'Bomboy' by Yewande Omotoso

catalystpress.org

It’s a little difficult to write this review because Bomboy is like no other novel I have read. It has elements of the supernatural, the spiritual and superstitions; it tells of the effects mental health, sickness, lack and abuse can have on families.

We follow the life of Leke, a young man who doubles as an IT programmer during the day and a kleptomaniac at night. Since his adoptive mother’s death when he was a boy, life took on an even lesser meaning and he navigates (and we with him) through his days; avoiding his adoptive father, working, talking long walks, moping around his garage-flat and the mall where he stakes out his victims.

I took me a while to get into the swing of the novel but when I did, I could not put it down. I wish Omotoso (or her editor) had taken more care with the placements of punctuation and quotation marks, but other than that, it was brilliant.

It’s a 7 out of 10 for me.