Reviews

An Unusual Grief by Yewande Omotoso

annindo_underthesun's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

fiorellaflorella's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

idah_mrashui's review

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

bookishcori's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

An Unusual Grief // Yewande Omotoso

In my search for more books by African authors [yes, the entire continent, because I sorely lack in this broader category], I stumbled on this one. And y’all  know I love books about grief. 

This book is like peeling an onion - unraveling the story a bit at a time, while Mojisola walks in her dead daughter’s steps in Johannesburg - trying to truly learn about Yinka, reflecting on their relationship, acknowledging her mistakes as a parent and in her failing marriage, learning to move forward, saying the hard things aloud, stepping back into her truth outside of being a mom & wife.

Grief is messy. It’s never linear and no one grieves in the same way. This story is a great example of that. I was fully invested in Moji’s journey, even if I didn’t always understand her choices. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Suicide, Mental illness, and Sexual content

BDSM

miasmuts's review

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

cartermon4's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

robodu's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

stephlovesreading's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

jola_g's review

3.0

There is a grain of irony in the title of Yewande Omotoso’s novel, An Unusual Grief (2021). Can grief be measured or compared? Should our reactions to loss follow some rules? According to the author, no and no. Everyone has the right to cope with mourning in their individual way and we should respect that, even if we feel shocked. For me, this is the central message of Unusual Grief, along with feminist issues and a warning that the effects of ignored and untreated depression can be fatal.

Yewande Omotoso’s intentions were remarkable because we do tend to judge people who react to death in an unconventional way although we are not entitled to do so. Unfortunately, the other aspects of this novel did not keep up with the ideas.

I had the impression the book was written by three different people. The beginning was promising: subtle, warm and subdued. So in tune with the delicate cover design. The author addressed Mojisola's pain after Yinka's, her twenty-four-year-old daughter's suicide with tact and empathy. Then Unusual Grief shifted suddenly and turned into a weird grotesque. There is something artificial and exaggerated about D-Man and Woodsman's subplot. The apogee was one of the most awkward sex scenes I have ever read. And then there was the ending, full of transparent moralizing and know-it-all tone, peppered with the author's aphorisms à la Paulo Coelho:

Even as we lose (such is the design of war), we fight.
[...]
We’re all love-soldiers — life’s unwavering assignment.
[...]
Pride is all the flesh you’ve grown, by necessity, around the bones of your pain.

Did Mojisola's story really need such a pompous final commentary? Especially given the fact that most of the book is written in a simple and unpretentious style. This contrast was slightly grating.

I appreciate Yewande Omotoso’s courage to write a book about a mother coming to terms with her only daughter's death and with herself but I am afraid her novel lacks the sublime and psychological truth I counted on. Of course, I had read the blurb beforehand and was prepared for a bleak book but hoped the literary quality would recompensate for it. It did not. I finished Unusual Grief drained and dispirited. The tragic subject matter was not the only reason.

PS
My original rating was two stars and a half but two characters, one human: a grumpy landlady, Zelda Petersen, and one feline: Inanna, Yinka’s pet, convinced me effectively to round up.


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aljavi's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75