This book played with my emotions! Na wa!
I was automatically drawn in by the title of this book when I came across it (I mean, who wouldn’t be?) for the first time sometime in November of 2018, I thought “hmmmm….what a juicy title. I need to get this book.” And get it I did!
As I shared in my blog post where I shared my reading goals for 2019 (you can read that here), through out this year, I hope to delve into books by African writers.
So as the title implies, the book is about a Nigerian nurse whose sister has a habit of killing her boyfriends. Lol. Surreal right? Well that’s basically what the book is about but with weird plot twists…I am trying not to give too much away (because I am nice…and because, well, that’s mean).
“I soaked up the blood with a towel and wrung it out in the sink. I repeated the motions until the floor was dry. Ayoola hovered, leaning on one foot and then the other. I ignored her impatience. It takes a whole lot longer to dispose of a body than to dispose of a soul.”
Now, I have mixed feelings about this book….mainly because the title incited some type of excitement inside me and I felt there would be a build up to some dramatic end. However, when I read and I felt that the overall plot was quite weak because at some point, I found it going in circles. I did love how short and fast-paced each chapter of the book is.
“Femi makes three, you know. Three and they label you a serial killer.” I whisper the words in case anyone were to pass Muhtar’s door. In case my words are to float through the two inches of wood and tickle the ears of a passerby. Aside from confiding n a comatose man, I take no risks. “Three,’ I repeat to myself.” Last night I couldn’t sleep, so I stopped counting backward and sat at my desk, turning on my laptop. I found myself typing serial killer into the Google search box at 3 a.m. There it was: three or more murders … serial killer.”
Now let’s talk about the end of the book and I am not trying to be dramatic (even I do not believe that), but (and I promise not to give away an spoilers)…I got to the end of the book and legit screamed “WHAT?!” because in my mind, I was like “….erm, nope, where’s the rest of my book??”. I shook the book thinking that some extra page would fall out and my mind immediately went to the book vendor who sold the book to me and I started crying in my head like “Oh! they have torn out a page from the book they sold me!” BECAUSE I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHY A BOOK WOULD END THAT WAY!
Yup, because the end seemed rather abrupt and left things hanging for me. I did not really know what to make of that.
All in all, I thought the book was a semi-enjoyable read but quite anti-climatic with a weirdly disappointing ending.
Overall score 6.5/10
Rachel Eyo 