Book Summary and Reviews of In Every Mirror She's Black by Lola Akinmade Akerstrom

Reader Reviews

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Rebecca_R

I Loved It From Page One !
One thing that I have really enjoyed about BookBrowse over the years has been my exposure to new authors and new books. In a brick and mortar book store (yes, I do enjoy those still, as well) I am not sure that the cover design oF IN EVERY MIRROR SHE'S BLACK would have immediately caught my eye.Fortunately, I almost always open a book and read the first page to test my interest; this debut novel is a winner from page one. No matter where a woman lives or what age she is, I think readers will relate to the career, dating, relationship issues of at least two of the characters- marketing executive Kemi (age 34) and flight attendant Brittany-Rae (age 38). The third female has had a life that fewer American women might be familiar with - being a refugee. The plot is enriched by both this third female, young Somali refugee Muna,working as a janitor in Sweden, and the fact that all three of the women are black, albeit from different countries.

These are not fairy tale lives or absurdly perfect romances or tales of young women whose parents provided them with such an auspicious start in life that there's no way they can fail. This is contemporary life where women who are dating past high school are going to run into some uncomfortable and/or insulting situations.

Tying together the lives of these three women is a fairly egotistical, unlikable guy. Good looking enough, it seems, to get away with it. Part of the fun of reading a unique book is discovering the book on your own. So no spoiler alerts, and I will stop my review here. I am telling my friends: you should read this!!

Janine S

Compelling and worthwhile read
I received an advance copy of this book in order to participate in an upcoming book discussion. I’m so very glad I did. This book offers a compelling story of three black women each seeking love, fulfillment, and meaning as they arrive to set down roots in Sweden, a predominantly white country. Kemi, a Nigerian, naturalized American, has a successful career has recently been offered a career-advancement opportunity in Sweden but in her personal life cannot find a man whom she feels is worthy of her. Brittany, an American with Jamaican heritage, is beautiful and smart, but her career choices have left her unfulfilled until she meets Jonny, heir to untold wealth in Sweden, who offers her what appears to be the relationships she’s always been looking for. Muna is a Somalian refugee, who comes to Sweden family-less, with little skills but a great desire to succeed and set down roots with a new family. Each experiences the harsh reality of racism but each defines the experience differently. Each woman has been given opportunity but responds differently. Their lives intersect at the marketing firm owned by Jonny who is a fascinating character and to whom each of the women has a unique response dramatically affecting their life choices. The author has done a wonderful job in crafting this book. Her writing is magical and deep. I simply could not put this book down. This is a worthwhile read. I highly recommend it.

Lin_Z

Its hard to be a Black Woman in our world
I read this book as soon as it arrived. I wanted to read this , primarily to see how Black women are treated in another country , especially one that has a reputation for being liberal and open like Sweden. Maybe this is part of what drew Kemi , a hope to advance in a world that she thought would accept her! Brittany Rae went for the money and position and poor Muna just had to escape! Each woman finds that she may not be any better off than before. Each is trapped by her expectations ( not unreasonable) of what she expected her life to be in a new country. I think the three different perspectives are valuable as they illustrate that racism is alive and well in the world. Each had a chance to have a different outcome in their lives but things pretty much ended with the similar disappointments.. I also thought that Jonny was an unusual character. He seemed right off to be a bit odd to me, but I thought of him as someone high functioning on the autism spectrum, because of personal experiences in this field. His family didn't help him grown up into a responsible adult who could take care of himself. This was an unusual story for me, but one I enjoyed for all its quickiness.