AMERICANAH BY CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE

"There was a moment, a c craving of the blue sky, an inertia of stillness, neither of them knew what to do, he walking towards her, she squinting, and then he was upon her and they hugged. she thumped him on the back, once, twice, to make it a chummy-chummy hug, a platonic and safe chummy-chummy hug, but he pulled her ever so slightly close to him, and held her for a moment too long as though to say he was not being chummy-chummy."

I earnestly wish that Ifemelu had fought just a little harder for her first love. But don't we all? lol.

There is something purely beautiful yet toxic about first loves.

We often see them as our forever and in a huge sense they hold that title to the very end.

We carry them with us everywhere we are,

our first interview,

our first job,

our relationships with family and friends,

our dreams,

and strangely even on our first dates with other guys.

Correct me if I'm wrong but to me first loves are like blood sucking leech. we know they are bad but we love that they are. And the emotions that they make us feel mask a certain part of us even from ourselves. They bring with them splendid memories and emotions we will live to marvel at.

When I was 17 I fell in love for the first time, I remember the sun felt different when I was with him and the wind blew so vividly yet its breeze felt as though it owed me fresh air and it would always make sure I breathed well. the world was ours and as long as he was with me I could conquer and fight it all.

like Ifemelu, my first love was a necessity I loved to hate.

I fell in love for the second time when I read Americanah,

Ifemelu and Obinze have a beautiful love. they fall in love as kids and Chimamanda highlights their bond as something that can not easily be broken. in short they are inseparable. Their love is like a wild fire, it can only be extinguished by nature itself. yet when Nigeria goes through political unrest a few years later and the education system is constantly affected. Ifemelu gets an opportunity of a lifetime to go and study in the U.S. distance is their biggest barrier at first but as the story unfolds they are separated by bad decisions.

I felt ifemelu's confusion and yearning when Obinze emailed her after a long time, I felt her irritation when all her lovers couldn't compare to him. and I felt her tears and pain when she met with him after years and he was no longer hers. I fell in love all over again.

But it was not just love that Chimamanda made me feel as I read this book. she spoke so boldly about racism and I couldn't help but feel alarmed at the fact that I could relate to her. she narrates how in Nigeria race was never a problem but once she got to America she noticed that she was black. because white meant privilege and in a way black meant burden. I cried a little. because in my country we will never speak of Racism but the word is inprinted in our hearts because of everything we see around us.

in conclusion, Americanah is a well thought of novel and Chimamanda does not disappoint when it comes to giving her characters life. I would recommend this novel any day because I couldn't put it down and I flipped through the last page twice just to make sure the story had really ended, I wanted to learn more about Ifemelu. This book covers sensitive topics about race, relationships, religion, sex, unemployment and self discovery. if you are easily offended it probably isn't the book for you. But if you are a lover of honest views then you will thoroughly enjoy!

Hope this review has been helpful to you and has enticed you to add Americanah to your reading list this week or month. if you have read it, what is your honest opinion about the novel? would love to hear from you as we discover AMBER skies together!