You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

Blurb: Feyi Adekola wants to learn how to be alive again. She isn’t ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could have never imagined: a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the home of a celebrity chef, and a curator who wants to launch her art career.

Club Thoughts: Akwaeke Emezi is a beautiful writer and puts their thoughts on the page with passion, vibrancy and conviction. With this ‘romance’ novel, they do not have the group convinced of the plot. If Feyi has no haters, then we clearly do not exist anymore. MESSY! UNSERIOUS! SELFISH! These are a few words we hurled at each other during our invigorating conversations.

Feyi felt very two-dimensional as a character, as her grief was not explored enough. We felt that there could have been more flashbacks or even one intense scene to encapsulate the love of her late husband, Jonah. Maybe this would have made us more sympathetic towards her.

This led us to discuss the branding of the book. While it is presented as Romance fiction, clearly her love interests are just tools in Feyi’s self-actualisation. We felt a little bamboozled because we were sold on black love but got a different story. This women’s fiction is more about personal growth and moving on after a massive loss. Maybe 200 pages is not enough to explore the complexity of grief and relationships. We were itching for more but were left unsatisfied.

Emezi’s fantasy island is one of splendour, and it drives the story wonderfully. The island promises escapism and transport into cool breezes and enlightenment. The author takes Feyi out of her New York routine and gives her an avenue to become a whole new person. The island is instrumental in Feyi’s journey.

At the same time, the beauty of the island and its pleasures added to our rocky relationship with Feyi. The beauty served as a distraction, not just to us but to Feyi. It almost felt like Emezi tried to make us forget Feyi’s wrongs with their vivid descriptions and scenery, similar to Feyi getting caught up in the magic of the scenery and forgetting decency.

Another issue that popped up for the group was the spontaneity of Feyi’s sexuality. While one could call Feyi and Alim twin flames—both having lost their significant other, both being artists in their own right and both being bisexual—it felt like Feyi and Joy’s relationship was just dropped on us. There was no other mention of her sexuality, and it was mentioned very fleetingly in a conversation to relate to Alim’s struggles. It definitely affects the believability of the novel. The author needed more to convince us to sympathise with the characters’ massive betrayal.

Ultimately, ‘You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty’ gives an interesting discussion. This book will make you scream and shout. You will know no peace reading this book. If you like stress, you must pick it up. If drama is your middle name, look no further. It is slow to begin but rocks your entire world!