What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi
Reviewed by: Beth Weimer
Genre: Short Stories
Suggested Age: Teens, Adults
What is the book about?: Oyeyemi’s unique style crafts together stories that entwine modern situations and characters with a fabled sensibility. Some are loosely connected by recurring characters, ghosts, and puppets, or by the literal and symbolic keys that appear to unlock secrets, boxes, diaries, houses, and hearts – usually with mixed results. This collection of short stories won the PEN Open Choice Award (2017) and was nominated for several others.
My Review: Oeyemi’s storytelling is like no other – real life explored through a swirl of enchantment and abrupt turns that take tales rambling in unexpected directions. Some don’t make sense and are definitely weird, but I enjoy an author who challenges her readers. Most will probably favor the first story “Books and Roses” (in which we discover a hidden garden of books and library of roses), but each story contains at least one paragraph that is simply stunning. I like how Oyeyemi draws from a span of cultural elements (born in Nigeria, raised in Britain, and now resides in Prague) and includes diverse characters facing serious issues like race and feminism, but blurs the lines of reality and bends the rules of writing. I look forward to reading her novels next.
Three Words That Describe This Book: dizzying, imaginative, refreshing
Give This a Try if You Like…Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi, Bluebeard by Margaret Atwood, Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
Rating: 4/5
About FDL Reads
FDL Reads is a series of weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.
