I thought this was a love story, but if it isn't, tell me I'm wrong. If I'm right, though, I can promise you that it will never end with me leaving you. I will want you forever.
Love in Colour
by Bolu Babalola
Genre: Romance / Short Stories
About: A collection of myth retellings from around the world with love at the heart of each tale. Some are set in fantasy worlds and ancient kingdoms, while others are reimagined into corporate and contemporary settings. Watch Nefertiti run a women's only club/criminal underworld, Psyche become friend-zoned by Eros, Siya command a rebel army and many more badass women be tempted into love.
The Good
I started off reading this collection as a library book, but two stories in I went and brought my own copy. These stories are full of strong women, swoon-worthy romances and so many fun scenarios that could be their own movie or an entire novel/series. The characters are so well developed, the worlds so fully realised that it's hard to believe that each story is on average just 20 pages in length. I want the 90 minute rom-coms of Psyche's and Zhinu's stories. I want the epic fantasy trilogy of Siya's. I want to enrol in Osun's magic school and find out the end of Scheherazade's tale. Attem's and Alagomeji's had me so emotional and even the stories I didn't click with as much had very memorable moments. The writing encapsulates so well how it feels to fall in love. The sparks, the sense of destiny and of deciding to be worthy of love. Wanting it and needing it and deserving it. Babalola makes you love her characters and feel the joy of watching them be loved back.
My order of preference:
Osun (the writing is gorgeous)
Psyche (think The Devil Wears Prada)
Siya (think House of Flying Daggers)
Scheherazade (desperate for this story to continue)
Attem (teared up at the end of this one)
Alagomeji (how special this one must have been to write)
Zhinu (no boos, no moos, only cute times)
Yaa (Yaayaa forever)
Orin (very cute date scenario)
Naleli (loved the high school setting)
Thisbe (wanted the playlist)
Nefertiti (epic opening)
Tiara (rom-com worthy ending)
The Bad
I don't really have anything bad to say about this collection. There were of course stories I didn't like as much as others, but I did still like them. However, I was expecting to have more different types of love. Nefertiti is the only LGBT+ story in the collection and all the others are romantic love stories between a man and a woman. Nothing wrong with that of course, but for some reason I was expecting to see love shown in other ways. So love in friendship, love in same sex relationships, love in polyamorous relationships... I'm not sure why that was an expectation I had going into the collection but I was just surprised not to see other types of love.
The Somewhat Iffy
This is going to reflect very badly on me (or maybe my husband) but I did find it a little unbelievable how understanding the men in these love stories were. They all seemed to get exactly where the woman was coming from. A lot of these relationships show a kind of love where communication is never an issue. The men just Get It and they're very open to changing their world views because of this person they've met and fallen in love with. This ease of communication and openness is very healthy and awesome to see in a relationship, but I think the short story nature made those points seem a little unrealistic as - at lease in my experience - those are things that take time and work in a relationship.
Overall
I completely loved this collection. There were so many stories that I wanted either the movie or a full length novel version of. I couldn't get enough of the cute vibes, the epic love stories and the truly detailed characters and worlds Babalola has created here.
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