This book sits in an interesting spot, culturally. Basically when the main character Ada (or “the Ada” as the spirits inside call her) was born, the gate to the spirit world malfunctioned and the spirits inside her were never truly joined to her in a healthy way. As she experienced moments of trauma and isolation (sketched with beautiful language by Emezi), the spirits inside her took turns piloting her physical body; they took on aspects of strength and caring that helped her get through hard times, but also acted out in unhealthy ways. Because she moved from Nigeria to Virginia, from a world where she would have been considered god-touched to one where she was considered mentally ill, she sank further into dysfunction; after suicide attempts and panic attacks, she was only able to turn towards recovery by embracing her native culture. I found out later that this was autobiographical, which is… even more disturbing considering some of the stuff that went on in the book. If that’s true though, I’m glad Emezi has found a balance with their inner selves.
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