What do readers think of Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo? Write your own review.

This was fairly well written, and included interesting details of a society and culture I am not familiar with. Most intriguing to me was the sense of what it might be like living in a politically unstable country under military rule. Remarks about elections and continued lack of results were powerful in their understated-ness. Generally, though, I wanted to like this book much more than I actually did. I got the sense that I was missing a lot due to not being familiar with the culture. I did not enjoy reading about or relate to the intense pressure to have a child, the patriarchal aspects of the culture, or (what looked to me like) a great deal of lying and cruelty. Family seemed to be all-important, but the caring for its members did not seem genuine, done for show rather than actually caring. Perhaps if I understood the culture better I would have enjoyed the book more.

I had a mixed response to this novel.The basic storyline and its' Nigerian cultural background was particularly interesting; a well-written novel frequently provides an easy and interesting way of learning about other cultures. The storyline, provided by many other reviewers, held my interest throughout. However, in spite of the interest the story engendered, for the most part (there were occasional exceptions) I felt very little connection to the characters and their story. I have personally experienced traumatic losses including losses specific to this novel, a topic that when it appears, always touches this mother's heart deeply, but yet failed to do so in this novel. I also found some of the particular lies/deceptions hard to accept & thus, the tragic consequences left me somewhat, although not entirely, unmoved. I wanted to care about these characters more than I did.

In Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo, the heroine, Yejide, only wants to be loved and accepted into the family.
The story, which takes place in unstable Nigeria begins in 2008, flashes back to 1985, and ends where it began. It's about a family living with guilt, lies and secrets.
I found it confusing figuring out which character was talking at the beginning of the chapters.
The novel moved very slowly but gradually picked up pace as the secrets were revealed.
Not sure how I feel about the ending or the novel itself!

Based on the initial comments I read, I had high hopes for this book. I'm sorry to say I was disappointed.

Stay with Me starts off well. I liked the setting! So fun to read a book from a completely different culture. I loved the culinary references and the two African Folktales. I also liked the writing style of hearing from the two main characters in first person.

The plot begins with an intriguing premise, especially after the introduction of the second wife. But the struggle to get pregnant grew wearisome. It also brought out the greatest flaw of the book --- the shallowness of the characters. With the one exception of how they met at university, we see the two main characters only in relation to this fertility problem. They lack chemistry as a couple and they are completely incapable of communicating on important issues.

Worst of all, the two main characters are not at all likable. They both commit unconscionable acts with little remorse. I could not care about what happened to them.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this book.