Review by Booklist Review
Åkerström's highly anticipated sophomore novel, a sequel to In Every Mirror She's Black (2021), concludes the story of three Black women living in Sweden under very different circumstances but experiencing the same prejudices. Elite marketing executive Kemi battles work, love, and passion while dealing with her tokenization at the prestigious marketing firm where she works. Former model Brittany-Rae must abandon her gilded life, removing her daughter from the only life she's ever known, if she hopes to escape her husband's obsession with a former love. With the life of a friend hanging in the balance, Yasmiin confronts her troubled past so that she can move on. As Black women in predominantly white spaces, the three women are slowly drawn into one another's orbits. Åkerström carefully examines the loneliness of frequently feeling like an outsider and how this can draw the most disparate of people together. Balancing the trauma and turmoil of being judged and appraised based on the prejudices of individual people and societies, this fitting follow-up dwells on the comforts of finding a community on which to depend.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Åkerström's overheated sequel to In Every Mirror She's Black offers more stories of Black immigrants dealing with race and class dynamics in Stockholm. Yasmiin, a Somalian who supported herself with sex work in Rome, moves to Sweden and marries entrepreneur Yagiz Celik. One day, the police question Yasmiin about Muna Sahhed, a younger acquaintance and fellow Somali immigrant who allegedly attacked a man before jumping in front of a train and ending up in a coma. Yasmiin assumes Muna acted in self-defense and vows to care for her when she wakes up. Meanwhile, Brittany, a Black American woman and former flight attendant, hopes to divorce Jonny von Ludin, the golden son of one of the richest families in the country. She's convinced that Jonny only married her because she's the spitting image of his high-school love Maya Daniels, and she fears his racist family may have had something to do with Maya's long-ago disappearance. A third story line involves Brittany's frenemy Kemi, also from the U.S., who's having an affair with married colleague Ragnar Pettersen, Jonny's best friend at the company where he is CEO. Unfortunately, the author's exploration of the problems of racial fetishism is muddled by the convoluted plot. Readers will be left at a loss. (Oct.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
In this follow-up to her debut novel, In Every Mirror She Is Black, award-winning Sweden-based Nigerian American author and travel photographer Åkerström deftly continues an engrossing storyline that exposes the harsh realities of Swedish society. Navigating the social, financial, and legal intricacies of living as immigrants in Sweden proves to be challenging to three Black women in a multitude of ways. Somalian immigrant Yasmiin's marriage is marred by the secrets of her past, which she is keeping from her husband. Brittany, a U.S. flight attendant, begins to doubt her wealthy husband's true feelings and feels trapped by his obsessive behavior; knowing her in-laws' racist views, she also fears for the safety of their young mixed-race daughter. Nigerian American marketing executive Kemi realizes that she was only hired to save the company from a diversity scandal, while a heated attraction to a work colleague leads to disastrous results in her personal and professional relationships. Yasmiin, Brittany, and Kemi must navigate society's double standards, continue to be strong, and give themselves grace for their weaknesses and mistakes. VERDICT For readers interested in immigrant experiences like those in Imbolo Mbue's Behold the Dreamers.--Joy Gunn
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Three Black women navigate racism, classism, and marriage in Sweden. This is the sequel to In Every Mirror She's Black (2021), in which three women of color linked in different ways to the same wealthy man navigate the treacherous ground of entitlement, race, and class in one of the most progressive countries in the world. Sweden is often held up as a paragon of inclusive virtue, but for the women in this novel, racism doesn't stay hidden beneath the surface. Kemi Adeyemi, a powerhouse marketing executive at the firm owned by CEO Johan "Jonny" von Lundin, finds her career in jeopardy when she embarks on a tumultuous affair with a married white colleague. Jonny's wife, Brittany-Rae, exists in a world of wealth and privilege but finds herself stifled by her husband's obsessive behavior and believes she's only a fetish to him. Muna Saheed, a Somali refugee who played a role in the first novel, remains in a coma for most of this book, but her storyline continues through the eyes of her friend Yasmiin Çelik, an immigrant from Mogadishu who must confront the painful secrets of her past--and her husband's secrets, too. Åkerström paints a harsh portrait of the insidious bigotry in Swedish society, exploring the pressures on Black women to constantly remain strong and unassailable, because making a mistake will never be forgiven. The author also tackles necessary questions about tokenism and economic advantages in an insular society, but the writing doesn't match the thematic depth of the material. A possible murder plot feels like a sensational distraction, and characters often register as one-dimensional. In the sex scenes, there are so many heaving chests and men "claiming" women that the book feels like an old-fashioned bodice-ripper instead of the important novel it could be. Important questions are raised, but inexpert writing and one-dimensional characters detract from the story. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
