Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli
| Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli | |
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| Category: General Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: Quick-witted, thought-provoking, and very, very readable! | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 320 | Date: May 2024 |
| Publisher: Magpie | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9780861546879 | |
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Anuri spent her childhood on display to the world, thanks to her step-mother Ophelia's increasingly popular presence on social media, where she posted every step of Anuri's childhood for sponsorships and influencer deals and, basically, monetary gain. Now Anuri is in her twenties and she is slowly trying to regain her confidence and to get her life back, suing her step-mother to take down the content about her. Anuri is battling alcoholism, failing to start her PhD, undergoing therapy and secretly abusing people online and receiving money from them for doing so. Most importantly, she is desperately worried about her little sister, who is the new focus of Ophelia's online empire. Can she save her sister, and perhaps herself and her relationship with her father at the same time?
This was an addictive, pacey read. I really liked the style of the writing which is smart, funny and deeply moving. It doesn't take long to fall in love with Anuri, complicated as she is, as you watch her stumble and fall on her way to freedom. Her mixed-up family life makes for fascinating reading, with the tragedy of her mother's death when she is born, to her feelings of despair as she finds herself trapped by Ophelia's life choices, and on display for everyone around the world. The tragedy of her birth mother's death seems impossible for her father to recover from, and to Anuri, he lets her down time and time again. It's heartbreaking at times, understanding their misunderstandings and their unspoken words to each other.
The story does make you start to think about social media in a much more analytical and critical way. I felt very aware of Anuri's lack of agency as a child, and how she had had no choice in what was happening to her, and you see the unravelling of how her step-mother's choices impacted every aspect of her life. It is also interesting to see Anuri's own addiction to her step-mother's posts, as she monitors everything her little sister is living through. Anuri seems both horrified, but also unable to look away. You understand as you read that Ophelia didn't set out to create that life for Anuri, but you also see how she never tried to understand Anuri's issues with it, nor did she change anything when Anuri asked her to stop.
Fortunately, Anuri has an amazingly strong support system with her two best friends, Simi and Loki. Their relationship is sweet, spicy and very readable. There is also her father's sister, Aunty Nneoma, who is a brilliant, strong, wise female figure in Anuri's life, and Anuri's lawyer who is fearsomely smart, and Anuri's psychiatrist who gently tries to help her untangle the knots of her life. I liked all the bright and brilliant women, and the different ways they try to ensure Anuri is okay.
The story is complex and layered, and I enjoyed how so many of the relationships in the book teeter on a knife edge. With Anuri, who really just needed a mother, and Ophelia who misses taking care of Anuri, and then also with Anuri and her father who seem to have never managed that father-daughter relationship due to his overwhelming grief and Anuri's outrage that he never protected her. I also liked thinking about whether Ophelia is a villain, or whether she is another lost woman. Mostly I sided with her being a villain, but there were one or two moments that did make me feel something edging towards sympathy for her, which shows the nuance of the writing, I think.
I also really liked Anuri's growing relationship with Christian/Chidili (Chidili is his Igbo name). His gentle attempts to get to know her are sweet to follow, and I liked the path their friendship takes. Whilst it touches on some dark moments, the book ultimately feels uplifting. I was rooting for Anuri from the start, and I really enjoyed watching her story unfurl. Really great writing, and an unusual, engaging and provocative idea for a story. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
If you're interested in learning more about the Igbo people and Nigeria after reading this, you might want to try The Education of a British-Protected Child by Chinua Achebe.
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