesting story. I enjoyed reading it.
Coming in a close third would be “The Housekeeper”. I didn't expect the twist in that one. Again, quite an interesting story idea.
“The Redemption of Father McGettrick” was also a good read. Personally, this is one of the stories in the collection that would have you wondering how the author got his ideas. Insanely weird stuff and I am a sucker for weird.
Generally, I don’t see why you shouldn't give this book a chance. I recommend.
amakaazie's review
4.0
The first story was definitely captivating! I don’t think I’ve ever read anything so horrifying, yet so captivating.
Most of the stories were intriguing but there were some I didn’t understand. Especially the last story. Read it again but still didn’t have a clue what the ending was.
Short story collections are tricky. For them to pack a punch, greater than 80 percent of the stories have to be fantastic.
I’m not sure this was the case here. I enjoyed about half of the stories in this collection. The other half, I was a tad confused about the plot and the ending.
There was a lot of head hopping and switching between character POVs which made some stories even more confusing.
In my opinion, the first story was an amazing choice to start this book with because it was the most intriguing.
Special note: I can always tell when a book is written by a Nigerian man.
Women are usually seen as nothing but sex objects.
This book did nothing but buttress that fact. Most women were described with the size of their tits and ass and nothing else.
If I had a nickel for every time I saw, she had big buttocks and large breasts and thick thighs in this book, I may have been able to build a house with the silvery metals
Most of the stories were intriguing but there were some I didn’t understand. Especially the last story. Read it again but still didn’t have a clue what the ending was.
Short story collections are tricky. For them to pack a punch, greater than 80 percent of the stories have to be fantastic.
I’m not sure this was the case here. I enjoyed about half of the stories in this collection. The other half, I was a tad confused about the plot and the ending.
There was a lot of head hopping and switching between character POVs which made some stories even more confusing.
In my opinion, the first story was an amazing choice to start this book with because it was the most intriguing.
Special note: I can always tell when a book is written by a Nigerian man.
Women are usually seen as nothing but sex objects.
This book did nothing but buttress that fact. Most women were described with the size of their tits and ass and nothing else.
If I had a nickel for every time I saw, she had big buttocks and large breasts and thick thighs in this book, I may have been able to build a house with the silvery metals
opyreads's review
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
ifychinke's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
For someone that doesn’t like short stories, I actually reading this collection of 11 short stories
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