lovelybookshelf
Written on Sep 5, 2013
THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! I kid you not, my heart skips a beat whenever I think about this book. It was that good.
I was surprised by two things. First, Rebecca Walker's writing is very descriptive in a wordy kind of way, something I normally do not enjoy at all. But the style here was simply magnificent. I soaked in every word. Second, it's a love story. This is something I normally avoid. But this novel wasn't a vapid, silly love story. Farida and Adé's story was stunning. Sensitive, superb, and perfectly timed.
Adé makes me want to eat coconut rice and cassava and chicken biryani. I loved learning about Lamu, Kenya. I gained intimate insight into Swahili culture, but was also reminded that many experiences are just plain human. And oh my word, was I ever reminded of my own "first world problems."
By the end, with only a few pages of the book left, I was still completely absorbed in every word, every phrase. Then the main character, Farida, comes to a profound realization. It's something that, when I read it, I thought, "umm, yeah, that's never good, I could have warned you about that." But then I realized, I did this very same thing while I was reading! Rebecca Walker's ravishing descriptions of the culture and people tricked me into doing something I was so high and mighty about when I recognized it at the end. (I know this is vague, but I don't want to spoil it.)
Walker swept me in so that I was fully invested in the characters and their lives. At only 128 pages, you do not want to miss out on the incredible, moving experience of reading Adé.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.