REVIEW ON THE NOVEL WAHALA by Nikki May

This novel is one of my favorite reads for 2023. It has all the spice required for an excellent book, with a moral lesson as a bonus.

Wahala is a story about three besties who allow a fourth person into their friendship. Now, this fourth person was included with the concept of being close to one of the three besties and thinking they would become a quadruple friend group instead of remaining as the trio they have always been for the longest they have known each other. Boo, Ronke, and Simi are all mixed-race babies with two different cultures and two different nationalities. They met while in the university and instantly clicked and became besties. These three have been there for one another. They shared the happy and the sad moments (the kind of friendship we crave). Then, Isobel comes into the picture and spoils everything.

You know, before buying this book and even opening it to read, I read the preview, abi is the summary. Apart from it intriguing me, I was already aware of the fact that Isobel was going to be the troublemaker, but what I didn’t expect was the extent she would go to just for revenge. A sadist she is, I tell you all.

Now, on to the main discussion. Out of these four main characters (Simi, Boo, Ronke, and Isobel), Ronke’s is my favorite, followed by Isobel’s (as weird as it may seem), Simi then Boo is the last.

Ronke: from the very first day, she expressed her dislike for Isobel, but because her friends are cool with her, she decided to give her a trial (a good trait to seek in a friend if you ask me), which unfortunately confirmed all she suspected. Another reason why Ronke is my favorite character is because of her friends. When I say friends, I don’t mean Simi and Boo in this case but Rafa, Lucas, and Didier (Boo’s husband). Aunty K and Kayode, I would love to put them in the same category because, in this case, they both love Ronke dearly, but both hid a crucial truth from her. Truths that would have helped her handle Isobel very well and prevented the terrible heartache she felt. Lastly, Ronke is my favorite character because she embraced her Nigerian culture well and was never ashamed of it. She wore it on her shoulders like a proud Naija lady. Something that the other three didn’t do.

Isobel: I know it’s weird that Isobel is coming second on my list of favorites, but we have to give her accolades for being persistent after almost 25 years. The fact that she was relentless in her revenge made her come in second on my list of favorites. Isobel showed Determination and persistence (Something that I am still working on). Now, let’s assume she never approached the trio for revenge, we can all agree that Isobel would have been an excellent friend to the trio (thinking about it now, I am not so sure again). Anyway, Isobel took her time to befriend these three to get her revenge and destroy their friendship. Did she succeed? Find out in the book. Also, she is coming second because she is strategic with her revenge. Though some stunts she pulled were quite obvious, others, you will never guess.

Simi: Now, most of us will be blaming Simi for the whole drama that occurred in this book. We will blame her for introducing Ronke and Boo to Isobel, we will blame her for not listening to her dad, and we will blame her for not listening and trusting her friends, especially Ronke. Finally, we will also blame her for almost destroying her marriage. But we shouldn’t blame her. I was watching a movie a few days ago, and one of the cast (the villain in the movie) said, and I quote, “The problem with good people is that they are good.” And I think the same applies to Simi here. Simi is a good and trustworthy person, the trait Isobel played on more like used to get access to Simi and her Friends. I also understand her dislike for her father, but she should have trusted him when he said stay away. At Least as Nigerians, we are taught that when our parents say don’t do…, we obey first and ask questions later. Now, she is married to a wonderful man, “Martin.” As much as I understand that distance can become a barrier in every relationship, I strongly disagree with some of her decisions, especially the most delicate one she made without her spouse’s knowledge.

Boo: Now Boo is my least favorite character and the one I disliked most out of all four. This lady had a good husband and a beautiful child but was never satisfied. She was always looking for something outside the marriage instead of focusing on her marriage. At this point, I won’t even blame Isobel for the things that went wrong in her marriage because it’s pretty obvious that she isn’t at fault. She saw that Boo was looking for an escape, and when the opportunity came, just as an “Alobam’' that she is, she just gave her a little push. Boo was a terrible friend to both Simi and Ronke but especially to Ronke (thinking about it now, the main target for Isobel’s revenge was Ronke. The reason for it, I shan’t tell. I don’t want to spoil the fun 😉). In general, Boo was my least favorite because she was a low-key racist, was a terrible friend, wife, and mother. She was practically Isobel’s puppet.

Wahala is a beautiful read that I will gladly recommend to anyone and everyone, and to top it all with a bit of sweetness, it will soon become a BBC TV series (I hope it’s not out already 😩). I seriously can’t wait for the movie. I hope the cast is good. I will suggest someone like:
Adunni Ade as Ronke; I believe she can give us Ronke’s vibe very well.
Adesua as Simi; there is nothing anybody will say to convince me that the Simi character isn’t meant for Adesua. I feel she will give us a feel of the character nicely.
Tonto Dikeh as Boo; Tonto will give us the vibe of being unhappy in her marriage but not so sure about the others. By the way, is she still acting?
Caroline Danjuma as Isobel; sadly, I haven’t seen any of her movies, but looking at her picture alone, she instantly gave me the Isobel vibe. What movie did she feature in? Is she good?
What do you guys think about my cast? Do you think they can give us a feel of the characters?

Finally, for my rating, I will give this book a five out of five. I love the writing of the book, the plot setting, the suspense, and above all, the character development of all the main leads except for Isobel. I don’t think she developed in any way😢. Anyway, if you have not read WAHALA by NIKKI MAY, please do so. I will be here waiting for your feedback on the book.

#bbctv #NikkiMay