the epilogue though

should be a required reading for everyone

I am sitting here wondering how I can put what this book made me feel into words. I jumped into this book like I was on fire and it was a fresh pool of water, the words being the only thing that could put out my flame. This book is about so much more than romance, it’s about processing grief and how you move through it and eventually past it. It’s about all the shapes and sizes that love comes in–not just romantic love. The prose is lyrical, the visuals were visceral, the characters were vibrant in their stories. I wanted to live in this bubble Emezi created, I found myself wanting more of everything once it ended. I cared so much past the pages of this book I craved more from their love from their friendships. I wanted more of their journey. I wanted to stay in this world they created. This book was sensual and sexy and showed the mess that it is to be human and I loved every minute of it.

I really loved the themes and how nuanced they were discussed within this, but something about this made me like it when I really really wanted to love it. Maybe it’s the pacing?

“guilt is liquid, poured out by the person to whom it belongs, taken up by someone entirely different.”


bad fruit is a deeply devastating look at what cycles of trauma and abuse can really do to a family dynamic, specifically the mother daughter dynamic. and how far one would go to protect family. its about finding yourself and how to end those cycles in order to take full control of your autonomy. it is such a loaded novel full of dark metaphors. it’s heavy it’s ugly i could not put it down and it will probably be in my mind for awhile.

could not urge you to look up content warnings more, if you are interested in this there are several!