This was wonderful! I am right in between 4.5 or a 5 star rating, but my heart says to round it up to 5 ✨
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This story has such a powerful message and needs to be read, its a challenge to read due to some of the dark themes, but any message worth knowing comes with challenges. Why shouldn’t you read a book that makes you uncomfortable? A book that makes you think and question what you are reading. I kept reading despite my discomfort and I’m so happy I did because as a whole this is a story that needs to be read!
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The story is told from by a strong and determined 15 year old girl from Ikati, Nigeria; her name is Adunni. Despite her dreams to learn and become a teacher Adunni doesn’t have the luxury of getting an education. She doesn’t have a say in anything that happens to her. Which as a reader can be frustrating and almost a deterrent because you want to read her succeed and get a chance, but despite her suffering she still has hope and dreams about breaking the barriers of being a girl.
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She is the hope and light of this book as she perseveres through everything that is thrown at her. She works hard no matter how tired she is. She is a young woman of worth and so very clever and kind.
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I have so many favorite lines from this story but this was the one that moved me the most:
“Not his-story,” I say. “My own will be called her-story. Adunni’s story.”
——Abi Daré p. 324