I love the books I’m stumbling into these days. I use the word stumble, because none of the books I’ve read so far were premeditated ones. I’d just take a glance through my e-library, and do a bit of eenie meenie miney mo hoping for the best. So far, I’ve managed to find some truly exquisite books. What I bring to you today is a hidden masterpiece that would floor you at the sheer reality of it, if anything else. Let’s take a little dive, shall we?
Olaide Olajide is a high-profile journalist at a renowned magazine called Womxxxn. She is not your regular journalist, however. She is a feminist and advocate for women’s rights, constantly fighting and speaking for women through her write-ups and public speeches. In a month, she will tie the knot with the love of her life, Michael, who just got the job of his dreams at CuRated. The African-British couple are known by the masses as the peak representation of winning Black love, with posters of their engagement dotting just about everywhere in the British Black community.
What these two do not realize is just how much and how hard their lives are about to change for the worst. They both wake up to the same message, “Oh my god, have you seen The List?” From then on, their lives take a turn like no other. For Ola, there’s the question of everything she stands for right in front of her, the accusation of hypocrisy, and her reputation in the Black/Feminist community down the drain. For Michael, he is accused of grievous actions, but swears innocence. In the face of the internet that never forgives, what are the chances of these two making it out alive?
I shed a tear or two, I’m not going to lie. It felt so timely because just before I read this book, I read an exclusive interview on Chimamanda Adichie, where she was tight-lipped about cancel culture. I’ll talk more on that sometime, but Cancel Culture is something I find odd.
It’s in the same grouping with the statement, “The internet giveth, and the internet taketh away,” making the internet look like some anonymous demi-god sitting on top the affairs of men and picking who gets to become popular, and who should get cancelled. Whereas, the internet is people. The internet is made up of people like you and me with lives we cherish and people we love, but who would choose to end the career and life of another because of unverified rumours.
There were several themes that stuck with me. Themes of love, the frailty of human existence, love, loss, grief, cancel culture, abuse, the long-reach of the wealthy, reality, and everything in between. Maybe that’s where a bit of the issue with this book lay. Too many themes that make you lose sight of what is important at the core. I loved being in the moment and learning/understanding the message each theme passed, but at some point, it felt overwhelming. Just short of the good kind.
I think what spoke to me most of all was the reality in everything. I can’t begin to tell you why this is my most cherished aspect of this book. It was more than the fact that we got to read this book from Ola and Michael’s POVs, it was reaffirming for the umpteenth time that we aren’t bad people, we are just people who do bad things, and you may not understand this till you read this book.
Seeing with the outward eye as well as the inward, that there is in fact no villain in this book, try as you might. That the villains are also victims and vice versa. That these are good people who have made mistakes, and while the fact that their inherent goodness does not take away their mistakes and evil, for most of them, it points to their humanity. We lie, but maybe it’s to protect. We hurt, but maybe it’s to save. White lies, necessary evils and sheer humanity.
That’s just what this book represents. I’m short of words of the best ways to convey what I felt reading this book, but maybe if I tell you that I stopped reading for a moment to think deeply about human existence, and just how fickle it is. And these are the best books, in my opinion. The ones that make you stop reading to ponder, and ponder some more when you’ve read to completion.
We get to the ending, and with the switch of POVs, I just knew who the true villain was. But even then, with the rage simmering deep in my insides, I couldn’t bring myself to despise this villain. Because there was a motive, and even though this motive was borne from the depths of selfishness, the reason felt somewhat just to this person.
Things were tied far too neatly for my tastes, but there’s got to be an end somehow, right? This is the first novel of Yomi Adegoke's I’m reading, and I can’t believe neither she nor this book isn’t talked about enough. About 350 pages, but you may not be able to keep down this piece till you’re finished. A highly recommended weekend read. 4.3/5 stars from me. May I keep stumbling into more beauties as these.
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