Janna Onyemaobi

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 ...