By Kaylie Seed
Perfect for beach reading or wanting to pretend you’re escaping to a tropical island, You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty is a stunning romance novel that truly goes deeper than what is just on the surface. Emezi has written a vibrant, energetic, and inspiring tale about learning to love after loss while also learning to love oneself again. Feyi has been stuck ever since the love of her life tragically died in an accident, and when she decides that it is time to discover living again she finds herself surrounded by three very different men who can offer her very different things. What ensues is a story about a woman learning to be herself after a part of her died when her first love did.
This was a literary romance in my opinion. While it is a steamier read, it was written in such a way that readers will be able to feel the passion, heartache, and grief as Feyi rediscovers who she is after the love of her life has died. Romance wasn’t the main focus of this novel: there is a lot of it, but Emezi has managed to incorporate it into the story while focusing on Feyi’s journey to self-rediscovery, and that is something I can personally appreciate while reading a romance novel. Emezi immerses readers in food descriptions, music you can hear while reading, and stunning settings that are bound to entrance readers.
You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty has themes such as love, grief, healing, sexuality, finding oneself, trauma, and at its core it is about love—both for others and for oneself. This novel is complex and is one I recommend readers pick up if they enjoy steamier romances, gorgeous prose, difficult and deep themes, and characters who feel vibrant and alive.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.