Book Curious ®

Oyinkan Braithwaite     Pages: 226        Published: 2017

The book: Korede is a nurse in Lagos, Nigeria. She lives at home with her mother and her sister Ayoola, who is her mother’s favorite. Ayoola has murdered at least one of her boyfriends. Korede is infatuated with a handsome doctor she works with. Will the doctor notice Korede?  Will Ayoola find a new boyfriend, and what will be his fate?

You might like it because: This is a fast-paced, fun read full of dark humor. Braithwaite has created two characters who are exceptionally engaging. They will keep you turning the pages till the end.

What did other people say?
“It’s Lagos noir—pulpy, peppery and sinister, served up in a comic deadpan…This scorpion-tailed little thriller leaves a response, and a sting, you will remember.”
– New York Times

“Braithwaite’s blazing debut is as sharp as a knife…bitingly funny and brilliantly executed, with not a single word out of place.”
– Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Awards & Recognition:
2018 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner
2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction Finalist
2019 Booker Prize Longlist

How quickly will you get into the book?
Braithwaite had me on the first page! I could not put this book down.

You might not like it because: If dark humor is not your thing, then this is probably not a book for you.
The two main characters, while engaging, might annoy some readers. One is not particularly likeable, and the actions and attitudes of the other are, at times, frustrating.

What might you read next?
Braithwaite’s novel is a fun read, but if you’d like to read something more serious that is set in Nigeria, then try Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun. It’s set in Nigeria during the Biafran war in the late 1960s.

Or you could read one of Oyinkan Braithwaite’s favorite books. In an interview on Shereads.com, Braithwaite was asked about her favorite books of all time. The first one she mentioned was Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. She said, “I have loved this book since I was a child. And I keep expecting my feelings toward it to change as I grow older, but, my love for it has yet to waver.”

Alternatively, read about another fictional serial killer; pick up Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, which is set in Florida, USA.

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