#35: Choices, Choices, Choices
A Review of Lola Akinmade Åkerström's Everything is not Enough
Everything is not Enough tells the moving stories of three women making their way in Sweden. Published in 2023, it’s the sequel to the author’s debut novel, In Every Mirror She’s Black, and picks up where the first book left off. Kemi, the marketing executive, is treading dangerous waters with her boss’ friend, Brittany-Rae, the former flight attendant, has just discovered her husband’s secrets and Muna had jumped in front of a moving train to escape the consequences of beating a man.
Greetings, dear reader! 👋🏽👋🏽
I hope you are doing well and taking good care of yourself.
Welcome to another edition of this spectacular newsletter.
The good news is that Muna survived the accident but she’s in the hospital for most of the story. She had listed Yasmiin as her next of kin, which places a burden on Yasmiin to be her friend and family, as she had no one else. She takes it upon herself to look into her friend’s past to understand why she could have tried to kill herself. Muna’s story in this book is told from Yasmiin’s perspective but we also get to follow her own story, which did not get much screen time in the first book.
Kemi is torn between choosing love or her career. She was dissatisfied with her job, her sole purpose of moving to Sweden in the first place, and in trying to have both, she had asked Tobias to move to the US with her. Sweden wasn’t all she had hoped it would be, and her first instinct was to run back to her comfort zone.
Brittany-Rae discovers her husband’s fixation on his dead ex and how eerily similar she looks to the woman. She contemplates a divorce but soon realizes that she has no assets in her name and fears that her daughter, Maya (who was named after the dead woman), could be cut off from the wealthy family’s resources, so she has to play her cards well. With pointers from a divorce lawyer on how to get more information on Jonny’s net worth, Brittany starts digging. She is however completely unprepared for the secrets she uncovers.
“You don’t know everything…In fact, you may not know much about this family you’ve married into.”
Written in 3 parts of 8 chapters each, this book tells the intertwined stories of these women as they continue to make a life for themselves. We also see how their pasts affect their present lives and the choices they make.
We follow Yasmiin on her journey to becoming a prominent make-up artist, Brittany-Rae as she rediscovers herself—who she was before she met Jonny on that flight, and Kemi as she struggles but eventually accepts Tobias’ love that had been staring her in the face.
A major theme in this book is friendship. Kemi relies on her friend from Swedish class, Malcolm, during the aftermath of her affair with Ragnar. Brittany started by making friends when she decided she no longer wanted the isolated life she lived with Jonny and his family. We also see Yasmiin go to her friend, Muna’s bedside regularly even when she was in a coma, and the role she played when Muna eventually woke up.
“The relief telling someone brings is one she hasn’t anticipated. Now she understands why people go to therapists, an action she’s often scoffed at. Pouring out your soul to any listening ear is more cathartic than shameful.”
Finding your way and making a life for yourself in a new country is probably one of the most difficult things to do. You have to make tough choices and sometimes, everything you have to give may not even be enough. I like how the author highlighted the women’s struggles in a way that’s real but not depressing.
This is a story of survival against the odds and working hard to belong to a society that barely recognizes them. I found myself rooting for each woman and I wanted their stories to go on and on. I am pleased they all got a good ending in a way. This book was absolutely worth the wait! I had high hopes and it delivered 💯
Have you read this book? What did you think about it? Kindly leave a comment.
If you read this book after reading this review, do come back and share.
#15: Blackbird!
The stories of three very different Black women living in Sweden and trying to build a life for themselves there. Kemi, a smart, top marketing executive, moves to the country after she’s poached by a leading marketing firm. Brittany-Rae, a flight attendant, falls madly in love with a man she meets on one of her flights, ends up marrying him and moving to Sweden. Muna, the third co-protagonist, is an 18-year-old refugee from Somalia