Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Immigrants chase success differently because we have something to prove to the people we left behind and the people who note our differences – our accent, our appearance, our religion, our culture – every day.”

This sweet rom com packs a much deeper, thought provoking punch than I expected. The story follows the incredibly smart and driven Azere as she falls for the “wrong” man…wrong in that he is white and she is Nigerian. Her mom has long driven into her brain that even though they live in Canada now she must marry a Nigerian man. Azere even promises her father on his death bed that she would. Her mom is always trying to set Azere up on awful dates that add both humor and cringe worthy moments to the book.

But the very careful Azere lets her guard down one night and has a one night stand with a man in a hotel bar. She doesn’t think much of it, until a month later he shows up in her office as a the new hire. Whoopsie. What follows is an emotional roller coaster classic to the romcom genre. Yet, despite the frustrating lack of communication at the core to this story, a much more thoughtful narrative emerges. What is our identity based on? And who should we be living for?

I think I was less enamored with the romance plot and more invested in her desire to please her family and intrigued with her deep cultural awareness. I fell in love with her family and culture and how it grounded her, even when it was at times unhealthy for her. The author does an amazing job of capturing that tension and making us think about the conflicts of an interracial relationship.

I thoroughly enjoyed the more thought provoking aspects of this rom com that kept it from being overly tropey, but the lack of communication was so frustrating. A lot of the tension never would have happened if they just SPOKE. But otherwise a wonderful read!

To check out more of my reviews, head to MY BLOG.
And to stay up to date on the latest giveaways and new books, check out MY BOOKSTAGRAM. To purchase the book, click here.

View all my reviews on Goodreads