Leave Your Mess at Home by Tolani Akinola came out yesterday!

This story of four siblings at turning points in their lives is funny and heartbreaking in turn.

Sola, a former instagram influencer, has just moved back to Chicago after a humiliating breakup and is struggling with her new, less public, life, Her brother Ola is expecting his first child with his wife and trying to figure out how to be a good father and a good husband, even as he reconnects with an old girlfriend, Anjola is in love with her best friend and plans to tell him at an event where he proposes to his new girlfriend. And Karen, the baby, is struggling with family expectations regarding her studies and her sexuality. Their traditional Nigerian parents, particularly their prickly mother, play the roles of “oh THAT’S why they’re like this” in a realistic manner. 

The relationship between the siblings, their parents, their partners and friends is what makes this book so compelling. Past traumas are revisited, new connections are made and old patterns rear their ugly heads in the most entertaining and moving way. And while there is certainly tragedy, there is plenty of humor and love. 

I appreciated what felt like a window into a fully formed family and I found myself hoping that they could learn to accept each other as adults instead of repeating old, damaging patterns. I wish I could accurately describe how much I loved this book and how it felt so real. But honestly, you just have to read it for yourself!