I have mixed feelings about the anthology. I was very excited when it started and felt like some of the early stories had beautiful imagery and language. As it got further along the stories were more hit and miss as we towed the line between retellings and original stories from modern times. And while some stories the vivid descriptions painted a beautiful picture in others they just dragged out and failed to add anything of substance. I liked that these were non Western retellings included and

i’m not normally a short story/anthology fan but this was pretty cool! the writing was gorgeous & ive been thinking of the story titled “nefertiti” since finishing it.

‘You are a queen. You are Lorde, Angelou, Simone, Walker, Hooks, Davis, Morrison, Knowles, Fenty, Robinson-Obama. You will shake the world, you will move the earth, you will be audacious with your essence, you will take up all the space, you will not stay in your lane, you will build new roads -’’ Myths, legends and folklore offer hope and courage. They are made of magic and love and feelings. Bolu Babalola takes mythical tales from Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, Persia, Greece, M

Maybe 3.5. I think this is a strong short story collection but it wasn't quite for me. I enjoyed some stories a lot but feel I'd have got slightly more out of the collection if I had been more familiar with the stories being retold.

Y’all I devoured this book in a day. This book is a collection of short stories where Babalola reimagines non-Western folktales that centers BIPOC. All of the stories have the theme of love in common, big don’t go into this thinking it’s all cheesy romance because it’s 100% not. While I definitely had a few standout favorites in this anthology, all of these stories were incredible. It is clear that Babalola is one heck of a storyteller, and I can’t wait to see what else she comes up with next. T...

"I am just looking for someone who sees me as I see them.""She knew that sometimes having everything you desire can make you question your own worthiness."This collection is so so underrated. The writing speaks volumes. It's beautiful and adventurous. The characters are etched out in a way they remain forever with you.Love the never-a-boring-moment while reading the entire book.The main themes of these stories are women and relationships.Contents:Osun4 🌟"She wasn't aware, but she found she liked...

I really, really, really didn't want to finish this book. I found it jarring, uninteresting, weird and awkward all at once. I actually skim read the last 4 stories, barely giving them a chance due to what I'd already read. I think it would be easier to begin with the good rather than the bad.The only reason I am giving this 2 stars instead of 1 is because of the premises alone. Retelling mythical tales in both a modern and past setting sounds like an interesting idea, right? Right? Yeh. A lot of...

Simply incredible 5 stars.I am so thankful to William Morrow Books for having this be a choice to pick from of their April books to review. It's not something I've seen many places and that is an absolute disservice to all of us because this book is AMAZING. I've read a few short story collections in the past year and this one by far makes it to the top of that list (shares the #1 spot in fact with The Secret Lives of Church Ladies). I am again in awe of anyone who can write a book. On top of th...

4.5 stars. A beautiful, creative, and skilled debut. I cannot wait to read Babalola's forthcoming novel.This has to be one of my favourite ever collection of short stories, and most of them were absolute hits with me. I adore how Babalola writes and her ability to create so many different love stories stand apart from one another was masterful.I'm sure that I will return to some of these tales in the future.What a brilliant start to 2022.

First let me start by saying I was interested in this book because of five things:1.The title, Love In Colour I find we need more stories about Black love and I was here for all of it. 2.The cover was also a major seller. This cover could be voted the best cover of 2020. 3.The fact that this collection was written by a Black Woman and it is her debut novel. 4.I also loved the book aims to retell mythical tales from around the world using Colour. 5.Also, while I am not a big romance reader, I wa...

A collection of ancient mythical love stories reworked with a modern twist? Great, right up my alley, love the concept. The first two stories were decent but things soon went downhill. From the third story onwards, things were more miss than hit. Bolu is definitely a very capable writer but it is painfully obvious that she is an avid Twitter user. In fact, some parts of this book felt like one long Twitter thread which really cheapened the feel of the whole thing. A lot of the time, it was reall...

This was a good anthology and a really solid debut. Bolu Babalola created some truly beautiful and romantic stories based on folktales and myths from non western settings. In terms of enjoyment it was quite a mixed bag for me, I loved some of the stories (e.g. Attem and Nefertiti (f/f)), while others not so much. The ones set in the contemporary world felt a little out of place with all the pop culture references and didn’t completely flow for me with the rest of the collection. I did like the t...

On my blog Rep: non-white characters (stories based on tales/myth/history from Nigeria, Persia, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Guinea, The Gambia, Southern Mauritiana, Lesotho, Egypt, China & Mesopotamia), bi character & wlw liGalley provided by publisherLove in Colour is an anthology of myth and folktale retellings from around the world. And, to be honest, it is probably one of the best anthologies I have ever read.The stories are pretty varied in where they originate, but there isn’t a weak one amon

A single author collection of stories about love and lovers, each one retelling or inspired by myth and folklore. Lots of them are from various African cultures, about half were new to me, so I don't suppose I got the full resonance, but all of them stood alone. All m/f except one f/f (an absolute cracker as well). Lovely writing, and lovely, lovely romances, almost all with joyous, hope-filled endings. It's probably shelved in litfic but no romance reader would regret picking this up. A thoroug...

Bolu Babalola's writing is lush and superb. There were so many beautiful and heartwarming quotes and passages in this book, it’s hard not to fall in love with the stories (the ones I fell in love with instantly, anyway). The female characters in this book were all so superb in their own way, and each one was amazing. She writes romances and love in the best way, and there were so many beautiful meet-cutes in this book.Her retelling skills are TOP NOTCH. She bared the stories down, took the most

Beautiful. Innovative. There’s something to be said about an idea that is supported and given wings. Reaching across countries and cultures to further the effect of tales that are probably centuries old is audacious and unique. When executed well, like they are here, they can leave you feeling inspired. There were a few moments of boredom, that’s to be expected with any short story collection. You cannot have every story be perfection, some are just gonna resonate or hit harder than others. The

3.5 Stars! I had seen a lot of positive reviews about this book from other Nigerian readers and so I was excited to check this out. Overall, I like this book, even though this was a situation where I liked the idea and mission of the book more than I liked the actual collection. This books comprises of a total of 13 love stories with mostly optimistic endings. In that sense, it can be considered to be a collection of romantic shorts, even if not all the stories can be considered romances per se....

I didn’t think it was possible for a book to totally and completely over shoot my highest expectations. I was completely enthralled from the first page to the last. You know a book is brilliant when the introduction gives you chills. Reading the 12 stories that make up ‘Love in Colour’ was the kind of immersive experience that one can only hope to experience while reading. This book was written to be read. It was written to be enjoyed. Its was written to be savored.In these tales Bolu Babalola

Giveaway Win!If you have been keeping track of what I've been reading for the last few months, you'll have noticed that I've mostly been reading nonfiction. I dont know why nonfiction is the only thing that can really keep my attention but it is what it is. I started reading this book in February but I put it aside because while I was loving this book I knew that I wasn't in the headspace for it. I feared that if I pushed through and continued reading it I would start to dislike it so I put it a...

Actual rating: 2.5 stars rounded upI like the project of this collection in theory and hoped I would love it. In practice it was a bit mixed. Some of the stories were very strong, putting interesting, fresh, often more feminist spins on mythological tales. There's some great representation as well. But I definitely enjoyed some stories more than others. Some involve cheating or infidelity which I don't love reading, though admittedly that's also something you would find in certain mythologies as...