Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Love stories for the ages, centring characters of colour. On that basis, I should love it. However, I did not.

It took me 4 attempts to finish the first story alone & I dreaded picking up the book to trudge through the rest. However, they got better (bar the final ode to her parents’ love story. Sweet, but felt unfinished and rushed).

10 short stories in total, inspired by mythical tales from Nigeria, Greece, Ghana, China, and so many more. It truly should’ve been a melting pot of delectable tales, especially with the promise of some etching in a modern twist. However, I found her tone monotonous, with some protagonists mirroring others from previous stories. I love the feminist spin, however, and how she was clearly reclaiming their autonomy where the patriarchy through history had eroded it. That was empowering!

DNF at 56%. I really enjoyed the short story "Scheherazade", but the other ones felt flat to me. So I decided not to finish it. Unfortunately, I just think that short stories are not for me. But you should give it a try if you like retellings or if you would like to read about folklore from different African cultures.

I love collections of short stories, but Love in Colour is one of my favourites from recent years. It was so refreshing to see myths from a varied mix of cultures (rather than the recent trend for mostly Greek myths in fiction) and also to see women of colour at the forefront of the stories and controlling the narrative. The modern retelling of these timeless romance tales felt seamless alongside her original stories included in the collection. And let's face it, the cover is beautiful! One I've recommended multiple times to friends, family and colleagues.

I loved this book. I didn’t really connect the retelling because I don’t know much mythology but I adored the stories in their own merit, it’s like the best bit of a love story over and over again.

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

This book snuck its way to being one of my top reads of the year. This was a netgalley read and I was excited but hesitant as I was worried I was going to struggle with reading short stories that were mythology stories rewritten by Bababola but I had no reason to be hestitant. ⠀
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This book is focused on love, it isn’t a stereotypical love story, instead it highlights it’s flaws, it’s magic, it’s brutality and how humans crave love even if we don’t want to accept it. This book showed love in all its glory and Babalola did an extraordinary job of writing so many beautiful love stories. ⠀
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I cannot wait to buy this in paperback and read a physical copy, i also can’t wait for Bolu Babalola to release another book (I pray she releases another book I need more of Babalola’s writing). ⠀
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A high recommendation from me if you’re after a series of love stories that’s not in anyway cringey and is so eloquently written!

I love that this book introduced me to so many unfamiliar stories, or new versions of the stories that appear everywhere regardless of particular cultures. Unfortunately, I found the writing itself a little lacking. The characters didn't really come to life and there was something stilted and removed in the prose which prevented me from being absorbed in the stories. It's a shame, but I look forward to trying Babalola's next work.

One of the best books of 2020. Uplifting, hopeful, lovely, and all written so well, with so much wit and also heart. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

I loved the stories told in this book! Each of them was retold in a reimagined, contemporary setting, changed and twisted to present in a new, intriguing way. The book includes traditional tales from different parts of the world, including African stories that are sadly not as widely known as some others. (Why?! They are great!) They feature sassy, smart and fearless women who are not afraid to love. Some heroines from the stories are better known than others, like Psyche, Scheherazade, Nefertiti, some were completely new fo me, like Attem, Yaa, Naleli. This collection is definitely showing a need for more diverse stories, more diverse settings and I hope this is just the start.

Love is Colour was joyful. Bolu's short stories are so beautifully told that you're grateful to have lived in the brief world of each, while also wishing you could carry the characters onto the next story.

Fans of romance will adore the depth and range of love explored in this book, written so authentically and with such vibrant chemistry, while fans of history and mythology will be blown away with the skill in which Bolu adapts the tales for the modern reader, centring strong women in each.

The perfect escapism.

This was sinking into a warm bath, like being swathed in a warm blanket on the coldest winter day, It was gorgeous, funny, witty and compact with so many interesting characters. I loved it so much.

One of the reasons I was looking forward to this was that, it's clear as day from twitter, that Bolu Babalola gets it in terms of love and romance in TV and film and her ability to pluck the best of romantic storylines and tropes and weave them into folklore retellings and original tales was most excellent. The best stories in there, my god, it's like you'd happily unfurl them into a 12 part series but, knowing it only has a few thousand words, captures the key moments in romance arcs in such a way you take space after the story to let it sit. Here for straight up love of the stories of love. Here for well written love with fun and passion and humour and impulsiveness and tension and chemistry and heat. And and and...

A wonderful collection of mythical retellings, many of which I had not heard of before and Babalola's writing really brought them in to the twenty first century and added a brilliant spin to each.

I loved that each story was centred from the female point of view and dealt with love and life from the perspective we don't see so often with myths. None of the stories felt forced or that they pushed the boundaries of reality and this is a real credit to Babalola as a writer and the understanding of the source material and the modern relevancy.

Like with many collections, I enjoyed some more than others and I truly wish a few of them were full length novels. Some of these myths/retellings will stick with me for some time and I cannot wait to see what Babalola writes next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Wow - I could not put this book down. I've always loved mythology so was likely to enjoy this anyway, but Babalola's writing is exquisite and the way she uses traditional folk tales and mythology to create such an inclusive and feminist collection is just stunning. I was familiar with some of the characters but it was great to discover others and also to read her original stories. Babalola is one to watch, and everyone should read this collection.

