Janna Onyemaobi

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase Silver sparrow from Rovingheights with the link above. This is a story about two families both sharing the same father and husband; James Witherspoon. James gets married at age 15 after getting Laverne who was 14 at the time pregnant. Laverne loses the baby but stays married to James. A decade later, she gives birth to a daughter named Chaurisse but unknown to Laverne and Chaurisse, James has another wife named Gwen and another daughter named Dana. These are James’ secret family. James’ secret family knows about Laverne and Chaurisse. Writing style: This book is divided into two parts. The first part is told from Dana’s (the illegitimate daughter) point of view while the second part of the book is told from Chaurisse’s (the legitimate daughter) point of view. It is written in the first person narrative and we follow the lives of these girls as they grow up and how their lives affect one another without being aware of it. If...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase this book from Rovingheights with the link above. His only wife is set in Ghana and it follows the story of a young seamstress, Afi who finds herself in an arranged marriage to the son of her family’s benefactor, Aunty. Aunty meets with Olivia (Afi’s mother) and proposes the marriage to her because she does not like Eli (Aunty’s son) current partner Muna. Muna is a Liberian woman who does not bend to Aunty’s wishes. Olivia can never really say no to Aunty because she has been the one helping her since her husband died. The book starts off with the traditional wedding of Afi and Eli. Eli is absent so his brother stands in for him as the groom. To me, this was the first red flag in the marriage because I don’t understand why a groom would miss his own wedding because of a business trip. After the wedding, Afi finds out that her marital life is not how she envisioned it to be and this leads her to a journey of self discovery. I...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase this book from Rovingheights with the link above. The vanishing half is a story that centers on identical twin sisters   set between 1940s to 1990s.  Desiree and Stella both light skinned are born and raised in a town filled with light skinned people. They take different paths as teenagers after running away from their home town. One lives as a black woman and the other lives as a white woman.  We also follow the lives of their daughters, Jude and Kennedy. Jude is dark skinned and grows up as a black woman who has dreams of getting into medical school, she also struggles with self acceptance while Kennedy grows up as a white woman from a rich home who enjoys acting. There are so many layers in this book and I love that so many topics were touched; colorism, racism, domestic violence, parenting, relationships, self love etc. It is written in the third person narrative. I was a bit bored while reading it, don’t g...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase Such a fun age from Rovingheights with the link above. Such a fun age is an adult fiction that focuses around three characters, Emira, Alix and Kelley. Emira works as a babysitter for Alix while Kelley is Emira’s boyfriend. The book opens with Emira taking Briar (Alix’s daughter) to a late night grocery store where she is being harassed and accused of kidnapping. Kelley witnesses this event and records it on his phone, this eventually leads to Kelley meeting Emira. The story spins off from there. Emira is black, Alix and Kelley are both white people that feel they need to be nice to black people to get validation or something (that’s how I interpreted their actions). It is written in the third person narrative and it addresses race, class, privilege and micro aggression. I saw Queenie in this book.  The scene where she is trying to find herself, how she manages interracial relationships and the influences of her friends ...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase this book from Rovingheights with the link above. Children of virtue and vengeance is the second book in the trilogy (the legacy of orisha). The review for the first book, children of blood and bone is already on my blog, I suggest you read that review and the book before you begin with this one. We are in a fantasy world of Orisha set in Nigeria where the people with magic are being treated as second class citizens. Zelie, Tzain and Amari were able to bring back magic (more details in my review on book one). Amari tries to recover the throne but finds out that her mother is still alive and is determined to destroy everyone in the maji clan. Inan who was thought to be dead at the end of book one is actually alive and takes over as the king after Amari killed her father, king Saran. Zelie has to kill Inan inorder to win this war. A lot of conflict arise as we dive deeper into the book. Conflicts between Zelie and Inan, Zelie ...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase this book from Roving heights with the link above. Children of blood and bone is a young adult fiction set in a mythical kingdom of Orisha where magic has disappeared and the maji ( i.e.  those who do not have magic anymore) are treated as less of a human being.   Zelie, the lead character in this book happens to be a maji who watched her mother die during the raid ordered by the king. Years later, Zelie goes to trade in Lagos with her brother Tzain and she meets the princess of Orisha Amari who is running away from the palace after watching her father kill her bestfriend Binta whose magic was awakened when she touched the scroll. Zelie helps Amari escape and together, the three of them begin their journey to bring magic back.   This book is told from multiple perspective  which personally I like because I get to be in everyone’s head and see things through their eyes. The world building is really good, li...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase this book from Rovingheights with the link above. Everything I never told you is a story about the Lee family living in Ohio in the 70s. This book kicks off with the death of their first daughter, Lydia. The first line  “Lydia is dead but no one knows this yet”.   Lydia’s death is the center of the book. We read how each member of the family deals with the disappearance and eventually, the death of Lydia. Lydia also happens to be the favorite child. Everything I never told you also dwells on family, parenting, race, being a woman with ambitions in the 1970s, how the society sees people that do not look like them and how this affects the person emotionally, mentally and physically. I adore the writing style, the story is told from every single members point of view; the ominiscent narrative . There is also this forward and backward movement as the story progresses. The time line felt consistent and steady. I felt dif...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase Little fires everywhere from Rovingheight with the link above. - Race -Adoption -Friendship -Family -Motherhood -Secrets.   Little fires everywhere is about two families from different socioeconomic backgrounds who become a part of each others lives leading to the craziness that comes with the story. It is set in 1997 and takes place in Shaker heights Ohio. This book is centered around two mothers, Mia and Elena and their children. Mia is a single mother raising her daughter. They tend to move around a lot. This makes it almost impossible for them to build relationships with people. She is also an artist. Elena on the other hand is an organized house wife, living in a perfect city and to her, she is this good mother that wants to help everyone. She is married with four children.  Mia rents an apartment from the Richardson (i.e. Elena’s family) which eventually leads to her involvement in their lives.   I love ...

