Although the start was a little rocky for me (really just for personal reasons) I can’t help but appreciate how much range Akwaeke Emezi has as an author.

From “The Death of Vivek Oji” to “Pet” to this book, they demonstrate an incredible capacity to make impactful stories for queer black people that I really admire.

The representation is even more appreciated (at least for me) because they aren’t falling for that trope of “near perfect person, going above and beyond for everyone and whose only fault is working too much” that we often see when black people are represented. It’s okay to be messy, to be imperfect, to learn, to grow, and to loudly be yourself. We don’t owe anybody perfection, and we are entitled to our individualities. We are a community, not a monolith.

And they give that rep not only in literary fiction, but also speculative fictions (science fiction fantasy) and romance with books for almost every age group. 👑