The Bookish Mindset

Overview:

Title: Allow Me to Introduce Myself
Author: Onyi Nwabineli
Published: May 2024
Genre: Literary
Themes: Social Media, Childhood, Family

One sentence summary: Anuri’s been in the spotlight since she was a child, subjected by her stepmother and has long past had enough of her meddling.

One sentence review: Dark and brilliantly composed, Nwabineli is an autobuy author for me.

Review:

Anuri’s been in the spotlight since she was a child, and not by her choosing. Her Stepmother Ophelia has created a life for herself, using Anuri’s image.

Anuri has long past had enough and has no time for the woman anymore. But when she sees the doubt begin to form in her younger sister who has been subjected to the same treatment? She can’t stand by, she won’t stand by.

If there’s one thing we know from her debut, it’s that Nwabineli has a hell of a talent for writing grief and she knows how to write a compelling story.

Allow Me to Introduce Myself is dark and brilliantly composed. Issues of consent are present, coupled with a healthy dose of white saviourism and a dollop privilege, along with the aftermath of a life in the spotlight (spoiler alert, it hit hard). There’s absolutely some trigger warnings so please check them out if you need them.

It sometimes feels uncomfortable to say you enjoy books that cover such grim topics, and this is certainly one that falls in this category, but I enjoyed this one in that it gripped me and made me think and made me feel.

Nwabineli is easily an auto buy author for me. Another incredible book from her.

If reading more is something that you’re looking at doing this year then should check my reading challenge out here! Read nine books from nine prompts over the first six months of the year and be entered into a draw to win a bundle of bookish goodies.

If you’d like to get yourself a copy, you can support local bookshops while doing so on Bookshop.org with this link here.

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And don’t forget to check out my other blogs and reviews – you can find books with similar themes in the same folder link below, or click back onto blogs to see the whole offering.

Last updated 21/04/2025