#BlogTour Wahala by Nikki May

It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Wahala by Nikki May.

'Nikki’s debut novel WAHALA will be published around the world and is due to be turned into a major TV serial for the BBC by Bafta-nominated writer Theresa Ikoko.'

About the Author

Born in Bristol and raised in Lagos, Nikki May is Nigerian-British. At twenty, she dropped out of medical school, moved to London, and began a career in advertising, going on to run a successful agency. Nikki lives in Dorset with her husband and two standard Schnauzers. Follow @NikkiOMay on Twitter, Visit nikki-may.com

Nikki says: “This is a novel about the power of friendship and the stories we inherit. The inspiration for Wahala came from a long (and loud) lunch with very good friends in a Nigerian restaurant. I wanted to read a book that had people like me in it. The first scene was drafted on the train journey home. The characters became flesh and wouldn’t let me go.” 

About the book

Ronke, Simi, Boo are three mixed-race friends living in London. They have the gift of two cultures, Nigerian and English, though they don't all choose to see it like that.

Everyday racism has never held them back, but now in their thirties, they look to the future - Ronke wants a husband (he must be Nigerian); Simi supposedly wants a child (well, her husband does); Boo is frustrated and unfulfilled, caught in a whirl of school runs and lustful dreams. When Isobel, a lethally glamorous friend from their past arrives in town, she is determined to fix their futures for them.

As cracks in their friendship begin to appear, it is soon obvious Isobel is not sorting but wrecking. When she is driven to a terrible act, the women are forced to reckon with a crime in their past that may have just repeated itself.

A darkly comic and bitingly subversive take on love, race and family, Wahala will have you laughing, crying and gasping in horror. Boldly political about class, colorism and cooking, here is a truly inclusive tale that will speak to anyone who has ever cherished friendship, in all its forms.

Review

Ronke, Simi, Boo are long-time friends, and it would seem that they are have an unbreakable bond of friendship, which is cemented through their dual identities in regards to culture and the fact they are all mixed-race. Their experiences of racism have been consistent - systemic, and yet also defined by their surroundings and their individual experiences.

When a unexpected fourth person inserts herself into their group the boundaries of their friendship and loyalties begin to move and crumble. A pretty face and a flashy personality can't hide a venomous snake with vicious intentions for long.

I enjoyed the way this read evolved from the complexity of friendships, the nuances of racism and cultural expectations, into a dark domestic story. Quite unexpected, but it does the job when it comes to keeping readers on their toes. May shows the often extreme balancing act those generations have to deal with when it comes to having to pander to two cultural identities. The family has expectations and society often quite a different set of the same.

I'll be looking forward to more interesting reads by this author.

Buy Wahala at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Doubleday Uk, pub date 6th January 2022 | Hardback | £14.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza .

'Told from alternating perspectives, an evocative and riveting novel about the lifelong bond between two women, one Black and one white, whose friendship is indelibly altered by a tragic event—a powerful and poignant exploration of race in America today and its devastating impact on ordinary lives.'

About the Author/s

Christine Pride is a writer, editor, and longtime publishing veteran. She’s held editorial posts at many different trade imprints, including Doubleday, Broadway, Crown, Hyperion, and Simon & Schuster. As an editor, Christine has published a range of books, with a special emphasis on inspirational stories and memoirs, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. As a freelance editorial consultant, she does select editing and proposal/content development, as well as teaching and coaching, and pens a regular column—“Race Matters”—for Cup of Jo. She lives in New York City. Follow @cpride on Twitter, Visit christinepride.com

Jo Piazza is an award-winning journalist, editor and podcast host. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Marie Claire, Glamour, and other notable publications. She is also the author of Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win, How to Be Married, The Knockoff, Fitness Junkie, and If Nuns Ruled the World. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and two small children. Follow @JoPiazza on Twitter, Listen to under-the-influence-with-jo-piazza

About the book

Jen and Riley have been best friends since kindergarten. As adults, they remain as close as sisters, though their lives have taken different directions. Jen married young, and after years of trying, is finally pregnant. Riley pursued her childhood dream of becoming a television journalist and is poised to become one of the first Black female anchors of the top news channel in their hometown of Philadelphia.

