[I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Atria Books and EdelWeiss+]

So Akwaeke Emezi, my very favorite contemporary writer wrote a romance, You made a fool of death with your beauty, and I could not jump on it any faster. This is the perfect romance for readers who do not read romance. There are a few recognizable tropes (hello forced proximity), but overall it’s more of a heart wrenching love story (with HEA).

Feyi is an artist who’s going through deep grief, who's finding her way back to life, and after a few tries and errors comes across the most life affirming step ever. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just add a few details. 

You’ll find messy bisexual energy; great side character and amazing friendship; cooking as love language (see in the pic an attempt at grilled cheese sandwich without caramelised onion bc I’m the laziest); art, so much (especially Nigerian) art; a not amatonormative look at relationships; and most of all, agonizing truths on surviving and consequent guilt of surviving, and the angry fiercenss it takes to actually be alive.

For romance readers: it’s a sloooow burn, one sexy scene, hot cinnamon roll.

I love this writer, they can basically put their pure raw energy in anything they write