Section. Weave. Repeat. Uncovering secrets is like undoing braids one at a time… Braids Take a Day is a beautifully developed novel about a late-adolescent girl with a strong desire to find out about her Nigerian background. We first meet Abidemi after final exams, and she has her three months of freedom before college worries. Her father, with whom she is restricted from the spontaneous, is set to be leaving to Nigeria for three weeks for a business trip. With the house to herself and her friend Sinéad, paired with a disco just around the corner, Abi was hit with a stroke of luck. In addition, meeting an intriguing woman from Nigeria begins to unravel secrets and the unexpected. In this coming-of-age realistic fiction, Abidemi Benson is faced with abandoning her comfort zone, confronting challenges within her family and facing a sonder as she prepares for the countdown to her eighteenth birthday.
First of all, dare I say that “Braids Take a Day” has set a new standard for my reading. Somehow, Boladale conjured a prime example of the type of book that gives me motivation to write my own! I was pleasantly surprised by how well her descriptive skills are, and I found myself craving more every turn of a page. I may or may not be a bit biased for not reading a good book in some time, though! I enjoyed the characters in this novel, particularly our main girl Abi who goes through some character development by the end. It was satisfying to watch as she burst through her comfortable shell and became the confident, assertive woman she is! Of course, she had her challenges, and some insane plot twists on top of that! (Seriously—I had to step back for a few beats!) With all its glorification, however, it is not too different from the standard coming-of-age novel, and follows a particular sequence many obsessive readers can recognise; losing naivety, journey, growth, change in perspective. This shouldn’t degrade the novel or put you off it at all! And I’m sure everyone who reads will discover a pastime for reaching a new chapter.
Some things I particularly like, have to be the bite-sized chapters and the consumable writing. For a ‘just one more’ type of person like me, I healthily indulged where I could, and each smooth transition into a new bold-inked page kept me in-tune and engrossed in the plot. I had a very good mental image of many things occurring throughout the book; like a movie playing in my head while my eyes scripted the silence. This was especially evident to me during the dinner scene of chapter 26, when my head was flooded with fascinating descriptions of the wedding, and actions to visualise with gratitude. I also have to appreciate the good pacing and how evenly fleshed out it was. For example, Sinéad’s life story wasn’t piled on me, but instead snippets about her personality and her father were revealed, which made it all the more meaningful. I found myself admiring Abi and Sinead’s loyalty to each other, and their reliance on the other despite facing challenges within their friendship.
My biggest complaint is that I have to return the book instead of keeping it on my shelf like the book-hermit I am! My nit-pickiness also makes me want to point out the grammatical error and an inconsistency I found, but that’s about it. In all seriousness, I do however feel like the advancement with Folake was a tad too quick, and any rational young person would know not to immediately meet up with someone unknown; no matter how sweet online, people, unfortunately, are not always who they appear to be. Not as if it is promoting endangerment, but online safety is of utmost importance! Especially, of course, to younger, naive people.
For the title of the book alone, I genuinely didn’t expect for it to be so eventful and engaging! I would recommend it to others around my age, 15, and to 13 year-olds. I figure we are part of the target audience. I would also recommend Braids Take a Day to anyone looking to better their writing! Exam year, anyone? It has definitely been beneficial to me and my descriptive knowledge, although that wasn’t the focus. I would rate this book a 9-out-of-10 as it ticked practically all my boxes for a well-rounded novel! You can bet that I will be in Zainab’s corner for whenever she releases her next book!
By Phoebe, 15, St Leo’s College, Carlow
“Braids Take a Day” by Zainab Boladale, published by O’ Brien Press, is on sale now for €11.99 (P/B).
Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher, O’ Brien Press, free of charge to Seomra Ranga for the purposes of this review.