But the deep bond they share is severely tested when Jen’s husband, a city police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. Six months pregnant, Jen is in freefall as her future, her husband’s freedom, and her friendship with Riley are thrown into uncertainty. Covering this career-making story, Riley wrestles with the implications of this tragic incident for her Black community, her ambitions, and her relationship with her lifelong friend.

Like Tayari Jones’s An American Marriage and Jodi Picoult’s Small Great Things, We Are Not Like Them explores complex questions of race and how they pervade and shape our most intimate spaces in a deeply divided world. But at its heart, it’s a story of enduring friendship—a love that defies the odds even as it faces its most difficult challenges. 

Review

On the surface Riley and Jen are best friends - sisters from different families. Their incredible bond threatens to be severed when Jen's husband is involved in shooting - the shooting of an unarmed young black teenager. As a journalist Riley finds herself in the middle of the incident, as a black woman she finds herself at the opposite side of the dispute - against her friend and her husband.

There is no doubt there is a disparity between white people and black people, which is influenced by a system built on colonialism, and the differences are driven by systemic racism in said system. There is a lack of comprehension by white people when it comes to understanding white privilege. 

I understand why minorities, marginalised groups and black people find this frustrating and believe it isn't their job to explain or help those who don't understand why it is a privilege. The reality however is that without someone pointing out why it exists and how it influences lives, careers, academic paths, choices and every single situation - there will be no real change.

White mothers don't have to teach their white children, but specifically boys and men, to act in a certain way in order to hopefully not generate a stereotypical response from the authorities and often the public in general. Don't be furtive, listen and obey, don't reach for your pockets or move quickly. All things a black mother will say to her son in an attempt to keep him safe, because the reality is the likelihood of a black male being racially profiled, stereotyped and singled out are outrageously high.

It's a book and dialogue that is needed to move forward and change a system that isn't equal - a worldview that is dismissed, ridiculed and rationalised by those on the longer end of the stick. An important exploration of a friendship that is based on one person submitting to the status quo and the other being completely unaware of what life is really like for her friend.

It's definitely a book that will generate discussion, which is good. It's also one I wouldn't hesitate to buy for people who really need to read it.

Buy We Are Not Like Them at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎HQ pub date 5 Oct. 2021. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Nowhere Girls by Teuta Metra

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Nowhere Girls by Teuta Metra. It's a story about loyalty, friendship and strength in a world of gender inequality, abuse and harassment. It questions the boundaries of female friendships and what constitutes a real friendship.

About the Author
Now a fiction writer, Teuta Metra's experience as an Albanian journalist has made her an expert on the struggles of women from her country. Author, journalist and teacher, Teuta now lives in The Netherlands with her husband and two sons.

Follow @Teuta_Metra on Twitter,
Visit teutametra.com/
Buy Nowhere Girls

About the book
Friends Alba and Sara could not be more different. While Alba is forcing her way into the upper echelons of Albanian’s richest and most powerful, Sara is working more than one job as a struggling journalist. Both desperate to escape their corrupt country, they're quickly dragged into a sordid world of politics and lies.

When tragedy strikes their friend Ina, the two women must come together to save her little boy. Can they put away their troubles and secure a better future for the child? Or will their past catch up with them?

Nowhere Girls is a thrilling tale of love, lies and the lengths a woman will go to for freedom.

Review
There are some really powerful and significant emotions one can feel throughout the book and it doesn't come from the characters per se. It emanates from the author through her words. The feelings of anger, frustration at the injustice and the overall desire for change.

