This whirlwind of a book truly left me speechless and wanting more. If you are not feeling him, get his daddy instead! You Made A Fool Of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi is a book that you are not going to want to put down.
In this book, Feyi is trying to reclaim her love life after losing her husband in a tragic accident. After finally having a hook-up after much time passed, Feyi began dating but was in a stale relationship. She then met his friend, where they started dating too. Yet, the spark was not there until she met his father.
Everything but the Spark
As I was reading this book, I couldn’t help but consider what would happen if you were ever in the predicament where you had a partner that had everything else you wanted but there was just no spark. Nasir was a great partner. He supported her art, put her in a position to succeed, was very patient with her but Feyi just knew there was no spark. In most circumstances, women would be told to wait it out and hope for the spark to come later. I appreciated that Feyi didn’t wait around. My moral compass wouldn’t allow me to jump to his daddy, but I understood how sis felt because Alim was described as something worth checking out.
BDE
Big. Dick. Energy. Many men think they have it, but many men do not! Yet, Emezi was able to write Alim so well that I can feel this energy exude off the pages. If I was Feyi, I would have been in the same predicament. Put me in the same room with my celebrity crush, I will fold like a lawn chair at a Labor Day picnic. On top of it all, he can cook! Everything you need is in one man.
When Feyi licked the sauce off that man’s fingers, I knew that she was gone. There was no coming back from that.
Trauma Bonding
I felt as if the basis of the relationship between Alim and Feyi was based on their shared trauma. They both lost the love of their lives. They also both explored their sexuality in an attempt to find that same love again. Throughout the book, you can feel the energy shared between them as they let their guards down to better understand each other. Yet, I don’t think their relationship is that of pure love but more so a trauma bond. A “trauma bond” is an attachment formed between two people who unconsciously bond to each other based on shared trauma. [Source] This is not to say that their love cannot be genuine but more so the pretense of which the two came together is that they share the commonality of losing people that were very dear to them. Additionally, Alim and Feyi bonded over the need and desire to find that feeling of love again. This goes back to Feyi searching for that spark. I pose the question, can a trauma bonded relationship last? I truly don’t know.
What Happens Next?
When I first finished the book I was upset that there was no resolution. I wanted to know if Feyi and Alim actually worked. In hindsight, I am so glad that readers are left to imagine the couple’s outcome. It allows for dialogue to take place. I don’t think they would last outside of the island. As I previously stated, I think this is a trauma bonded relationship that didn’t have much to stand on besides lust and beautiful views. However, I would love to see them work because of how spicy their union started.
Four Out of Five Stars
This book was so well written. Emezi was able to make me feel as though Alim was trying to court me. His energy jumped off the page. The emotions and feelings poured through the words. I make it a point to not read book descriptions before jumping in and so I did not know what to expect with this one. This book popped up across my timeline which piqued my interest. I am glad that I picked it up. It encouraged me to check out other books by Emezi (The Death of Vivek Oji).
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