Book Review: ‘A Toast to Life’ A Memoir by the Actress Juliet Ibrahim

23rd August 20199th February 2020 Lara T. Kareem1 Comment

Author – Juliet Ibrahim

Publication – August 2019.

Publisher – Prestige, Kachifo

Genre – Memoir

From Liberia to Lebanon, Ivory Coast to Ghana, Juliet Ibrahim survives the upheaval of war across countries, being torn away from the familiar and losing memories. But this is only the beginning of her story.
In A Toast to Life, Juliet is a child with body-esteem issues, a teenager dealing with abuse in silence, a young woman making mistakes in love and an adult finding cause to celebrate life.

Book Review: Yoruba Gods Are Running Lagos even more Amok in ‘David Mogo, Godhunter’ by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

16th August 201930th October 2019 Lara T. Kareem2 Comments

Title – David Mogo, Godhunter

Author – Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Publication – July 9th, 2019.

Publisher – Abaddon

Genre – Urban Fantasy

Since the Orisha War that rained thousands of deities down on the streets of Lagos, David Mogo, demigod, scours Eko’s dank underbelly for a living wage as a freelance Godhunter. Despite pulling his biggest feat yet by capturing a high god for a renowned Eko wizard, David knows his job’s bad luck. He’s proved right when the wizard conjures a legion of Taboos—feral godling-child hybrids—to seize Lagos for himself. To fix his mistake and keep Lagos standing, David teams up with his foster wizard, the high god’s twin sister and a speech-impaired Muslim teenage girl to defeat the wizard.

Book Review: ‘La Bastarda’ An Unapologetic African Queer Tale by Trifonia Melibea Obono

11th August 20199th February 2020 Lara T. KareemLeave a comment

Title – La Bastarda

Author – Trifonia Melibea Obono

Translator – Lawrence Schimel

Publication – August 2018.

Publisher – Modjaji Books

Genre – African LGBT+ Literary Fiction

The first novel by an Equatorial Guinean woman to be translated into English, La Bastarda is the story of the orphaned teen Okomo, who lives under the watchful eye of her grandmother and dreams of finding her father. Forbidden from seeking him out, she enlists the help of other village outcasts: her gay uncle and a gang of “mysterious” girls reveling in their so-called indecency. Drawn into their illicit trysts, Okomo finds herself falling in love with their leader and rebelling against the rigid norms of Fang culture.

Book Review: The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven

25th July 201911th August 2019 Lara T. Kareem4 Comments

Title – The Exact Opposite of Okay

Series – Izzy O’Niel

Author – Laura Steven

Publication – March 8th, 2018.

Publisher – Electric Monkey

Genre – Contemporary, Feminism & Young Adult Fiction

Izzy O’Neill is an aspiring comic, an impoverished orphan, and a Slut Extraordinaire. Or at least, that’s what the malicious website flying round the school says. Izzy can try all she wants to laugh it off – after all, her sex life, her terms – but when pictures emerge of her doing the dirty with a politician’s son, her life suddenly becomes the centre of a national scandal. Izzy’s never been ashamed of herself before, and she’s not going to start now. But keeping her head up will take everything she has…