As usual Stephen Graham Jones does not disappoint. I enjoyed this book and was confused with Sawyer's thought process. I kept thinking to myself "something is missing" and "the math ain't mathing." As I continued to read, I was greeted with an eerie plot twist (in a true Stephen's fashion).
I loved how technical this short novel was. I felt that although it was a short read it was impactful. The descriptions of the Mannequin and things that the Mannequin can and can not do was important to me to envision.

I only wish I had more Mannequin scenes but once I got to the end it all makes sense.

A video review is below. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzstf_1eMqo

It has taken me some time to write down how I felt while reading this book. I will aim to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible. Natsuo Kirino's writing style is by far some of my favorite in the Mystery Fiction genre. I truly enjoyed reading how the author was able to connect each character to each other while making the supporting characters apart of the main story. There was no character too small or too large for the overall plot. 

This a story that follows four women who worked at a factory; Yayoi, Kuniko, Masiko, Yoshi (I hope I am spelling their names right). Each of these women had a very different outlook on life that often lead to them misunderstanding or overestimating each other. A death happens in this book and all of them made an unlikely alliance to get the job done. The job is in regards to the dead body. 

In addition to these four women working at the factor, another main character the club owner ( I would add the man who is half Japanese and Brazillian as well) role was particularly intriguing. I can not go too much into the club owner's role or it would be spoiling the book. Just KEEP YOUR EYE ON HIM. As the story progress, greed becomes Kuniko, Yayoi becomes more naive and overly trusting, Yoshi becomes stronger and weaker in a sense, and Maskio unravels things about herself that she didn't know before. 

With each of the four women, their perspectives give you an insight into their family systems and moral values. These women seem to be capable of anything given the right price. Yayoi is in a marriage with a man who doesn't deserve her and has little boys to take care of. Masiko is in a loveless marriage with a man who ignores her and a son who appears to not speak. Kuniko is in a marriage with a man who criticizes her, constantly gets fat shammed throughout the book, greedy, and lives beyond her means. Yoshi is timid, shy, lets people walk over her, has two daughters who use her, and a mother who abuses her. They have to deal with all their personal problems while trying to clear their names of an unmentionable crime. 

The best part about this book was the slow burn in my opinion. I truly enjoyed how the author planted seeds of paranoia into most of the characters and didn't connect those seeds until the last few chapters. I love seeing a theme and not understanding it and having it be revealed in such a genius way. I thought the layout of the mystery traps in this book was perfectly written. 

I thought I knew what was going to happen a few times and almost every time the author made a different decision and direction for the plot. This was a wonderful book. The reason why I rated this book a 3.75 was because overly annoying characters take me away from the overall point of a book. Those characters for me were Yayoi, Yoshi, and Kuniko. There were multiple scenes of incessant whining from these characters and it almost made me want to skip their perspectives altogether. 

My biggest thing is that I wish I read reviews of this book BEFORE reading it. I still would have read it but I wish I warned myself and OTHERS! There is a lot of sexual violence and I don't think I was ready for it (A lot to me is more than one time.) Although this book is classified as a Mystery, it felt very much like a Thriller to me. 

The Wife of Gods was a good mystery. I think this is a great book to start with if you are new to the genre. This book made me want to update my video "Mystery for Beginners." The MC, the detective was a determined detective from Accra. He followed every lead and every trace. Although he had some anger towards particularly abusive people; for the most part, he had his life together. The MC was forced to revisit ghosts and places that reminded him of his past. This writing of this book reminded of me historical mysteries that were written in the early 1900s. I honestly truly enjoyed that feel the most. I think that made me like the book the most. The book sets you up to think that the obvious suspects are guilty only for me to think differently towards the end of the book. 

While reading Pet, I kept thinking. I kept thinking and reflecting on the narrative between the main character and Pet. To be so young (MC) and have such great forethought about consequences and friendship was so delightful to read about. Although Pet was older, it did not always mean that Pet was wiser. Life lessons were swapped between Pet and the MC. 

One of the most enjoyable parts of this book is the bending of binaries. Every time the MC would ask Pet a question that was in binaries terms, Pet responded with "human, things are neither, they just are." I am paraphrasing of course, but I found those lines to be the most eye-opening for me. While reading, I felt that we were learning to view monsters in a non-binary but yet binary way. This idea was constantly challenged throughout the book. 

I learned and was reminded about family in this book. Whether chosen or born into family. The MC's love for their best friend, Redemption, was heartwarming. Redemption's love for his brother was equally touching. You never know the monsters that are living in your home and sometimes adults don't listen to children when they should. This book was a BIG reminder that WE need to listen to children more as adults. We never know what is going on in their lives and brushing them off causes more harm than good. 

I am so happy that Nnedi Okorafor exists. Her depictions of characters and the way she writes African-centric science fiction is truly a gift. She really bought the character Sankofa to life. Sankofa had such a tragic life and even when she finds peace of happiness, things seem to threaten this. I love how the story is wrapped around her identity and loss. There were so many quotable things about this book. I felt for Sankofa because she was pushed into something and couldn't remember her name or couldn't control her "gift."

I thought to myself "what would it be to not have a digital footprint?" while reading. 

I did a review of this comic on my YouTube channel. The link is below. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9iKVp9O030 

I did a review of this comic on my YouTube channel. The link is below. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9iKVp9O030 

 I did a review of this comic on my YouTube channel. The link is below. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9iKVp9O030