Book Review: "Cursed Daughters" by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Oyinkan Braithwaite’s debut novel, My Sister, the Serial Killer, caught me by complete surprise when I read it in 2018. I couldn’t wait to see what she wrote next—although she made me wait until the end of 2025! This book is very different from her first but it is more evidence that she is a writer to be reckoned with.

On the day that they bury her cousin Monife, Ebun gives birth to a baby girl. This baby, named Eniiyi, resembles Monife so much, the family is convinced she is the reincarnation of her late aunt. They believe Eniiyi will follow the same path Monife did in life, right down to her tragic end.

In addition to the belief that Eniiyi is fated to meet the same end as Monife, there’s also the family curse: “No man will call your house his home. And if they try, they will not have peace...” This curse has left several generations of Falodun women brokenhearted.

When Eniiyi reaches womanhood, she saves a man from drowning and promptly falls in love with him. She then realizes the curse is hanging over her head. Her only recourse is to search for answers in the older parts of Lagos, to find a way out of her fated predicament. Can she break the curse and have the chance at happiness? Can she free the other women in her family?

There is such a vibrancy to the way Braithwaite writes. The city of Lagos is as much a character as Eniiyi and her family. The book follows each generation’s confrontation with the curse and the tragedy that befell Monife. It gets a little repetitive at times, but it was just so moving.

Book Review: "The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre" by Robin Talley

A fun, queer, YA rom-com with theater kids performing Les Miserables, plus a theater curse? Sign me up for Robin Talley's The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre!!

The Beaconville High School theater program is well-known. Many of their shows have won awards through the years, and some students have gone on to bigger and better things. But a lot of peculiar things happen during productions, so each year the cast and crew have to follow a lot of superstitions to try and pacify the “theater curse,” and even have counter-curses in case someone slips up.

Melody McIntyre is thrilled to be the stage manager for the spring musical, Les Miserables. She has a terrific crew helping her out, and if the show goes well, she’s hoping it will help her get into a college program to be a professional stage manager one day.

Her friends and fellow crew members have noticed that things seem to go wrong in shows when Melody is in a relationship, and she always seems to be in a relationship. So she vows to swear off dating until the musical is done. And that should be easy—it’s not like she NEEDS to date or anything.

Of course, the last thing she’s counting on is for Odile Rose, the school’s most talented actress (she’s even done a Game of Thrones prequel and is rumored to be doing a Scorsese film) to audition. And more than that, Melody isn't expecting Odile to be funny or sweet or...into her. So now what? The production or her love life? Her college career or a potential relationship?

I was a theater kid way back when it wasn’t really cool to be one, so I really enjoyed The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre. I remember the relationships that cropped up and fizzled out during shows, the feelings of not getting the part you wanted (still bitter), and the rush of performing. And Les Miserables is one of the shows I would kill to be in—even now!

This is the second book of Talley's I've read, and I really enjoy the way she tells a story!