Yinka, Where Is Your Husband?- Sometimes Its Okay Not to Be Okay

If you have a large family, siblings, or parents who are just always in your business, including your love life, then you can relate to family members always asking you, “When are you going to settle down?” Your family always wants to know when you will find someone, and don’t be the only one left who is single in your family because then they’re on you tenfold. 

If you’ve ever been in this situation with your family, then you know exactly how Yinka Oladeji feels. “Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?” by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn gives a great depiction of how family, no matter how much we love them, will always be in your business no matter what.

Yinka, who loves her family very much, has to deal with this every time she goes out or attends a family function. Her Mum, Aunty Debby, Big Mama, cousins, and even her sister want to know exactly why ‘She ain’t go not man.” The story follows Yinka, the only one in her family without a partner or a husband. Her mother doesn’t want her to end up like her Aunt Debby, whose a successful older woman with a career, and you guessed it, no man.

Yinka has lost her job, and before that, she lost the man she loved, Femi, who took a job and moved to America and left her behind. Then a turn of events has Yinka in a position she never saw coming. Unsure of what she should do next, Yinka turns her mind to something else, she’s tired of being single, and this time she plans on doing something about it. 

With her calculated mind, Yinka makes a spreadsheet and fills it with notes, as she is on the hunt to find a man to take to her friend Rachel’s wedding, but the question is will she be successful? Lizzie Damilola Blackburn does a great job at tying in comedy, along with some of the real issues that happen when you deal with family who is well invested in your life, and a lot of us can relate to that. 

Yinka, Where is Your Husband? It’s more than a romance novel, it’s a story about finding yourself, but it is also a story about standing up for yourself, whether that means standing up to your family or just standing up for yourself In general. Although I wanted Yinka to progress a little earlier on in the story than she did, I closed the end of this book being satisfied as well as happy.

This story shows that life can indeed come at you fast, and you might not see it coming, nor can you prepare for it. Knowing the unknown can be scary, and that’s okay. Sometimes it’s okay to not be okay, and this book reminds us of that, whether you’ve been there before or not, at some point in life, you will be, and that is completely fine.

For more from Portia, check out her Fantasy Book Listicle here!