‘That’s how fast things change. Don’t chase shadows.’
Hi, friends and friends of friends! January is over and we already have our first review of the year imagine! I’m starting off on a great foot methinks, let’s hope I keep up this momentum.
So Bikozulu has written another book. Another little book. It’s called Thursdays and has quite a retro cover that I love and makes for great pics anywhere. I was not quite interested in reading this one because I really did not like his first book Drunk. It wasn’t as great as everyone made it out to be and especially coming from a great writer like him. Anyway, we are all about second chances here so figured I’ll give this sophomore novel a chance.
The first few chapters were okay but not as enticing. The story revolves around this young band, Vina Wira, comprised of JP, Jared, Mwendwa, and Halima their vocalist. It talks about their journey as a struggling band in Kenya as they chase their dream of becoming Africa’s biggest African blues band. They perform every Thursday at a barely known bar in middle-class Nairobi, a bar where you probably only go in if it’s raining and you’re stranded somewhere and even then, it’s your very last resort. Gosh, I’ve really hated on this bar as if it’s real haha. I think it’s because I can envision so many Nairobi bars that are like this which is a testament to Biko’s descriptive writing, he can really make you visualize something so well.
What I liked about this book that I did not like about the previous one was how well the characters were developed. Well aside from maybe Jared, I think we got a good feel of who each person was in the band and outside the band. I especially loved the story behind JP, that was a plot twist I did not see coming at all.
Biko, as most, if not all Kenyans know, is a superb long-form writer (my opinion, others may object). He writes very long stories on his blog but we will take time out of our busy schedules to read every single word and even commenting sometimes. We do this because he takes us to a world we can’t even imagine for ourselves. And that’s another thing I liked about this book, the creative writing, the descriptive writing, the visualization. I could see JP’s past harsh childhood, I could feel Mwendwa’s dark personality, I could hear Halima’s sassiness and for some reason, I could also feel the cold energy “The Man” would emit as he got out of his car and avoided Vina Wira performing.
The book touches a lot on a sensitive but relevant topic – mental health. The last few chapters of the book (though rushed, we’ll get to that later) were very interesting. It shows us the intricacies of anxiety and depression and how those two things can really take over your whole life. Trigger warning, by the way, I was triggered by some aspects so just letting you know – if conversations on any form of mental health are not for you, just giving you some early warning now.
Now for the parts I did not like – the ending. The rush to the ending. And this is exactly what happened in Drunk too, he rushed through the story just to end it abruptly. I’m assuming it’s some kind of pattern he wants to keep doing (sijui suspense etc) but also… no. You can’t build characters and a story so well in the first half of the book then go ahead and rush such important parts like a relationship, a suicide attempt, and end it with Jared??? I have way too many questions Biko (if at all he reads this). Why the rush, why the random ending? What really happened with Vina Wira? So many questions. He needs to stop rushing the story towards the end – give us a bit more detail and then end it with the suspense you want. A few extra pages won’t make us not buy the book, if anything I think we’ll readily repurchase it to get more of Jackson Biko.
Anyway, those are just my thoughts. What are yours? Tell me in the comments below. Also what are your reading challenges for 2021 if any? I’m done with book 1 of 12, ready to start on book 2 soon.
BY THE WAY: This little haven of mine was recently nominated for the Afrobloggers 2020 awards and voting is ongoing until February 5th. I’m really happy about it, never thought this blog would be up for any award anywhere and I would really love to win. Please consider voting for Writer’s Haven here, it is under the education and activism category. I’ll appreciate each and every vote, thanks in advance!
And on that note, let me bid you adieu. Happy reading and happy new month:)
Rating: 6.5/10
Writers Haven 