  https://rhbooks.com.ng?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase An American marriage from Rovingheights with the link above. An American marriage tells the story of a middle class African-American couple, Roy and Celestial whose lives are torn apart when Roy is wrongfully convicted for a crime he did not commit. His wife believes he is innocent but the question remains this; is this believe enough to keep the fire burning in  their marriage? This story is also wrapped by racial injustice. This book is captivating, I love how the author captures each emotions, both relationship and personal emotions, how the characters deal with situations and how they react to each other. An American Marriage is a good book but reading it, I already figured out the end half way through. There is not much suspense. From the beginning, I knew this was not a relationship that could withstand anything. Roy’s attitude before the incarceration gave that away. Once thing I really liked about this boo...

https://rhbooks.com.ng?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase the girl with the louding voice from rovingheights with the link above. The girl with the louding voice follows the story of a 14 year old named Adunni who is growing up in a small village. Her mother is dead and her family is poor. Inorder to get money, her father marries her off to a wealthy man in the village, she becomes a child bride. She is occasionally raped by her husband who also has a daughter the same age as her. This book touches on a lot of things such as education, child marriage, domestic abuse, child trafficking, the superstitious belief of blaming a woman for her inability to bear a child or a male child etc. It is a typical Nigerian novel, one that takes you through the journey of Nigerians in different classes, the upper class, middle and lower class. It is easy to read. Abi Dare keeps the dialogue going, no questions asked. It was a fun read but more importantly, there are lots of lessons to be learned. T...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi With the link above, you can purchase Beloved from RovingHeights. Beloved is a literary fiction with supernatural themes. It is a story of a runaway slave; Sethe who would rather kill her children than watch them return back to slavery. She succeeds in killing her first child Beloved. Years later, the ghost of Beloved comes back to live with her and her daughter Denver. Image gotten from wikimedia commons  The fascinating thing about this book is that at first, we think it is the book is about Sethe, but as we dive further, we figure out that this book is actually about Beloved. Beloved talks about the realities of slavery and the impact of these on the individuals years after slavery. It also reveals the sad stories of women brought into slavery. Some of these women would get pregnant, give birth but their child would not belong to them, instead, the child would belong to their owners. It was really bad, these women could not even breas...

                                                    https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi With the link above, you can purchase any book of your choice from Rovingheights.   MAMA Emotions are useful deceit and tactic to man. I never understood what this statement meant until I began to understand. It's like manipulation with consent. Interesting. Growing up, I always wondered what it felt like to be in my parents shoes, always having to worry about what we would eat, our school fees, rents etc. I didn’t want to have kids because having children is a decision that comes with the responsibilities I was not willing to take. I did have kids, I had a child, she was beautiful, she was an angel but she was gone before the sun rose. It was tragic. I was heart broken, something I never thought I was capable of feeling. It went on for days, weeks and even m...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi With the link above, you can purchase any book of your choice from Rovingheights. Treachery in the yard is a crime thriller set in Port Harcourt Nigeria. It narrates the story of a detective and his journey in investigating a crime. His false assumptions, his determination to find answers and his willingness to put his life on the line if it means getting the answers he needs. It was an interesting read and I love the fact that this book is written from a detective’s point of view, it makes us understand that some of these officers are actually trying. I also like the fact that it talks about the crimes and corruptions in politics and the extents to which some people would go to cover up their crime. It also points out the problems some police officers face such as low income, which might make some of them do what they are not supposed to do so they can make extra cash and live a more comfortable life. This does not justify their decisions. ...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase transcendent kingdom from Rovingheights with the link above. Transcendent kingdom is a literary fiction set in contemporary times. It is the story of a female character named Gifty who is getting her PHD in neuroscience. She is trying to understand addiction, get as much knowledge as she can from her experiments and apply it to humans. Maybe she might get a logical answer to her brothers addiction and her mothers depression.   This book focuses on addiction, faith, grief, science, race and depression. It also touches the conflict and unsettled marriage between science and religion. Gifty was brought up in a religious home but after the death of her brother, she felt religion could no longer provide an answer so she deviated to science but does not completely abandon her faith. One thing I liked about this book is the honesty, the main character asks questions any human that has been through what she went through would as...

