An Ordinary Wonder

An Ordinary Wonder centers itself around Oto, born an intersex twin but who knows in her heart that she is a girl. However her family insist that she live her life as a boy. Her parents treat her cruelly in response to her hermaphroditism, believing instead that she is a Changeling. She is often referred to as a “creature” by her father.

This was a wonderful coming of age story that focused on an area of identity that is very rarely discussed, particularly within the African diaspora. There was often a blending of fantasy and fiction, which I thought worked really well as it showed Oto’s way of surviving her bleak reality. It was fascinating to learn about different African mythologies and I loved Oto’s dry humor about it, which also showed her intelligence that she could see through that.

Oto is an incredible, admirable and inspiring protagonist, one that is the epitome of resilience and who displays an unwavering amount of unconditional love to those she holds closest to her heart. These people don’t always deserve this love but she never falters in her faith in them.

I do have to say though, that I’m not the biggest fan of the ending, just because it suddenly changed in tone and became very clichéd but I still very much think this is worth a read

A beautifully told story of resilience and love that gives voice to an experience that is rarely in the spotlight, yet reflects widely.
Buki Papillon's wonderfully descriptive prose has an innocence that makes this coming of age tale sing. Papillon leads the reader into the rich interior of a young life which is full of longing with sensitivity and compassion. Although there are parts of the story where the narrator, Oto, has to deal with some extreme challenges that are, at times, gruelling, overall the story sings with joy and love. Partly this is due to the focus on Oto's loves: her sister, her friend and her teacher. It is a richly told story (Papillon shows a particularly talent for simile) that tackles questions of gender, family and culture and is woven through with Nigerian folklore.
I so enjoyed this debut novel and I look forward to reading more from the author in future.

Engaging and well-written; Papillon's "An Ordinary Wonder" is an empowering coming-of-age novel that draws from african folklore to comment on the themes of identity.

What an extraordinary book! "An Ordinary Wonder" by Buki Papillon is anything but average. It deals with issues of identity, which one would struggle with in the UK growing up but transfer this to Nigeria, and add in that one twin is born hermaphrodite then it all gets a little bit complicated.

There are characters you will love and those you will hate. At it's heart, it is an old-fashioned love story, and so pleased of the happy ending!

DRC provided by Dialogue Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Representation: Yoruba intersex protagonist, Ghanaian secondary character, Nigerian secondary and tertiary characters.

Content Warning: violence, child endangerment, sexual, physical and emotional abuse, bullying, attempted rape, toxic masculinity, homophobia, attempted suicide, assault, blackmail, death, rape mentions, torture.

An Ordinary Wonder by Buki Papillon is a powerful debut about an intersex girl and her fight to be who she is, set in Nigeria in the nineties.

Otolorin is told, since her birth, she is a boy, but she knows in heart that is wrong, An Ordinary Wonder follows Lori’s story during her teenage years in Nigeria, her life at a boarding school and the beginning of a new chapter in New York.

I undoubtedly liked Buki’s way with words and the book’s structure, which reminded me of a journal. I felt as if I was reading Lori’s diary’s entries of when she was in her teens.

This novel, though, definitely is a heavy and dark read despite the joyous ending. Lori’s fight to live her life as she wants, and as she should have lived since her birth. is painful and so strenuous she almost gives up. There is this cloud of melancholy, which rains over and overshadows the narration with only feeble rays of lights and hope shining through here and there, that forced me to stop reading for nearly a week. And I think, perhaps, that is what is making me so hesitating about the rating. Its darkness was too much for me. I could not stand how her parents mistreated and abused her and how they did not intervene when others did it, how she found herself so alone because of the secret she had to hide, how the continuous hardships in her life almost broke her.

My favourite part of the book is certainly the one after she starts living with her art teacher. It is the part when she starts to retake control of her life: she mends the bond with her best friend torn by her fear of what he would think of her once he knew her truth; her hard and unceasing work in her studies is repaid when she gets the chance to study in the United States; she manages to break down the thick emotional wall that separated her from her beloved twin sister Wura. Their relationship is also one of the best parts of the whole book. It is often said that there is a link between twins that is unparalleled by any other pair of siblings and indeed, Wura’s and Lori’s bond can attest to that.

To conclude, I cannot say I completely loved An Ordinary Wonder, but I can say it is an incredibly impressive novel and putting it on your radar would never be a mistake.

I received a copy of this e-arc thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: attempted rape, sexual abuse, toxic relationship, body shaming, hallucinations, anxiety, mentions of self-harm, suicide attempt, physical abuse, drowning, bullying, homophobia, assault, torture, mental abuse, death, blackmail

** SPOILERS BELOW **

I wasn’t sure whether i’d enjoy this book but the blurb had intrigued me so I thought i’d give it a go.

I absolutely loved it. It’s a dark, challenging and emotional book but it’s just wonderful.

It’s just truly horrific what Lori went through - the abuse, body shaming, attempted rape, attempted drowning, suicide attempt and generally toxic relationship with most of her family. I just wanted everything to be okay for her! I really rooted for her happiness! And i’m so glad that she got it. All she wanted was to be herself, her true self, not the version that she was told to be. I just loved the ending. It was just perfect.

