So recently I’ve been branching out more and not only reading fantasy (though don’t get me wrong, I still love fantasy) because it's summer, and I feel like some fantasy books are just made for autumn/winter you know? But I saw so many people posting about Emily Henry’s Book Lovers that I had to give it a go, I really enjoyed Beach Read so wanted to get in on the hype! And it kind of got me on a romance kick, which I have been loving.
I was in Sainsbury’s and saw You Made a Fool out of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi and was immediately drawn in by the title because my mind immediately went to Florence + The Machine’s Hunger, which is a banger of a song btw. But then I loved the cover, so vibrant so I picked it up and saw that Bolu Babalola blurbed it, and immediately I was sold, without even reading the summary. Bolu, who also features in this list has immaculate taste and makes me laugh with her love island tweets, so I had to pick it up on her recommendation. I’ve also recently realised it is the Zoella book club book for July, so seems like a popular summer choice!
You Made a Fool out of Death With Your Beauty is about a woman called Feyi who is entering into the world of dating again after the traumatic loss of her husband five years prior. We follow her as she struggles to make new connections, and ultimately as she ends up falling for the one guy she shouldn’t… It is a great story with humour throughout, mainly from Feyi’s best friend and ultimate support, Joy. Their friendship is written so well and effortlessly that you can truly imagine these characters and I wouldn’t be surprised if Emezi took inspiration from their own friendships.
This was my first ever Emezi book and I’m definitely intrigued to read their other works, the way that they wrote about grief was incredibly touching and raw, and it really made me think about how people must feel rebuilding their lives after loss. It was incredibly sad, but also so hopeful about the possibility of love, and that we should search for it and not close ourselves off. I also loved the way that they wrote the island, it felt so vibrant and summery even though at times what Feyi was feeling was pretty heavy. I honestly think it was the perfect backdrop to make it seem lighter.
Emezi really has a way of writing that invoked feeling, I genuinely found myself laughing or smiling as I read, and some of the writing was truly profound and thought invoking that you can see the talent that Emezi has with words. That special way of pulling at your heartstrings, and making you feel empathy for all of the characters throughout, they were multi-dimensional and though Joy had moments of comic relief, she was not reduced to that. Overall, I gave it four stars because I really enjoyed it!
Next up we have Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola, who I mentioned before. I loved her collection of mythological romance retellings from Love in Colour, so when I saw that Babalola was writing a romance book I just knew it was gonna be good. When I visited Waterstones to see the pop-up set of Charlie’s bedroom from Heartstopper, I saw that there were some signed copies of Honey & Spice with an exclusive bonus chapter and just had to buy it even if it was much bigger than I had expected!
Honey & Spice follows Kiki, a sharp-witted university radio host who is on a mission to get the women at her university to evade players and ‘situationships’ that are all too common. When the women that usually take Kiki’s advice start infighting, Kiki realises that they are being played by the same man and makes it her mission to put an end to it. However, they end up fake dating after getting into some trouble as they aim to save their reputations, but will she take her own advice and not fall for him?
Now, Honey & Spice has got to be my favourite romance of all time. It was perfectly written, witty, funny and relatable. It was so easy to become fully immersed within the story because it felt so natural, as if you were observing a genuine friend group. I even began to annotate it not far in because it was packed with humour and genuinely good advice, when it comes to relationships, friendship or just believing in yourself.
And the chemistry between Kiki and Malakai was off the charts insanely good, Babalola describes herself as a romcomoisseur and throughout this book you can definitely tell that she has earnt that title. She has such a good understanding of what a romcom needs, and an incredible ability to craft and create that herself, after what can only be years and years of immersing herself in the genre. As you could tell through reading her first book Love in Colour, Babalola loves love and it comes across so well in this novel too, a book where you come away feeling like a hopeless romantic with a real enthusiasm for love.
Also introduced me to my first ever book fictional crush, because you cannot read this and not fall in love with Malakai. It is just impossible. Throughout the novel he is just an incredibly well-written character, funny, thoughtful, and genuine. As we all know, men written by women trump any other kind. If you have read it, and are reading this post it probably means you love books so I bet you can guess my favourite moment from Malakai! It completely secured my love for his character, it was a genuinely thoughtful and touching moment that made me squeal.
While the book has a central trope (fake dating) it is so much more than that, a story about female friendship, community and love of all kinds- not just romantic. I think especially for any Black university students out there, this is one to absolutely buy right now because Babalola explores the realities of being a Black student in a white university. In a similar fashion to Netflix’s Dear White People, Kiki has a university radio show called Brown Sugar through which she gives advice to the Black university community with humour.
I honestly cannot rave about this book enough, it has secured Babalola’s status as an auto-buy author for me and I cannot wait to see what she does next because I know whatever it is, it will be fantastic! I just want to gush over this book, and unfortunately, a lot of my thoughts aren’t coherent at all, but I truly adored it. It made me incredibly happy and genuinely made me laugh out loud because of the witty moments from the characters - there are honestly too many good quotes for me to even try and post my favourites though that is something I will definitely do.
All in all a 5 star read for me, and without a doubt my favourite romance ever!
Finally, though I’m sure that everyone and their nan has read this by now, I read Book Lovers by Emily Henry. After seeing it hyped non-stop on Instagram, I just had to cave to peer pressure and buy it, though I do not regret it at all. As a book lover, I was definitely partly drawn in by the title, and it did not disappoint as throughout the book there are so many tropes that are dealt with in such a funny way, due to Nora’s own life experiences.
Book Lovers follows Nora, a cut-throat publishing agent who has no luck when it comes to love, as her sister convinces her to have a holiday in the quaint town that inspired one of her biggest client’s books. However, while there Nora is unable to stop bumping into her work nemesis, Charlie who is an editor. While trying to finish her holiday bucket list, will the two of them be able to deny their chemistry?
This book was so easy to read, and really difficult to put down so I can definitely see why people hyped it up so much because it was definitely a fun read. I really liked the way that Henry was able to use Nora’s job and life to point out the stereotypical romance tropes within her life, the way she would internally run out the end of the scenario in her head did make me laugh, especially at the start as she is listing off tropes she has had in her life as the ice woman that the guys are with before finding ‘the one’.
Though predictable and the good kind of cheesy, Book Lovers did have depth to it, we really explored Nora’s reluctance when it comes to romance and why she feels overprotective of her sister. Henry has a great talent for introducing characters and slowly taking you deeper into them as the novel progresses, and I can't wait to read Happy Place when it comes out because I just really enjoy her books!
The definite selling feature of the book is the chemistry between Nora and Charlie, though they aren’t ‘enemies’, their rivals to lovers was convincing and their banter did make me laugh. I genuinely found myself rooting for them as a couple, and it was really well written so that there was a sexual tension between them that you wanted them to get together to release it.
Book Lovers was also a 5 star read for me!
I hope this has helped you add some romances to your summer TBR, if you do or have read any of these please let me know what you thought of them in the comments below! Did you enjoy them and do you have any other recommendations for me? I’m really enjoying the lightness that reading romance gives you in the summer!
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