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ambershelf 's review for:
Blessings
by Chukwuebuka Ibeh
ARC gifted by the publisher & ALC by @prhaudio
Told from alternating POVs of a closeted gay son, Obiefuna, and his mom, Uzoamaka, BLESSINGS is a lyrical coming-of-age novel set before Nigeria's Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2014. I appreciate the setting in an all-boys boarding school, where Ibeh vividly portrays how toxic masculinity perpetuates homophobia, leading to Obiefuna's alienation.
As a dual-POV book, I wanted more mother-son dynamic; Uzoamaka sometimes doesn't read like a fully realized character. That being said, BLESSINGS is a tender yet heartbreaking debut examining how to live fully in a country that erases LGBTQ+ people; it pairs well with THESE LETTERS END IN TEARS (Musih Tedji Xaviere).
Told from alternating POVs of a closeted gay son, Obiefuna, and his mom, Uzoamaka, BLESSINGS is a lyrical coming-of-age novel set before Nigeria's Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2014. I appreciate the setting in an all-boys boarding school, where Ibeh vividly portrays how toxic masculinity perpetuates homophobia, leading to Obiefuna's alienation.
As a dual-POV book, I wanted more mother-son dynamic; Uzoamaka sometimes doesn't read like a fully realized character. That being said, BLESSINGS is a tender yet heartbreaking debut examining how to live fully in a country that erases LGBTQ+ people; it pairs well with THESE LETTERS END IN TEARS (Musih Tedji Xaviere).