The rage, and to me it certainly felt like rage, is directed at the way women are treated in her native country, Albania. To be fair, although the focus is on three friends from Albania in this story, I believe the author feels the same about the way women are treated everywhere.

That and the ineptitude of the way society deals with domestic abuse are the underlying sub-plots in this story about friendship and loyalty between three women. How we are still completely incapable to sufficiently help the victims of domestic abuse in a fast, safe and satisfactory manner. The number of annual deaths due to domestic violence are shocking, the statistics on violent attacks shamefully high and that is without the amount of unreported incidents.

The stories of Alba, Sara and Ina are interwoven in a strange way. Sometimes the connections are based on need rather than the desire to enjoy time with a friend. Alba really appears to be guilty of this, although I found Sara a lot more ruthless than Alba at times. The two women battle with ambition and making their place in their world.

Ina and her story seems to take place in the background, and yet for me it was the one which felt more important to me. How meeting the wrong guy puts her on the path of pain, sorrow and destruction. Sara can see him for what he is, but Ina is drawn into a dangerous web of abuse.

I think Metra should focus all her emotions and write about her anger, frustration and the changes she would like to see for girls and women in her country and around the world. Forget the side stories or the fictional aspect even. The book and publishing world is all about women's empowerment at the moment.

It's a story about loyalty, friendship and strength in a world of gender inequality, abuse and harassment. It questions the boundaries of female friendships and what constitutes a real friendship.

Buy Nowhere Girls at Amazon Uk (paperback) or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy Kindle edition at Amazon Uk, Buy at Amazon com

She Just Can't Help Herself by Ollie Quain

What I really like about Quain's writing and voice is the way she doesn't pull any punches. It is gritty, realistic and at times uncomfortable.

Why? Well that's what emotions are, they are messy, make you squirm and inevitably they can bring out the best and worst in people.

Her stories have a certain Jackie Collin's glam, glitz and fame mixed with a 21st century vibe. Quain combines the cut-throat fakery of the media, the shallow world of celebrity and the insidious nature of advertising. In the midst of this is the complicated lives of Tanya and Ashley, and the emotional breakdown of their friendship.

Tanya and Ashley used to be tighter than a nuns knicker elastic, and also as different as two girls can possibly be. Something happens to destroy their relationship, an event that causes an irreparable rift between them.

The overall theme is friendship and whether or not a broken one can be repaired or not. Seems simplistic, but there are things that are unforgivable, especially between best friends. The question is whether you can resume one after the unforgivable. Never forget, never forgive, but maybe they can move on with a clean slate, or maybe not.

It's a modern story, which will probably resonate with a lot of readers. The complications of marriage, divorce, friendship and careers, combined with the pressures and demands of adulthood.

Buy She Just Can't Help Herself at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Read How To Lose Weight and Alienate People by Ollie Quain.

The Moment Collector by Jodi Lynn Anderson

A haunting tale of a past life revisiting the path she once trod and how the life ended in the first place.

At first glance it appears to be a story of three young people, who are connected via place and time.

The actual spirit seems almost menacing and is centred around the house Maggie and her parents have moved into.

It is a family property passed down through the ages. The presence thinks it belongs somewhere deep below in the cellar. It is unaware of its identity, has no inkling of how or when it came to be there.

What it does know is that something bad is coming, something is going to happen to Maggie, Pauline or Liam. Is it there to help them, save them or is it there to harm them?

The ghost tries to connect with other apparitions, but comes to the conclusion that they are not from within the same time frame or era. They just float and wander by without responding to her cries. She watches the three of them, sometimes from afar and often up close.

She sees them grow close, splinter and break apart. Love is fickle, relationships come and go, but friendships are supposed to be able to withstand the test of time.

I really loved the overall feel of this story. Never too dramatic or teeny. Subtle with just enough action or emotional turmoil to keep a nice flow to the it. The most memorable element for me was the layer of sorrow and the haunting ache left behind by her memories.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.