Gingerbread (Oyeyemi) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Exhilarating.… Gingerbread is jarring, funny, surprising, unsettling, disorienting and rewarding.… This is a wildly imagined, head-spinning, deeply intelligent novel that requires some effort and attention from its reader. And that is just one of its many pleasures.
New York Times Book Review


Gingerbread rises to the level of Mr. Fox and Boy, Snow, Bird, revealing Oyeyemi as a master of literary masquerade, forging a singular art.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune


This is a bold book with a great deal of depth and mischief to it that makes you think how astonishing it would be to have our parents sit up with us for a whole night and tell us in fine detail what they have lived.
Financial Times


[T]he novel's real enchantment is its experimentation with storytelling itself.… [T]his book is not only about childhood, but also what it feels like to be a child.
Time


Charm evident on every page.
Slate


Is there an author working today who is comparable to Helen Oyeyemi? She might be the only contemporary author for whom it’s not hyperbole to claim she’s… a genius, as opposed to talented or newsworthy or relevant or accomplished, each of her novels daring more in storytelling than the one before.… A tale that bears multiple rereadings and is more marvelous the deeper you’re willing to dive into its rearranging of reality, its derangement.
Los Angeles Review of Books


A beautifully, wildly inventive beast. Nobody else writes like this: puncturing the timelessly poetic with harshly contemporary asides, animating plants and dolls with a cool nonchalance. And how is it that this dark, nutty novel exudes cozy warmth above all else?
Entertainment Weekly


Gingerbread isn't just one of the best books of March, it's poised to be one of the best books of the year thanks to the magnificent writing of Helen Oyeyemi.
Cosmopolitan.com


The line between real world and fairy tales in Helen Oyeyemi’s novels is never clear, which means they’re way more fun. Following the plot of Oyeyemi’s latest novel can be a challenge, simply because Gingerbread abides by fairy tale logic, not the conventional structure of a novel. But if you sit back and accept the twists, we guarantee you’ll enjoy your romp.
Refinery29


★ [I]diosyncratically brilliant…. Oyeyemi excels at making the truly astounding believable and turning even the most familiar tales into something strange and new. This fantastic and fantastical romp is a wonderful addition to her formidable canon.
Publishers Weekly


It may require some persistence to keep up with the multiple plot threads, the unusual character names, and the Druhistani lore, but patient readers will be rewarded with a rollicking tale from the wildly inventive Oyeyemi. —Barbara Love, formerly with Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont.
Library Journal


Oyeyemi's latest is a clever subversion of fairy tale tropes to expose the secrets [and] entanglements.… [A] scathing indictment of capitalism and a tribute to the… endurance of family bonds, this enchanting tale will resonate with literary fiction lovers.
Booklist


★ Oyeyemi returns to the land of fairy tales in a novel that riffs on "Hansel and Gretel" without… following its well-worn trail of breadcrumbs.… The effect is heady, surreal, and disarming… [a] strange, shape-shifting novel about the power of making your own family.
Kirkus Reviews