Love in Colour is a brilliant collection of retellings of love stories from all over the world,. I appreciated the effort that Babalola put into each story - I was aware of some of the originals and it was fun to read and see those familiar characters reimagined in this way. I also enjoyed how each story was written uniquely. It is easy for voices to merge but by telling one story in the first person, another more poetically, one jumping point of view characters, it develops individuality to each tale.

Beautiful writing and some real gems, but the collection felt a little patchy and uneven overall. Not completely blown away but still excited to read a full length novel from Bolu Babalola - wouldn't be surprised if a longer form is where she excels.

Love in Colour is an anthological retelling of mythical love stories from around the world, as well as some new love stories.⁣
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My thoughts on this anthology may be biased. Even though it is clear that this one is written for the Black and Brown girls who don't get to see themselves in romantic stories often enough, there's an extra nod to the author's Yoruba heritage which is undeniable and irresistible to me. It's no accident that the collection starts with a love story based on Yoruba mythological figures, Oshun and Shango, and ends with 'Alagomeji' the story of how the authors' parents met and fell in love, which is another Yoruba love story. They whet my appetite and left me wanting more.⁣
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Truthfully and funnily enough, those weren't even my favourite stories. There are other standouts in this collection including; Psyche, Attem, Siya, Nerfetiti and Naleli’s stories. ⁣
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Because this is a mixed bag of stories, some read more like fantasy and folklore while others have a more contemporary outlook. ⁣
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The modern approach works well in a story like Physche's, extracted from the typical Greek setting we are used to seeing the characters in. I liked that a reimagined Olympia was a corporate quasi-feminist office environment. ⁣
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The authors' note at the end shows you how some of these old myths have been reworked, sometimes quite literally which is great because it’s easier to see the parallels between the original and the reworked myth. Naleli’s story is originally a Lesothan myth titled How Khosi Chose His Wife, about a girl whose parents cover her in crocodile skin to hide her beauty. Here, we get a story about a young girl’s journey to find self-confidence in her skin despite her vitiligo and schoolyard bullying. ⁣
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The romance is sweet and delightful, and these stories are fun and humorous and hopeful, but often what kept me coming back for more was seeing women with agency, finding their voice and unafraid to be vulnerable for fear of appearing weak. ⁣
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Siya's story demonstrates how well the author balances strength and vulnerability, which is sometimes hard to do especially in stories like this one where the woman is a warrior, and warmth is considered a weakness. ⁣
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Attem’s story also shows a woman with power getting to have a happy ending thus subverting a myth rooted in violence and misogyny which punished a woman for choosing love over marriage to a vengeful and sadistic old king. ⁣
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I liked that there was world-building in some of these and I’d love to see the author run with a high fantasy story. ⁣
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Nefertiti’s story is one of those with fantasy scene-setting I could picture getting more out of. Badass queer queen of an underground club run by women for women only which also has sexy women in black leather punishing men who harm women? err yes. As a bonus we get to think about what society considers, and who determines what is right, and what is unlawful, and how that can often be harmful to a group of people - a splash of abuse of power and police brutality for a reality check eh. ⁣
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I think that there were other ways to play with some myths, or more could have been done with others. I would have liked a little less heteronormativity and the predictability of romantic tropes meant that it almost became rote and boring after a few of these.⁣
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Overall, I liked that these stories re-empower women which is atypical of romantic lore. There's also a sense that the originating cultures are respected, and I enjoyed being introduced to new myths and new love stories. ⁣

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-ARC.

Love in Colour is a gorgeous short story collection from one author, retelling of myths and great love stories from around the world. Each retelling is different from the last: some have a very modern feeling, some are more magical. I didn’t have a preference for style and my favourites were all over the board. (They were probably Scheherazade, Nefertiti and Thisbe if you’re interested.)

As with all short story collections, some of these worked more for me than others but every one is rich and engaging; the characters are vibrant and full of life. However the highlight for me is the tone: warm and even humorous. I was unfamiliar with a lot of these stories and I’ll definitely be looking up the original myths, but I don’t think that affected its impact. Its themes of love and womanhood are universal and told with such sincerity and attention to detail, that they felt comforting and familiar anyway.

I would have liked some more queer stories, I’ll admit (there was one sapphic story and it was cracking) but that is my only tiny gripe! Otherwise, a lovely and eclectic collection. One that I look forward to diving into again a few years from now. Thanks again to Netgalley, Headline Books and the author for the opportunity to read this bb. Just so lovely! ♥️

Review on Instagram @librarygoblin on 4th Sept.

Love in Colour is a collection of love stories from history and mythology, told with a modern twist, from different cultures around the world. The stories range from ancient Greek myth to Nigerian folktales, all re-imagined to put the female characters in centre-stage.

I adored this anthology. The stories are short, and all centre around romantic love told from the point of view of the female characters. Babalola has recreated classic myths to elevate the women to positions of power and tell stories of them falling in love (rather than being bought, stolen or raped, as many of the original stories had it).

It was wonderful to read stories from less commonly seen cultures with a lot of non-white characters. The stories originate from a wide range of areas, including Nigeria, Lesotho, Senegal, Persia and Ghana, to name just a few. The variety in sources for the tales also helped to create diversity between the stories, despite them all being the same genre. One was set in a modern office version of Olympus, while another in an eastern marketplace; one takes place during a taxi journey through a modern city, while another in a rebel hideout in a jungle.

Choosing a favourite story would be too difficult, because there were so many I loved, but some stand-out ones for me were Psyche, Attem, Naleli and Thisbe.