You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty. Akwaeke Emezi. 2022. Atria Books. 288 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher courtesy of Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.]
They say you can’t always judge a book by its cover, but in the case of You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty, I did exactly that and came out a winner. I was struck by the vivid, indulgent vibe I got from the cover’s illustration, and I wasn’t surprised to pick up on this throughout the book.
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is centered on Feyi, a 29-year-old Nigerian-American artist who is at a turning point in her life. She’s been widowed five years and is finally coming out the stupor that her grieving kept her in. She’s committed to picking up the pieces and moving her life forward, though she’s not always sure what moving forward looks like.
Part of reinventing herself includes opening herself up to love (or lust). As Feyi leans further into her plan to rebuild her life, she steps into the “dating” scene. She easily meets different men, but actually being vulnerable enough to make a sustained connection is her hurdle. She’s not in a rush to put herself in a position to be hurt, but she’s also cognizant of how that wariness will keep her from a fulfilling relationship, especially one that allows her to bare and heal her traumas.
This book is a romance, without question. But I found the romance often secondary to the grief — both spoken and unspoken — various characters live with. Loss, especially romantic love, is something all of the characters are navigating with mixed results. From pursuing a married love interest, to sacrificing a genuine love to avoid scandal, to facing the reality of unrequited attraction, the characters all have to come to terms with their love lives not panning out how they planned at all. Feyi clearly still grieves for the husband she lost; more than that, however, she grieves the life she envisioned and was creating for herself. Instead, she’s attempting to reimagine her life from a place she never fathomed. And even when she thinks she’s on the right path, she’s instead blindsided and faced with a decision that spirals for everyone involved. The uncertainty that comes with embracing a new life, love, and possibilities is scary and I appreciated the exploration of how challenging this could be.
Throughout this book, Emezi created captivating scenes. From art galleries and restaurants to gardens and kitchens, You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty‘s settings are characters unto themselves. The descriptions were so vivid and evocative that on several occasions, I found myself yearning to see this on the big screen. I was pleased to see that the book has already been optioned and a film is forthcoming.
I devoured You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty and recommend it without question. It has the hallmarks of a romance without being hackneyed, while also centering a conversation about mental health, trauma, and grief that isn’t always given the space to exist in contemporary romance.
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