Yinka, Where is Your Huzband by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn – 384 pages
ARC provided from Pamela Dorman Books and Netgalley for an honest review.
Book Blurb:
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband brings us Yinka’s Nigerian aunties that frequently pray for her delivery from singledom, her work friends think she’s too traditional (she’s saving herself for marriage!), her girlfriends think she needs to get over her ex already, and the men in her life…well, that’s a whole other story. But Yinka herself has always believed that true love will find her when the time is right.
Still, when her cousin gets engaged, Yinka commences Operation Find-A-Date for Rachel’s Wedding. Aided by a spreadsheet and her best friend, Yinka is determined to succeed. Will Yinka find herself a huzband? And what if the thing she really needs to find is herself?
My Review: 4 stars
Yinka, Where is Your Huzband by Lizzie Blackburn is a tenderhearted story that reminds us to love and take ourselves because that is the ultimate love affair. Yinka’s family, from Nigeria yet living in the UK, see her singleness as a disease of sorts. I think this is common in many cultures and the pressure to date becomes more of a duty than doing it when you’re ready.
This book poses as a romance, but I’d say it’s more of a finding yourself type of book. There were a great many subplots that kept my interest, and I found some the characters very intriguing. Yinka grew tremendously as the book went on, yet her incessant lying became annoying. I can understand why she felt the need to “keep the peace” and lie about so many things, but I wanted her to grow out of it much earlier.
I think this book shows women that life can change and doors can open at any time of your life. It also punctuates that it’s okay to not be okay, which we often need to hear, because so often we feel alone when we’re floundering. I appreciate the spotlight placed on mother/daughter relationships, sisterhood and friendship. This was a good debut and I look forward to reading more from Blackburn in the future.
Quotes I liked:
I realize how freeing it is to say what I think. To stand up for myself.”
“I need to get in touch with who I really am. Not try to be the person the world wants me to be.”
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