Happy Publication Day and thanks to the publishers, Masobebooks for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. It is one of my most anticipated reads for the year even though it is a debut and I was really excited to go into it especially with it’s very attractive cover.
The story follows three women. “Fifi” is married to the wealthy Lotanna and they have three beautiful kids however, their picture perfect marriage may not be as perfect as it seems. “Gigi”, Fifi’s younger sister has been single for two years after a breakup from a 5 year relationship with her beau Osagie but when she meets Mudi, she is not sure she is ready to go into a relationship as she is keeping a big secret that is eating her up. “Alana” is Gigi’s best friend. She is beautiful, successful and girl friend to super rich Benjamin who is one of the most eligible men in Lagos. When she falls pregnant, Benji is thrown off by the news and in a bid to steady his head, he gets into an entanglement that threatens the entire fabric of their relationship. This is a story about love, friendship, loyalty, secrets, lies, infidelity, blackmail, regret and redemption.
This read was quicker than I expected. I planned to read only the first chapter but ended up pulling an all night-er because I had to get to the end of this story. First of all, for a debut, I found this book so well written, witty and the story, believable. It truly portrayed a modern day upper class Lagos with colorful characters and enough drama, suspense and a brilliant twist at the end to keep you glued to the pages. Despite the fact that I am not a big fan of stories where infidelity and love triangles are major themes, I was still able to empathize with all the characters involved because of the way the author was able to show different perspectives to their stories which made them relatable in many ways. One of my take-aways from this story is how it subtly questions what “best friendship” really means especially in this day and age where the term is thrown around loosely and also the burden that come with secrets when we all know “the truth will always set you free”. The only reason this book is not a solid 5 stars for me is because I didn’t quite see a good connection between the sisters with no clear explanation why this was so. Although Fifi’s story was a really good addition to the equation, I didn’t see it tie-in neatly to the main plot as I would have loved.
Nevertheless, this was such an interesting read and I highly recommend it to everyone. Literally everyone. Go get a copy.
Rating: 4.7 Stars
Published: February 9th, 2022 by Masobebooks
Pages: 305
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
The Author:
Bina’s earliest memory of writing dates back to the eighties, when she was about six or seven and she wrote a book she titled “Johnny the scalawag” which was written and illustrated by her with pencil, and she stuck its seven or eight pages together with water gum to create a bounded prose work.
Today she is a lawyer by training, whose random interests, when she is not being a legal professional, include drooling over plant species, hosting friends for drinks at her home, and spending meditative time at the beach while listening transcendentally to music from eras past. She resides in the chaotic coastal city of Lagos, Nigeria, with her husband and three children.
‘Bridges are for Burning’ is her debut novel.
Connect with Bina on her social media handles @binaidonije
Copyright © Biyai Garricks
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Biyai Garricks, rovingbookwormng.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
