Rating: 9/10
How stunning is this book cover! I know I always say this about covers, but this time, I mean it. This is one of those times that I purely read this book simply because of the color! Haha I had to see what was inside and what it was all about! Also, I’ve heard amazing things about this book as it’s a recently released book. It was published on April 13, 2021. I was in the mood for something uplifting and warming, and I felt that this collection of short stories would hit that spot. I would like to thank William Morrow Books for sending this beautiful print book that I actually won through their instagram giveaway!
Little fun fact about the author, Babalola is 29, she was born and raised in London, U.K. and is a self proclaimed “romcomoisseur”. She has a funny and exciting twitter presence and is very much in the millennial age with her witty sharp style and much loved social media accounts. I very much looked forward to reading her take on her first short stories collection.
About ‘Love in Color’:
The settings for these short stories took place in various continents and mainly Africa.
Love in Color is a collection of 13 short stories that retells the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology from all over the world. These stories are filled with new vibrant details and focus on the magical folktales of West Africa, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from long-erased places.
In Love in Color, Babalola has created captivating stories that traverse across perspectives, continents, and genres.
My Review:
Firstly, I would like to say that I absolutely adored the fresh take on these short story collections. I seriously loved that all if not most, of the characters were black and that she celebrated these stories with diverse and beautiful characters. Something you don’t often see or even think about when you think of fairy tales and short stories. It is definitely a celebration of black love and the beauty of darker skin which I seriously loved to read about.
I’m actually pretty bad with African folklore stories so for me, it was all quite new and refreshing to read all of these retellings! Some were set in more modern twists in our time which I found to be fun and exciting. I even felt at times like I was reading a YA book, mostly based on the way that some stories were told. It was a very easy book to read and a lot of millennials would be able to relate to quite a few of these stories as well.
One of the aspects that I loved about these stories was the strong focus on women. Every story had a lead female character which I absolutely loved! The focus was definitely more on women rather than men in a lot of these retellings. Each story ultimately had some kind of love telling in it and I loved that the men in each and every story pretty much were very supportive and lifted up each woman in her desires and dreams. It was actually really cool that the women in these stories were ambitious, they had goals, they had dreams, and the men were mostly the icing on the cake you know? Women are not just doormats for men which I feel is what Babalola was trying to steer away from. I loved that she kept a strong focus on the women of each story. It was quite an empowering and feminist read and I think that all men should also read this book and not just women.
I wouldn’t say that every story was amazing. Some were definitely better than others in my opinion. But the ones that were good were very captivating and I genuinely enjoyed reading them. I liked that she not only focused on African Folklore tales, she even dipped into other stories from around the world, which made for an exciting take on these classic tellings. There were even stories based on her parent’s relationship, and her own dating life sagas.
Love in Color is ultimately about love. It’s about the ups and downs of relationships, it’s about women holding their own and being content in their goals and aspirations. It’s about men respecting women, it’s about modern day romance, and the difficulties that can bring. It’s about finding your light and your path in life, and all in all, it’s a hopeful and positive collection of lovely short stories about love and a celebration about black love. I adored it and would highly recommend that you read this beautiful book. Perfect for when you need some feel-good stories. Perfect for millennials, and perfect for YA readers as well. I also loved that she included an LGBTQ+ story in there too.
Song Pick:
Well this song pick was extremely easy for me and I knew it from the very first story that I read. These stories really focus on the beauty of black skin and black love and I seriously was here for it! It’s a romantic book and it deserves one of the most romantic and soulful songs about black love. It had to be ‘Brown Skin’ by India Arie. A true classic and beautiful song that will stand the test of time, just like the stories that Babalola based her collection on.
To purchase Love in Color, click the amazon link below.
Genre: Short Stories | Romance | Contemporary Fiction | Magical Folklore/Fantasy
Publication Date: April 13, 2021
Pages: 304 Pages (Hardcover)
Publisher: William Morrow
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