Ayesha Harruna Attah

Zainab Takes New York

sydney

*3.5

I really liked how Zainab's ancestors were a major part of the story and how they were incorporated. I would like to know more of what happens after the story is over but I feel like it ended in a good spot.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Jelke Lenaerts

I received a galley of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

This book has content warnings for use of the g-slur and d-slur, homophobia, racism, and islamophobia.

This just wasn't for me. I just felt like nothing really happened in this book. It's so extremely slice of life that I was bored (and I typically love slice of life stories). I just felt like there was no overarching plot in this. Zainab also just wasn't a great character to follow. She's so immature (and I'm literally a year younger than her) and whiny. I hated the obsession with virginty and sex in this book. It just went to a point that felt uncomfortable to read for me. All the characters were as flat as could be and I did sometimes confuse characters. I think there's some interesting things brought up in this book but I feel like this book never went anywhere. This book could have been so good with some very interesting and relatable talking points but instead this was just super boring and extremely surface level. Also this is advertised as a romcom and the romances in this are absolutely shite and not a single funny thing happened in this book. Oh, and I think the storyline with the ancestors was completely unnececary and wasn't used to its full potential.

Salam Kabbani

Zainab our Ghanaian protagonist has come to NYC to pursue her dream of art and have all the experiences she was sheltered from by her upbringing. She wants to experience the true “starving artist” lifestyle and enjoy many firsts, sex included. Her roommate Mary Grace is a worldly free-spirit and encourages Zainab to do just that.

Meanwhile Zainab has three voices guiding her on what she should or should not be doing. These internal voices turn out to be her great grandmothers and she discovers that her gift is to connect with them and communicate with them.

As Zainab acclimates to NYC she grapples with heartbreak and her own identity until she becomes who she truly wants to be.

A few things I didn’t like were how timid Zainab was for the majority of the story and how she didn’t really accept how great she was until her friend Densua told her she inspired her. At times it felt like Mary Grace should have been the main character because of how much she overshadowed Mary Grace in being so self assured.

Being able to talk to her ancestors took a minute to get used to but in the end it all came together and it was nice to see her blossom into her own identity while still holding on to parts of her heritage.

Thank you @netgalley @headlinebooks for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review!

Zainab Takes New York

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