Before we begin, some people have asked me where they can get some of the books i reviewed on my blog.  https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi With the link above, you can purchase any book of your choice from Rovingheights. LOVE Teach me how to love Because to me Love is nothing but a myth People believe in When they think they are crazy about someone. I do not own the rights to this image. We were two broken pieces, eager to find completion in each other not minding if it hurt us in the end. My heart was broken, not once not twice but I stayed because I got the validation I needed from him. He made me feel whole even when he cheated. The first time was a mistake, he claimed he was drunk and seduced, he could not resist because she was just like me.  MISTAKE! Something people assume they do when they deviate from the right path. Everything becomes a mistake if it does not go as planned but the question remains this; are mistakes meant to be planned? My husband made me b...

Social creature is a psychological thriller set in New York city. It is  about the story of two girls; Louisa and Lavinia. Lavinia is privileged (in terms of money) and Louisa is not.  These girls are best friends. Lavinia treats Louisa like she is the only one that matters, she convinces Louisa to move in with her, she lets her wear her dress, spend her money etc.  Their relationship is kind of toxic, Louisa figures this out but ignores it because of the privileges that comes with being Lavinia’s friend. image gotten from goodreads Personally I enjoyed the book, although there are some details in the book I don’t think is necessary. There are a lot of things happening at the same time and when you think you are getting something out of the book, you suddenly realize that what you thought was happening isn’t really what is happening and honestly I think it is a good thing because it just makes you curious and eager to find out what exactly is going on. If you liked Gone g...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase my sister the serial killer from Rovingheights with the link above. My sister, the serial killer is a crime thriller set in Lagos Nigeria. It is basically  about the lives of two sisters, the youngest one being the serial killer and the oldest one having to clean up after her sisters mess. image gotten from goodreads Personally, I was attracted  to this book because of the book cover and the fact that prior this, I had not read any crime thriller novel set in Nigeria so I was really excited. This book is an okay book but then I expected more from the author. There are lots of loopholes. I felt the reasons for the murders were not justified. The writing style is basic, it is written in first person narrative. I eventually figured out that the author was trying to establish the length a person can go because of a family member or family in general. One thing I really liked about this book is the Nigerian concept. I am...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase Homegoing from rovingheights with the link above. Homegoing is a historical fiction set back in the Gold Coast which comprises of the Ashanti and the N orthern  territories (present day Ghana). This book is about the stories of two half sisters and their descendants up until the 8 th  generation. One of the sisters is married to a British governor and the other is sold into slavery. Copyright: This image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution It is divided into two parts, the first part takes place in Ghana and the second part takes place in America. One remarkable thing about homegoing is the slave trades that took place in the Cape Coast castle. Slaves were captured and kept in the dungeon  until they were sold. This really struck me because prior to this book, I had no idea that the Ghanaian ancestors  went through this. Maybe it is because I am not from Ghana but then I am African so I g...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase Girl, woman, other from Rovingheights with the link above. Girl, Woman, Other is a literally fiction that follows the stories of twelve different women living in London over the cause of several decades. Each chapter explores the lives of three women that are connected to each other in some way. Bernadine Evaristo dwells on their thoughts and opinions to life. The only thing all twelve women has in common is the fact in the last chapter called the after party, they are all present at a play directed by one of the characters  but not necessarily knowing each other.   image gotten from alamy It took a while for me to get into this book because the writing style and structure is different from what I am used to. I have not read any other book written by the author so I cannot say if this is her style of writing or if it is peculiar to this book. Secondly, it was quite difficult to keep up because a lot of names were me...

Colleen Hoover delivers another mind blowing novel immerse with suspense that will keep you glued to the pages of this book. image gotten from goodreads Heart bones is a romantic novel that takes us through the story of Beyah and Samson. Two broken pieces willing to do anything to survive. Samson and Beyah seems to have nothing in common.  Beyah on the other hand is assumed to have come  from a family of wealth and privilege . Unknown to them, they have more in common than anyone could ever imagine, one of which is the fact that they  a re both drawn to sad thing  w hich means they  a re drawn to each other. Heart bones is a heart breaking yet amazing story. We are able to recognize  the void in the lives of these character  and watch them fight selflessly to fill this void. This book will make you see more right to wrong than there is. We follow the lives of two broken children that find completion in each other. One thing I really loved about this bo...

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi You can purchase Queenie from rovingheights with the link above. image gotten from goodreads Queenie is a psychological fiction that focuses on the life of a 25 year old black woman living in London and the poor decisions she makes. These decisions were mainly caused by low self esteem and the desire to feel loved and accepted. While reading this book, the first few chapters gave me this ‘Nah’ vibe because I felt the author was trying to justify the bad decisions Queenie made rather than focusing on ways she can become a better person but as I dived deeper, I began to sympathize with Queenie, I could not believe I actually judged her without taking out time to look for the why behind her reasons. Queenie is a black girl that does not date black men because of the relationship her mother had with a black man. She feels black men do not like her. She uses her experience with one black man to judge all black men. Personally, I feel this is not ...