I listened to this as an audiobook, so my review will reflect the particular version narrated by Robin Miles. I can see now why Miles seems to have a following in the audiobook world; Ijeoma seemed to be alive and telling me her story in the same room. It’s a great way to read this one if you enjoy audiobooks.

The story itself is one that needs to be told. I’d never read a book about a queer woman in Nigeria before, and that alone attracted me to the book. Okparanta does Ijeoma justice; her life is shown as it happened from her perspective, and she feels like a real, actual person. I’m ashamed to say I really didn’t know what life was like for women in Nigeria during this particular time in history, and I enjoyed being able to watch Ijeoma go through her life and give me that insight.

If there’s anything that didn’t work for me, it was the epilogue. I understand why Okparanta made that choice – the author’s note seems to explain why – but I don’t think it flows as well as the rest of the story. That being said, I don’t know what I would put in its place; frankly, I’d have loved an additional hundred pages or so, but would that make for a better ending? I honestly can’t say.

This is such an important book; I highly recommend it. Although the audiobook is wonderful, I think I might have to get my hands on a print copy so I can read it again to see what I might have missed in my listen. Do take heed of the content warnings, however – as one can imagine, heavy topics are dealt with, and Okparanta does not shy away from sharing them with the reader.