Twice as Perfect

Looking for the perfect summer teen drama? Twice as Perfect by Louisa Onomé is a Netflix-ready story about family and living in two worlds. Think Never Have I Ever but in book form.

Adanna is a Nigerian-Canadian teenager on the cusp of adulthood. She is the perfect daughter, probably because she has been trying to make up for the fact that her brother Sam left six years ago. She is Sophie at school and Ada or Adanna at home with her very large extended Nigerian family. They are all getting ready for the wedding event of the summer, her cousin Genny’s wedding to Nigerian superstar Skeleboy. When a chance meeting between Ada and her estranged brother throws her future plans into flux, will she have the courage to be her own person and not the person of her parent’s expectations?

From start to finish this story was hilarious, engaging and thought provoking. Louisa Onomé invites readers into Nigerian culture and a big noisy Nigerian family but also examines how first and second generation teens are navigating their home and school lives. In her poem Ada shares: 

“...I have two different parts of me that I wish

I could share

But not one is greater than the other is 

great…”

It was such a joy to live with Ada, Genny, Chioma, Tayo and all the other characters in the story. Ada was so frustrating at times which is a quality I really love in a great YA book. When you want to scream at the character and cheer them on or straighten them out, it compels you to keep going, to find out what happens and how things are eventually resolved, or not. Boy did I want to scream at Ada at times.

Louisa Onomé’s rhythm and pacing were spot on. The dialogue was witty and charming and I really loved all of the dialogue where the Nigerian characters were speaking with each other in Igbo, Yoruba and pidgin, their love for each other clearly on display. The wedding was over the top brilliant and was cut off as part of the story at the perfect moment. The Poetry Slam was brilliant and I really loved the inclusion of the poems recited by the poets.

Twice as Perfect is certainly going to resonate with teens who, like Ada, bear the weight of their parents expectations as well as teens at or near the end of high school that are struggling with what’s next, what they want to be, what avenues they want to pursue.