I started this book on my iPad two days ago because my print book was quite dense and I thought I needed something light to read in between. What then happened was I didn’t read a single page of my print book for 48 hours because I was absolutely engrossed in this book, literally could not put it down.

I’d heard from other readers that this book was MESSY and lord they were not wrong - and I was here for every second of Feyi’s mess and questionable decisions. Literally, get whatever you need, Feyi. I did feel like Nasir was a little hard done by in some of his characterisation though - even when hurt, his actions seemed out of place for the man he’d been portrayed as up until that point.

I’m so glad Emezi’s publishers have so much faith in their talent that they just have free reign to jump around as many genres as they please. So far I’ve read their YA, literary fiction and memoir, and now romance, and each one just has this energy. You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty is an MF romance but both MCs are bisexual and it’s all done so beautifully. The sexual tension is 👀

This book is not just pure escapism (though the description of the island and Alim’s mountain home made me want to jump on a plane immediately). Emezi also writes a beautifully painful ode to grief, to losing the love of your life far too early and too cruelly.

A must read if you’re after a messy romance with plenty of heat and heart!