THE PLOT: ‘Water Baby’ by Chioma Okereke is a contemporary novel about a girl living in Makoko, the floating slum off mainland Lagos. Nineteen-year-old Baby wants to escape the future her father has planned for her. Although she loves her community, she doesn’t want to become solely a wife and mother. Instead, she dreams of joining a local environmental project launched by an international NGO. When a video of her canoeing on the rubbish-strewn lagoon goes viral, Baby gets opportunities beyond her wildest dreams. She can even leave her birthplace to represent Makoko on the world stage. But will Baby find out that life beyond the lagoon doesn’t smell of roses.

SUMMARY: This debut novel has an interesting concept. As a British-Nigerian, I was eager to read from the perspective of a young girl from Makoko because it’s an area of Lagos I’m not familiar with. Like many people, I probably have my own prejudices and stereotypes of the famous slum. However, reading this novel allowed me to challenge my own biases as I empathised with the protagonist. Unfortunately, the writing style felt quite basic and the plot could’ve been escalated to make it more compelling. However, it was a decent three-star read.

GOOD BITS:  My favourite aspect of this novel was Baby’s friendship group. Each of the girls had a different yet realistic personality and I loved seeing where their different paths took them. The contrast between their desires pulled me in and I loved scenes where they all interacted (e.g. the wedding). Secondly, the big reveal about Baby’s brother surprised me and provided great character motivation. Finally, although usually romance is my least-favourite part of a novel, I enjoyed how Baby’s relationship with Prince developed.

NOT SO GOOD BITS: I wish I could’ve edited this novel. I just feel like the editor didn’t break down the story into the most interesting elements. For example, Baby’s relationship with Prince developed nicely but there could’ve been more conflict to drive the reader’s interest. The class dynamic between them and the role reversal (particularly with her staying at his hotel) could’ve been explored in more depth. The lack of strong developmental edits is particularly evident in the last third of the novel, which is set in Switzerland. The author provides a surface-level explanation of the conference, rather than rooting it in Baby’s character or providing a strong storyline. If the issues with her friend ramped up earlier during the trip (rather than being endlessly hinted at) there could have been stronger tension. Additionally, this could have been great opportunity to show the conflict between the purported aims of the NGO and how they use people as props for the media. Yet the theme wasn’t exploited to its full potential.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘The Girl with the Louding Voice’ by Abi Dare and ‘On Black Sisters Street’ by Chika Unigwe. Thank you to We Are Media Hive for my #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

You can purchase this book and support @aminasbookshelf on my bookshop.org page