Review: "Nigeria Jones" by Ibi Zoboi

Quick Summary

Type: Novel

Genre: Romance, contemporary

Back Cover: "Warrior Princess.

That’s what Nigeria’s father calls her. He’s raised her as part of the Movement, a Black separatist group based in Philadelphia. Nigeria is homeschooled and vegan and participates in traditional rituals that connect her and other kids from the group to their ancestors. But when her mother—the perfect matriarch to their Movement—disappears, Nigeria’s world is upended. She finds herself taking care of her baby brother and stepping into a role she doesn’t want.

Nigeria’s mother had secrets. She wished for a different life for her children, which includes sending her daughter to a private Quaker school outside of their strict group. Despite her father’s disapproval, Nigeria attends the school with her cousin, Kamau, and Sage, who used to be a friend. There, she slowly begins to blossom and expand her universe.

As Nigeria searches for her mother, she starts to uncover a shocking truth. One that will lead her to question everything she thought she knew about her life and her family."

Read Time: 1 day

Rating: 3.5 stars

Summary

I enjoyed most of this story. Granted, some of what Nigeria asserted as fact just seemed like the flip side of the propaganda coin, and I wish it had been a little more challenged, but otherwise, I had no real problems with this book...

...until the epilogue.

Let me start with the premise. Nigeria is the daughter of a black seperatist leader. This man holds extreme, vitriolic views related to race, gender, and sexuality, he parentifies Nigeria, refuses to let her have life experiences outside their very insulated community. It feels like one of those crazy conservative Christian cults. And in fact, most of the book is about Nigeria trying to break free of her father's influence, expand her horizons, and choose how she wants to live her own life. The book even ends by stating that Nigeria has successfully emancipated herself.

So the entire book is about Nigeria trying to free herself from her father, so naturally, at the end of the book, despite having emancipated herself, she patches things up (more or less) with her father and she's dating her father's protégé, who has similar extreme (and especially misogynistic) views.

I didn't need Nigeria to end up dating anyone - not the white guy who fetishized her, not the black guy who adopted all of her abusive father's views. I didn't need Nigeria to patch things up with the father who pretty much abused her for what seems like a large part of her life. I was very disappointed in the ending.