After reading Honey and Spice, I needed more of Bolu Babalola’s writing. My cure for this withdrawal was reading Love in Color. I loved reading her interpretation of love stories from different cultures. I also appreciated how she centered the women and their desires.
***SPOILER ALERT****
As the book was written in short story format, it was able to share stories of many different women throughout time. I loved that it ended with the love story of her own parents. How precious.
Though all of the stories were interesting, there were a few that stood out to me the most. I particularly enjoyed the story, Scheherazade. Looking at it now, I can see that Bolu was dropping hints that this wasn’t going to be the typical, idyllic love story, but even with the hints, when I got to the end, I was so heartbroken for Scheherazade. I usually don’t like cliff hangers, but I’m ok with this one so I can pretend that Shahryar gets better and gets to live a long, happy life with his lover.
OK, so this next story might be my favorite of the book, Nefertiti. I thought this story was so exciting and filled with lust and violence. When I got to the part when Bastet was teasing Nefertiti about a woman who wouldn’t come to Nefertiti’s booth, I was like, yeah, it’s a trap, but then Ma’at looked scared and I was like maybe not…and then the knife came out. *insert gif of Raven ferociously chewing gum.* I was getting nervous at this point. We got some additional is she a traitor or not moments as the story progressed and this one left me nervous and second guessing until the very end. I love a book or story that I can’t predict, and the story of Nefertiti in this book did just that.
Throughout Love in Color, you get to see the love lives of many women from different cultures, with a focus on their desires, strengths, and ambitions. I appreciated that there was a sources of inspiration guide so you can know what the stories were from originally. I’m sure many of the original tales are written from a completely different lens. This was such a refreshing read and I’m sure I will return to it in the future.
Have you read this book? Which was your favorite story and why?
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