Reviews

No One Dies Yet by Kobby Ben Ben

storeytale's review against another edition

3.5

Sometimes difficult to follow, but full of interesting commentary on navigating the diaspora.

rainbowarpaint's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.25

meredith_w's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.5

I think I liked this?  I definitely loved parts of this novel.  Reading 'No One Dies Yet' was a constant loop of feeling lost, then understanding, then feeling lost again...  I was fascinated by the politics and commentary re: native Ghanaians and the Ghanaian diaspora.  I was delighted by the references to popular books and the IG Bookstagram community.  Coincidentally, while reading 'No One Dies Yet', I was rereading 'Homegoing' for a bookclub, which is one of the best book serendipity moments I've ever experienced. 

gmcgowan10's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This book is an incredible debut, if I only had one word to describe it, it would be haunting. 

As a white American reader it was really informative to be immersed in what was shared of Ghana’s cultural dynamics: a spiritual side of the cukture, relations between ethnic groups, relations between Africans/Ghanaians and the diaspora, or at least Black Americans. 

If you enjoy non-linear storytelling that sets you up to play detective, beautifully written prose, and potentially an opportunity to learn about another’s culture, I’d HIGHLY recommend this book. Can’t wait to see what Ben Ben does next! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Murder

Minor: Child death

jinmichae's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.25

allrileydup's review against another edition

Just couldn’t quite get into it. Might try again before I return it. 

siobhans_shelf's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

monika_monia's review against another edition

dark mysterious

3.5

abbie_'s review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective slow-paced

4.0

Rollicking, sensual, blood-thirsty, wry, self-aware, this book is quite unlike anything I’ve read before - although it did bring to mind Vagabonds! which I read last month, in its gloriously unapologetic queerness. No One Dies Yet is a difficult read, but rewarding. I wouldn’t recommend trying to read it on a sun lounger while surrounded by distractions - it demands focus from the reader, unrelenting in its pace and stopping to hold no one’s hand.

Told via two main perspectives, Kobby (named after the author and also a bookstagrammer - it gets meta and I was there for it) and Nana, the main thrust of the book is the two characters navigating Ghana’s Year of Return, and the group of queer Black Americans who hire their services. The group spend their days trying to experience Ghanaian culture, while venturing into Ghana’s underground queer scene at night, thanks to Kobby and his connections.

Author Kobby packs so much into this book - colonialism both past and present, white saviourism, slavery, queerness and homophobia, tourism, religion, and more. It was extremely interesting to consider Kobby’s position - dealing with hostility towards his queerness from his compatriots, while juggling the sense of entitlement the group of Americans bring. Add to that some bodies piling up and you’ve got yourself a wild ride of a read. 

Sometimes I was completely lost, but I’d recommend just pushing on through because the bigger picture does become clear. You’re left feeling a little dazed, a little confused, but definitely in awe of what Kobby Ben Ben has pulled off in terms of a debut novel. 

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

 No One Dies Yet was a complex and challenging read. It's set in 2019 and follows three American men who are there as part of the Year of Return (400 years since the departure of the first slave ship which Ghana commemorated by encouraging ancestors of the enslaved to visit, to reconnect with their ancestral homeland) - and to check out Ghana's underground gay scene. They have two guides, one of whom is traditional and religious, the other is the total opposite, and there is plenty of conflict between both the two of them, and between them and the American tourists. There's a strong thread of magical realism, an increasing body count, and a strongly meta element with one of the characters bearing the same name as the author and, like him, being an Instagrammer. The plot took me out of my comfort zone, as any novel described as a fever dream tends to do, and was unsurprisingly a bit hit and miss for me. What really worked, though, was the social context - ethnic tensions within Ghana, cultural tensions between Africans and African-Americans, homophobia, colonisation past and present, negative impacts of tourism, racism, and more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Violence