Shut Up You're Pretty

The short stories (very short: sometimes only 2-4 pages) in this collection are linked, focusing on the life of Loli, a Congolese immigrant living in subsidized housing in Scarborough. Loli arrives as a child, and we follow her life through a series of episodes, bringing her to her mid-twenties. We see her trying to fit in, navigating the highly sexualized world of teenagers from her neighbourhood, dealing with relationships and even deaths of those close to her. We see Congolese traditions and values, and they way life happens when you have relatively few resources and even fewer options. Well written, poignant stories.

I didn’t choose a star rating for this book because I’m still sifting through my feelings.
I do feel it’s pitched incorrectly since it’s a solid narrative and not a group of stories that stand alone.
The whole thing explores trauma and there’s quite a bit of sexual assault, drug abuse, a suicide etc.
It’s written in experimental but beautiful prose, but the subject matter is intentionally difficult. Thus the lack of a star rating.
Give it a read if you’re looking to delve into generational trauma, race, identity, queerness, coming of age, sex work and mental health.

First let me say that I may not be the best judge of this book as I am not a fan of short story writing for the most part. There are some authors who can pull off short stories (e.g. Margaret Atwood, Francis Itani, Alice Munro and quite a few sf writers) but not everyone can do it. Some narratives just need to be developed in a full length novel. And I think that's the case here.

These are a series of linked stories about the narrator Loli. She immigrated from the Democratic Republic of Congo with her mother and brother to join her father who had been living in Canada for a while. The stories range from the time the family moved into a housing project in Scarborough when she was maybe 10 or so until she is aged 30 or more. In almost all show more of the stories she is exploring her sexuality with many different partners. Sometimes she was with men, sometimes with women but never did she seem happy or settled or in love. She also has experimented with drugs and alcohol and maybe that's a problem but she never really says so. Her relationship with her mother is distant particularly after her father committed suicide. Loli blames it on her mother's ongoing depression but it seems to me that Loli is probably depressed too. To me, Lolo is as much of an unknown at the end of the book as she was at the beginning.

I probably wouldn't have even read this book if it wasn't picked as one of the 5 books for Canada Reads 2024. I certainly wouldn't have finished the book if I had just picked it up. show less

Excellent title and solid storytelling, but as a whole this book just didn't resonate with me.

I chose to grate cheese instead of reading this book.

DNF'D