My Review of Dream Count

Following the lives of four West African women, Chiamaka, Zikora, Kadiatou, and Omelogor, it tells the interconnected stories of how these women’s lives were before the global pandemic that shook the world. 

Each character’s story is different and involves the other characters in their lives. I especially liked the concept of pornography that was raised in the book, and how Omelogor asked the question: “Where did you learn about sex?” 

Some characters were outrightly annoying e.g Chiamaka, and others were depressingly sad e.g Kadiatou. The only bearable part I could bear was Omelogor’s. 

There’s been mixed reviews on this book, with some people praising it as a really good work after the author’s last novel since 2013, to others saying it’s not their best work. 

At some point, I wanted to DNF because, though it reads poetically in some parts, it was quite boring, and took me longer to finish. 

The representation of older unmarried women is not something we always see represented in Nigerian literature. And the themes of relationship, emotional and physical abuse, motherhood, marriage, family, female friendship, immigration and religion, power struggle and wealth, amongst others.

There’s one question from the book I love: “If you lived your life and die without one person fully knowing you, then have you even lived?” The question reminds me of the opening statement of the book that says: “I have always longed to be known, truly known, by another human being.” 

This book is a good read for those who want something less compelling. This is not Chimamanda’s best work, and it’s not one I’ll recommend. The book was good, but not great.

About the Author:

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in 1977, and she has written and published the following:

Purple Hibiscus (2003);

Half of a Yellow Sun (2006);

The Thing Around Your Neck (2009);

Americanah (2013);

We Should All Be Feminists (2013);

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions (2017);

Notes on Grief (2020);

Mama’s Sleeping Scarf, as James Nwa Grace (2023);

Dream Count (2025).