Harmattan Season, Tochi Onyebuchi (Review by Caitlin Winkler)

Rating: 4.0/5 Stars

This book, from the very beginning, I could tell was going to be one that would require I focus and really take my time appreciating both the content, of course, but also the writing style of this famous and well-respected author. Tochi Onyebuchi, known for Riot Baby, has written a truly captivating novel in Harmattan Season and one that is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.

Boubacar is a veteran and presently works to help find those that are missing. Alright…well he used to; work has started to dry up a bit as of late. Despite the lack of work, his whole life he has had no problem getting into sticky situations and when a young girl, bleeding, runs into his home he knows he is about to enter something he is not prepared for. After she disappears completely, Boubacar finds himself embroiled in secret plots within the city just as Harmattan season is approaching. When tensions come to a boiling point, Boubacar is forced to look within himself, the nature of him being deux-fois, and his history, to see what path he chooses.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Despite the serious nature of the plot, there was humor throughout in the main character, which was fun to read! I will say there were times that I found myself a bit confused, which I think may have had to do with certain parts of how the book was written. More specifically, there were times where I was unsure who the speaker was due to the back-and-forth dialogue, but that could have just been me missing something, which would not be the first time I did that! I will say, while reading, I was doing a lot of google searches for meanings of words, which helped me learn a lot and I also found myself doing searches regarding the historical context that was the inspiration for the writing and found that to be eye-opening. I highly recommend this novel both for the beautiful writing but also the attention-grabbing plot.