For a book with such strong themes of death, you would expect something much darker than what Ayanna Lloyd Banwo has written. It has its moments, certainly, but the dark moments are just one side of this story, which uses magical realism and romance to weave a multi-faceted narrative.

The stand-out feature of this book for me was the writing itself. Banwo has such a talent with words. There were so many times I highlighted a passage, or put my Kindle down to just allow myself to digest what I had just read. I’m very excited to read her future work; if this is her debut novel, I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!

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Although there is a strong romantic element to the story, the romance itself doesn’t come until quite late on, instead taking the time to build up the two main characters on their separate storylines. Of the two characters I did find Darwin much more compelling, as we slowly uncovered not just his story but the goings-on around him.

While the individual elements of the story were great, there was something about it that I just couldn’t quite engage with. Once I was sat down reading I could quite happily whiz through several chapters, but it didn’t quite compel me to pick it up once I’d put it down again. That being said, the writing was stunning and the overall story was unusual and unlike anything else I’ve read.

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a free copy for review. All opinions are my own.