Tag: book-review

’Pemi Aguda, Book Reviews

Ghostroots: Stories by ’Pemi Aguda

by Darkowaa2 Comments on Ghostroots: Stories by ’Pemi Aguda

Date Read: May 24th 2026

Published: May 2024

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Pages: 224

The Blurb

A debut collection of stories set in a hauntingly reimagined Lagos where characters vie for freedom from ancestral ties

In this beguiling collection of twelve imaginative stories set in Lagos, Nigeria, ’Pemi Aguda dramatizes the tension between our yearning to be individuals and the ways we are haunted by what came before.

In “Manifest,” a woman sees the ghost of her abusive mother in her daughter’s face. Shortly after, the daughter is overtaken by wicked and destructive impulses. In “Breastmilk,” a wife forgives her husband for his infidelity. Months later, when she is unable to produce milk for her newborn, she blames herself for failing to uphold her mother’s feminist values and doubts her fitness for motherhood. In “Things Boys Do,” a trio of fathers finds something unnatural and unnerving about their infant sons. As their lives rapidly fall to pieces, they begin to fear that their sons are the cause of their troubles. And in “24, Alhaji Williams Street,” a teenage boy lives in the shadow of a mysterious disease that’s killing the boys on his street.

These and other stories in Ghostroots map emotional and physical worlds that lay bare the forces of family, myth, tradition, gender, and modernity in Nigerian society. Powered by a deep empathy and glinting with humor, they announce a major new literary talent.

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Review – ★★★★★ (5 stars)

Ghostroots is a phenomenal collection of 12 stories. It kind of reminded me of Lesley Nneka Arimah’s collection from 2017 – What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky. What I love about this collection is how all stories are set in Nigeria – no diaspora, immigrant life clichés here. I also love how there are no explanatory commas in the writing. Yoruba isn’t translated. If you don’t know what ponmo or ogogoro is – Google it. This collection is unapologetically Nigerian (well, from my point of view/lens).


I generally liked all of the stories, but my favorite stories were (8 of them):

~ Manifest – this was weird, wild and tragic. This story needs to be an episode on Black Mirror!

~ Breastmilk – while I didn’t love the main character’s relationship decision, I loved this meditation on motherhood & feminism. The main character’s mother is my favorite character in this story.

~ The Hollow – loooved this story. Did ’Pemi Aguda study architecture in school? The writing… there is A LOT going on in this story. I loved the architectural juxtapositions and the plot twists. Chef’s kiss!

~ 24 Alhaji Williams Street – wheeeeeeeew, this story had me crying! Anticipating the impending doom had me completely distraught.

~ Things Boys Do – this story more or less showed how karma works. Fuck those men; they deserved all of their misery.

~ The Wonders of the World – i loved that this story showed how lonely a child could feel, even in a seemingly healthy two-parent household. ’Pemi Aguda also did a good job writing on mental illness, Nigerian high school shenanigans and religion/religious psychosis(?).

~ The Dusk Market – man, this story really portrayed the hustle and struggles of Lagos, Nigeria. Salewa, sweet queen, I hope she finds her rest – somehow. I liked the dusk market descriptions. They gave me a sense of calm.

~ Masquerade Season – Pauly was adorable. His mother was manipulative.I liked the creative, imaginative writing of the story, while recognizing their deeper meanings.

Ghostroots is probably the best short story collection I’ve read this year. I truly loved how ’Pemi Aguda balanced the mystical and the mundane in all the stories. I’m currently reading her debut novel that was published in May of this year (2026) – One Leg On Earth, and I’m enjoying that too!

★★★★★ (5 stars) – Amazing book, I loved it. Absolutely recommend!

Purchase Ghostroots on Amazon

Addie Citchens, Book Reviews

Dominion by Addie Citchens

by DarkowaaLeave a Comment on Dominion by Addie Citchens

Date Read: April 30th 2026

Published: August 2025

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Pages: 240

The Blurb

Reverend Sabre Winfrey, Jr., shepherd of the Seven Seals Missionary Baptist Church, believes in God, his own privilege, and enterprise. He owns the barbershop and the radio station, and generally keeps an iron hand on every aspect of society in Dominion, Mississippi. He and his wife, Priscilla, have five boys; the youngest, Emanuel, is called Wonderboy―no one sings prettier, runs as fast, or turns as many heads. But Wonderboy, his father, and all the structures in place that keep them on top are not as righteous as they seem to be. And when Wonderboy is caught off guard by an encounter with a stranger, he finds himself confronted by questions he’d never imagined. His response sends shock waves through the entire community.

