Book Review: Jane Igharo's Ties that Tether

    I fucking love this book!!! Ties that Tether is Jane Igharo's debut novel and it did not disappoint. Ties that Tether follows the story of Azere, a Nigerian-Canadian women, who falls in love with the type of boy her mother hates and disproves of. A white boy. Now, Azere has to choose between her family or the love of her life. 

   What I Love: 

•  Literally everything. I love everything!!! 
• The Romance. I love Azere and Rafael. They're both great characters that have their own personalities and are fully fleshed out. I also felt like they really compatible with each as a couple. Like they are seriously the cutest!!! 
• The Characters. This book has a great cast of side characters. Usually, in contemporary romances, side characters can feel more like background noise. But not here. Each character here actually has a voice and a personality. Igharo also does a brillant job of fleshing them out and making them feel really real. I specifically loved Azere's little sister and best friend. I'm hoping Igharo might write more about them in the future but you never know.
• The plot of this book is amazing. It wasn't at all what I was originally expecting. I originally thought Azere was going to sneak around and date Rafael behind her mother's back. But that's not exactly what happens. Instead, Igharo throws in a unexpected surprise that changes the book completely and she does this expertly. Her plot is filled equal with sad, funny, and happy moments that really had me glued to the page. 
• I love how Igharo goes into a deep discussion about immigration and mix race couples. It's a hard topic to handle but Igharo does a great job blancing these themes. It was really heart wrenching to see Azere balancing her identity as a Nigerian Women and a Canadian women. As someone who is Filipino American, I understood what it's like to be in some of the positions she is in. 

    Overall, I LOVE this book. It is so damn good. It's well written, has a clever plot, great characters, and basically everything you could have asked for in a book. This book is Brillant to say the least. A phenomenal romance and one of my favorite books I've read in 2020. Ablsoutely, a 5 out of 5 stars read.