#46: All Is Not Fair In Life And Love
A Review of Accidentally Knocked Up by Adesuwa O'man Nwokedi
Two weeks after her 33rd birthday, Ose finds out she’s pregnant and it had happened “accidentally.” Accidentally Knocked Up tells Ose’s story from childhood, living with her father and stepfamily in Benin to her secondary school experiences in Lagos, living with her aunty Angela, and going to parties with her childhood friend, Chioma, to having a child for Kese and marrying Chuba. It’s the author’s first novel, published in 2018.
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As a young girl, she was shunned by her biological family for unconventional reasons but she finds love and warmth from other people and her extended family. With a distant father and a selfish mother, Ose had so much to deal with as a child but she was a free-spirited girl. She saw the good in everything, despite her circumstances, which turned out to be a valuable quality.
Things got worse for her at some point; she discovered more horrible realities about her already weird family and experienced more harshness from them. She also lost a lot during that time, and she had to fight tooth and nail to get out of the situation but she later reconciled with some of her family members including her father.
“The more Chuba talked that day, the more Yvonne and I rolled our eyes and giggled. Epele o! Mr. Americana! Obama’s younger brother! The more he talked, the more amused my partner-in-crime and I were.”
From time to time, Ose found herself going back and forth when it came to making decisions concerning family and her love life. When she meets Chuba at work, she doesn’t like him one bit but he grows on her and they build a strong and beautiful relationship. Things, however, hit the rocks Ose and Chuba have a fight and she decides to go out with Kese, an unstable presence in her love life.
A few drinks on a night out couldn’t hurt, could it? But alas! Her accidental pregnancy brings more chaos into her life, with more back and forth in her decisions. She now finds herself more at odds with family members she had come to love and understand over the years.
My sister had been more blunt. "Ose! I don’t like the sound of this at all! How can you be pregnant for one man and engaged to another? Is this a Mexican soap opera? This is nonsense! Have you two even thought this through?!"
Ose is an intelligent and hardworking lady, and this trait was my favourite thing about her. Even if the heavens were to fall and the world was crumbling around her, Ose would still work and make money, that one thing is constant. Her love life, on the other hand, is rather chaotic, but she eventually gets a happy ending.
Accidentally Knocked Up is a detailed mirror of many women's realities. Ose felt real to me. Her relationships and experience with men. Sigh. There is a lesson to take from every stage of Ose's life. Although it’s a long book with 40+ chapters, the story makes quite an interesting read.
At first, it wasn’t easy. I was shocked to find out how many instant enemies I’d made by rejecting John. Half of my so-called friends didn’t want anything more to do with me. But that didn’t phase me. Na today? If I could face Pharaoh’s friends in Unilag after the whole Kese mess, I sure as heck could live my life in that town.
I commend the author for making this book a fast-paced read because as much as it felt like a lot, I finished reading it within 48 hours. The book felt like a tsunami; you have no idea who’s going to pop up as an ally or an enemy in the next chapter. you keep getting intrigued and surprised.
I particularly enjoyed the Lagos-bred babe lingo; it made the book fun to read. I recommend this book to every woman. It’s a book that should be read slowly because it’s a lot to digest and I strongly feel it would be better understood and enjoyed in that way. I would call it a thrilling romance; it was quite the ride.
Have you read this book? What did you think about it? Kindly leave a comment.
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