Priscilla and Diamond, two women who love these men, bear witness to their charms and bear the brunt of their choices. Through their eyes and their stories, Dominion offers an intricate, intimate view of how secrets control us, how shame stifles us, how silence implicates us, and how even love plays a role in the everyday violence and casual sins of the powerful.

A brilliantly crafted Black Southern family drama told with the captivating force, humor, and tenderness carried in the hearts of these women, Addie E. Citchens’s Dominion wrestles with the many brutal, sinister ways in which we are shaped by fear and patriarchy, and studies how we might yet choose to break free.

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Review – ★★★★ (4 stars)

I love character-driven stories, so this book was right up my alley. Reverend Sabre Winfrey and his youngest son – Emanuel/Wonderboy, are the main foci of this novel, but we experience them through the lenses of Priscilla/First Lady (Rev’s wife) and Diamond (Wonderboy’s girlfriend). This book is set in the year 2000.

This novel explores the repercussions of patriarchy and I love that Citchens explores this through the eyes and words of women. Dominion navigates these repercussions by exploring gender roles in the home and in church, misogyny/misogynoir, sexuality, violence, disability and hypocrisy – especially in the church. Reverend Winfrey and his son Wonderboy are extremely unlikeable characters – they are entitled, spoiled and disrespectful. First Lady’s biting humor makes her the MVP of this novel, and also softens the ick readers get from the nonsense of her husband and son.

I’ve seen a lot of reviews where readers complain about the confusing structure of this novel, but I can’t relate to these complaints! I quite liked the structure and the contrast between the two-person narratives (that is, First Lady and Diamond). I especially love that the writing style of this book pays homage to the South, as its as Southern as can be – gloriously vulgar and all!

Dominion as a fictional town in Mississippi is such an enveloping world! I could feel the humidity and even see the poverty in town, juxtaposed against the wealth of the Winfreys. The Seven Seals Missionary Baptist Church is a whole character on its own! The church’s annual ‘Saints vs Sinners’ banquet was so well-imagined. I found Citchens’ writing to be akin to Toni Morrison’s – in that, Citchens doesn’t state the obvious all the time; the reader must make their own assumptions or conclude happenings from slightly ambiguous context.

Favorite quotes:

“On the evening of February 14, 1976, my husband explained to me that because Eve ate the apple, I would have to ‘eat the snake’’ pg. 25 (Whattt?????!)

“What more could I ask for than a house full of handsome and healthy sons and a prosperous husband? Well, for one, I wanted my husband to be as good a man he proclaimed himself to be, and for two, I wanted all of my sons to be the men I’d hoped they would be- not sneaky, freaky, lying copies of their father” pg. 70 (First Lady is hilarious)

“You be careful, hear? The only difference between the niggas in Coon Hill and the ones in the white house is money, so that makes them way more dangerous” pg. 78

“Was the kind of woman who make her boy accountable better and braver than me? Naw, honestly right now, despite what I thought of the son or the father, I needed ease and to do what was best for me, and it would definitely be easier to sweep his transgressions under the rug than allow ours to be brought to light’’ pg. 145

The first half of Dominion was very exciting, but the second half felt a bit drawn-out. I felt there were some loopholes in the storyline, and we delved too much into desperate Diamond’s traumatic past. However, the ending of this novel felt satisfying and this was generally an exciting read – hence my overall rating of 4 stars.

I look forward to reading more of Addie Citchens’ work in the future. You can read her short story entitled That Girl that was published in The New Yorker in 2024 to get a feel of her writing. I’m not surprised by all the accolades this debut has picked up so far! Definitely read Dominion if you love Southern, black church/family dramas.

★★★★ (4 stars) – Great book. Highly recommend!

Purchase Dominion on Amazon