Both are Black, queer and sexy, and descriptions of their beauty are worth the price of admission alone. The lovers are finely drawn, modern and specific. Emezi’s novel is notable for respecting the conventions of the romance genre while imbuing Feyi and Alim’s story with a distinctly progressive sensibility. Emezi conquers these reservations with palpable chemistry and gorgeous prose, offering an indelibly poignant portrait of a second chance at love for two people who have suffered searing loss. For me, as for many readers, family boundaries are sacred-or, from another perspective, radioactive. Emezi’s literary range is legendary, having succeeded in memoir, poetry and literary fiction for both adult and young adult readers, but it’s still a wonder that they’ve pulled off one of the most sensational and taboo tropes in the romance genre: falling in love with the parent of your romantic partner.
a lush, high-stakes romance novel that diehard romance loyalists and genre newcomers alike will appreciate. It is the three-dimensional portrait of its protagonist, together with an unusual depiction of love and loss, that really anchors this novel. And simple lines of text are charged with emotion. Emezi has a poet’s facility for striking imagery in their descriptions of the paradisiacal island, which are full of sensory detail. But You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty.is more literary than most romance novels. There are instances where Emezi resorts to clichéd metaphors. While Feyi’s meditation on what it means to be alive is a major recurring theme throughout the novel, one that ultimately decides her hand, this repetitive preoccupation also makes the first third of the novel drag. With the encouragement of her best friend Joy - their friendship and its zinging, expletive-driven dialogue is one of the best things about the novel - Feyi is determined to thin out her grief. In this book, Emezi manages to adhere to romance conventions, while turning all sorts of expectations on their head. What distinguishes novels of this genre is the skill with which an author innovates within the confines of a predictable narrative arc. This is romance, albeit with a large slice of grief and survivor’s guilt, so a happily-ever-after ending is expected - required, even. Emezi extends their interest in genre fiction, which has so far encompassed young adult fantasy, speculative fiction and poetry, but revisits recurring themes such as love, family, faith and identity.
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