Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Abike Iyimide Author
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Web ID: 18496970work together
Four Eids and a Funeral tells the story of Said and Tiwa who used to be best friends but then Said went to boarding school and they stopped talking. When their favorite librarian passes away, Said comes home and during the funeral procceedings the Islamic center catches on fire. Tiwa and Said are forced to work together to save the Islamic center. To save their friendship, the Islamic center and community Tiwa and Said must find out what happened to their relationship and repair it to move forward.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
4 Stars for Laddoo
4 stars for my boy Laddoo! Everything else tho? This miscommunication trope could have been an email, or a text, you know, for the youth, the conflict didn't feel realistic is what I'm saying. Also not to be that guy but I'm 30 and grumpy so I will. I feel 99.99% positive if something is left in someone's will to people who are 16/17, then their legal guardians/parents need to be there and these kids can't sign any legal documents or contracts without a parent present. I don't like YA that much but I thought this was really funny and well written, just not my personal favorite genre. I'm too old and my solution to everything is just "talk to each other PLEASE".
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Loved!
Four Eids and a Funeral was an anticipated release of mine, so when I had the chance to choose it as a Macmillan Audio Influencer, I jumped! So many things brought me to want to read this book–first there’s the title, I love the riff on a classic romcom. Then there was the synopsis: ex-friends to lovers (read: enemies to lovers!), yes please! Immediately, I was endeared by the narrative style of a third person POV grecian chorus style introduction to the acts; it felt very fourth-wall breaking, which is something I love in books and film. The narrator then switches to first person for Said’s and Tiwa’s POVs, and I loved that all three POVs have their own audio narrators. I particularly enjoyed the vocals of Sandra Okuboyejo as Tiwa, her voice has a soothing quality while also expressing the teenage angst and grief Tiwa feels. This book set romance and banter against a backdrop of grief, disaster, and racism, and I love setting heavy stuff against a lighter plotline. I also feel the relationship that reforms between Said and Tiwa grows naturally, and watching that progress was the reason I read (or watch) romance. The little dramatic twist at the end was also so unexpected, but a lot of fun! I give this book five stars, and definitely recommend the audio as well!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Wonderful Characters
Tiwa and Said are wonderful characters. Tiwa is working so hard to make her community better, but also has many personal things she is running from. Said is blissfully unaware of many things. As the story unfolds, Said learns and begins to think beyond himself. Tiwa starts to make peace with some of her personal issues. I wanted to see more of her dealing with that, but that would have changed the story significantly. So I don’t really know how that could have worked out. The romance was there, but lightly done. I liked how YA this book feels. I can see a lot of teens, especially younger teens falling in love with these characters.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Adorable YA Romance
This was a beautiful, comforting read about two friends falling in love, a shared custody of an orange cat named Laddoo and a whole lot of forgiveness. This book was so easy to read, I loved every second of it. All the characters were so loveable and understandable (everyone except the mayor). I loved the sister-like bond between Niwa and Safiyah. The way the town was portrayed was beautiful with all its murals, especially now with Saids mural. Niwa and Said’s banter made me smile many times. I loved watching them rebuild their friendship while trying to save their towns Islamic centre. The scene in the restaurant together was adorable. As someone who isn’t familiar with Islamic traditions, I felt it was all explained fairly well for me to understand, although I did sometimes have to look up things like the clothes or food. The romance was very slow, Niwa and Said only started becoming friends about halfway through the book. I didn’t think we got enough thoughts from them about their hidden love for each other, there's a few times they catch each other's eye, or they get butterflies, but we never get much of their thoughts until the love confession at the end. I wish we had more about how Tiwa and Said grieved for the loss of their mentor, I felt like it was forgotten about after the funeral at the very beginning. She was very important to both characters, so this part of the story didn’t feel right. I also thought that Timi (Tiwa’s younger brother) wasn’t spoken about enough considering he died only 2 years ago. I felt that forgiveness was far too easily given at the end of the book, for something that had ruined a very good friendship. I wish there had been more explanation and a little more conflict before it was resolved. Thank you to Netgalley and Usborne Publishing for the eArc of Four Eids and a Funeral.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com