There is nothing like a book that simply strikes me as being completely unlike any other that I’ve read before. Something about this wonderful, heart-rending story told me that it was the unique read I’ve been looking for and I’m so glad I discovered it.

In early 1990s Nigeria, Oto is finally about to escape his abusive childhood home and go to boarding school but he’s leaving behind his beloved twin sister Wura. He knows that he must hide who he really is from everyone at school and when he finds herself falling for his roommate, he realises that things will be even harder than he imagined. At home, family matters become difficult to manage, terrible secrets emerge and even Oto and Wura’s seemingly unbreakable bond is at stake. Can Oto finally find the strength and courage to become who he was always meant to be -a beautiful, ambitious girl named Lori?

I need to warn you straightaway that this novel contains A LOT of physical, mental and some sexual abuse. There is a lot of misery and darkness, particularly for a big chunk of the beginning of the book, so please be aware of this before giving it a read.

Oto suffers a lot of severe mistreatment at the hands of her family members and it was incredibly distressing to read. I shed a few tears over the gruelling punishments and horrific mistreatment that she suffers at the hands of those who are supposed to protect her. Dreams of Oto and Wura running far away into the sunset together certainly crossed my mind but I knew it would never be an easy road.

The bond between Oto and Wura is so beautiful. Although Wura doesn’t know everything about her sibling, they really seem to be two halves of a whole. I read the significance of the matching watches as a metaphor for their relationship -they are each other’s world. The reoccurance of the watches at the end of the book brings the story full circle, much like the journey that their relationship takes.

When Oto first arrives at ISS (International Secondary School), she goes through many of the typical new-kid emotions albeit heightened ones because of her secret. She vows to blend in and abandon her true self, which broke my heart but which is obviously the safest thing to do.

However, Lori is forever present in the way that she notices cute boys, her admiration of Wura’s outfits and her budding obsession with romance novels. Because of this, I could never really read Oto as a wholly male or female character. Although we know that Oto is intersex, has been raised as male but feels female from the very beginning of the book, Papillon does such an excellent job of writing her as someone whose gender is ambiguous.

Oto’s roommate Derin is, without a doubt, one of my favourite characters that I’ve come across in a coming-of-age novel. He is so wonderfully wise and non-judgemental for a teenage boy and I knew he’d be a great source of light for Oto. If only everyone had a Derin while we were growing up, some of us would be much kinder, better-adjusted adults.

I loved the way the book tackled very real examples of the struggles that intersex people undoubtedly go through. Their basic biology is, of course, ignored by science textbooks and teaching, so they grow up not having a clue which version of puberty they are likely to go through. Will they grow facial hair or get a period? Maybe it will be both? These are questions that Oto constantly asks but the reality is, there aren’t any definite answers to them.

There is a section of this book that really choked me up and caused my heart to break. Oto finds herself in hospital after a very serious incident but at this point, she has such a low opinion of herself that she is convinced that she isn’t worth the doctor’s time. These feelings of extremely low self-worth ring so true for anyone who is a victim of long-term abuse. If you can relate to that directly, I really would advise you to be aware that An Ordinary Wonder contains some very distressing events and emotions conjured up by that. Just a little warning before you rush to pick it up!

In times of great need, an ethereal entity known as Yeyemi comes to Oto. ‘Yeye-mi’ translates from Yoruba as ‘my mother’ and she certainly plays the role of an ideal, nurturing mother figure to Oto that she has never had in her reality. Yeyemi is a source of comfort, guidance and wisdom, which is exactly what folktales are for so many cultures. I knew that under Yeyemi’s unwavering, powerful protection that Oto would flourish. Having this element of Nigerian folklore in the novel gave it an authentic unique dimension and these immersive scenes were so beautifully written.

Thankfully, towards the end of the book, Oto starts to get some validation and acceptance. Her relationship with art teacher Mr Dickson is wonderfully uplifting and it’s this in part that finally gives her the strength to live life exactly as she wants to. Despite the harrowing beginnings of the book, the light at the end of the tunnel is shone bright throughout the final 20%.

An Ordinary Wonder is a very unique, powerful novel with themes of gender, identity, incredible resilience and Nigerian family culture. One of the most inspiring things about Oto is her immovable determination to become Lori, despite having been repeatedly told her whole life that she is a boy. It’s a story of battling against all odds to be true to who you know you really are and allowing that person to live life and shine bright.

I thought I was going to make it all the way through to end of this book without crying. Turns out, I was very wrong.

Buki Papillon does an incredible job as she slowly works the tension to breaking point, until the reader is begging her to give poor Lori the freedom she deserves to explore and discover who she is and who she wants to become. She expertly throws the reader a few scraps of happiness, that, just like poor Lori, we leap upon and guzzle before it is snatched away by one of the antagonists.

The heartbreak you feel for the main character is beautifully balanced by the uplifting feeling of empowerment as Lori takes her destiny into her own hands. After the tears, you're cheering with the characters all the way to the end. It's not an easy book to read, but it certainly is a fulfilling one.