Details:
- author: Buki Papillon
- full title: An Ordinary Wonder
- narrator: Adjoa Andoh
- genre: literary fiction, young adult
- topics: #comingofage
- publisher: OrangeSky Audio
- publish date: 07.09.2021
- timing: 12:52:42
My Rating of the Audiobook:
- content: 💙💙💙.5
- narration: 💙💙💙💙💙
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| Goodreads |
Excerpt from the Book:
In the distance, I saw shapes that could be houses; pale watery as though made of glass or ice that wasn't frozen. Nothing was what it seemed to be. Down here, the water gleamed brighter, sharper, clearer, the way it only ever looked when the sun came out after the first heavy rain that followed the dry season. Reds seared, yellows shone and purples looked wax-polished. Voices babbled softly, sweetly, in my ear, but I saw no one. I looked at myself in those glass walls and I was beautiful. Long plaits down my back, pearl shells on my chest. Bangles on my wrists. I searched my mind for the meaning of this. Where was I?
I must really be dead this time. No other explanation made sense. It wasn't bad, after all, to be dead. Then, in the corner of my eye, I saw movement, quick as light, gone when blinked. She played with me like that for a while, before she let me see her. She was a woman but then again she wasn't. Her long slim arms gleamed with an impression of pearly scales. Shells covered her breasts, Her sweeping fins and tail flashed a multitude of colours - silver, red, electric blue - like the betta fish I once saw in a book. Sea anemones wrapped like living rubber bands around the ends of her long gleaming plaits. One lazily waved its tentacles. I'd never seen anything so astonishing and beautiful. Yet she felt strangely familiar. Who was she?
Call me Yeyemi, she said, without words. You are safe. Here between worlds, at the parting of the veil, you may rest. But only for a time.
My Thoughts:
An Ordinary Wonder is full of Nigerian customs, myths, and beliefs. I loved that.
Otolorin
(Oto/Lori) is an intersex that is raised as a boy but inside feels like
a girl. She is born into a wealthy family. But this doesn’t mean that
it is any easier for her. Her parents don’t understand the situation or
her feelings. Otolorin is constantly abused, bullied, and emotionally
tortured. This has an enormous impact on her self-esteem and
self-acceptance.
A coming-of-age story that deals with gender,
identity, family, love, and culture. It contains quite a few sensitive
topics, like domestic abuse, emotional and physical abuse, suicide and
rape attempts.
The novel begins with two separate timelines, now
and before, that I didn’t think to have such a powerful effect on the
storytelling. There is also too much teen romance for my taste.
Otherwise, this is an impressive debut.
I loved the narration by Adjoa Andoh. I loved her accent and the atmosphere that she created.
About the Author:
Buki Papillon was born in Nigeria, lived in the UK where she studied law at the University of Hull, and is now settled in the US, where she has learned to find inspiration in the long winters. She has in the past been a travel adviser, events host and chef.
Her debut novel, An Ordinary Wonder, was published by Pegasus Books in the US on September 7, 2021, and by Dialogue Books (Little, Brown UK) in March 2021. Her work has been published in Post Road Magazine and The Del Sol Review.
In her downtime she loves taking long rambles in nature, making jewelry, cooking up a storm and, of course, epic levels of reading.
