Love in Colour by Bolu Babalola

Most of them seemed to be snippets of longer romances that I wanted her to write so I could inhale them

Love in Colour comprises a total of 13 love stories with mostly optimistic endings. In that sense, it can be considered a collection of romantic shorts, even if not all the stories can be considered romances per see.

The first ten stories are based on folktales/mythologies/ ancient oral traditions from West, North and Southern Africa, the Middle East, China and Greece; the next two stories are complete originals from the author, whilst the last story is a real-life fairytale based on her parents love story. 

It was difficult for me to rate this book because, although I loved the idea, the writing, the humour, the representation, and the author’s points of view, I wasn’t particularly enthralled by any of the stories. Most of them seemed to be snippets of longer romances that I wanted her to write so I could inhale them. I more or less liked them all, but none stood out as a favourite.

It wasn’t that the stories were in any way bad; they weren’t spectacular. I just didn’t get the character or plot development that would have made these prettily-written stories compelling for me in a way that would stand out and live in my memory.

They were pleasant and satisfying, but the spice didn’t stay on your palate after you had turned the page.