The List: The instant Sunday Times bestselling debut novel – ‘The perfect summer read’ Paula Hawkins

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Throughout this book I truly couldn’t figure out if any of these characters were meant to be likeable which I must admit kept taking me out of the flow of the book; the pacing was also off with the story lagging at some points. But most importantly, I found that the book at times teetered on feeding into very harmful rhetorics about women making false accusations for vengeance purposes and that last chapter didn’t help my feelings about this at all! First let me say, I did speed through reading this novel because I just HAD to know if what was on The List was true. I loved the premise for this but was a bit nervous about its execution. It's a compulsive read, first and foremost, and makes many very valid points about social media. Financial anxiety has fuelled a lot of my decisions,” she admits. “Because of stuff when I was growing up, I have always been really afraid of debt. I know you’re supposed to get credit cards and stuff like that, and there’s good debt, bad debt – but for me, I’ve always just seen it as bad. I’ve literally been saving since my first job when I was 15, very much with the aim of buying a house.” She’s grateful but won’t take it for granted; it’s partly why, I think, she’s prone to speaking like a brand strategist rather than a novelist. “The fiction book isn’t out yet but it’s allowed me to do things I just didn’t think were possible,” she says hurriedly. “Certainly not as a single woman in her 30s.” Thank you to HarperCollins UK & 4th Estate for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be available in bookstores in July 2023!

The List by Yomi Adegoke review: A novel that asks, if our The List by Yomi Adegoke review: A novel that asks, if our

I was drawn in by the synopsis and expected an interesting story but this was so messy and I get why people tag this book as apologist. It's a very readable and engaging book. Also I love that novels are exploring our digital lives and how the internet is intertwined in our relationships and bias because of what we consume. This had the bones of a good story in there, and the author clearly understood the basics of the story. Sitting across from me at a small round table, glass in one hand and phone in the other, she is a force of personality – charming, chatty, a whirlwind of laughter and hustle – so I don’t mind when it becomes clear that we’re only going to get through about five of my questions in the time she has. Or when she’s straining so hard not to answer directly that she runs us both around a loop of half-thoughts and non sequiturs until I agree that, yes, yes I do know what she means. Utterly compelling, immersive and addictive' Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of Frannie LangtonI got so annoyed at the wedding scene where the couple expected everything to be okay and fade away and Ola acting as if she had no choice but to marry Michael. Yes and no. It would be intellectually dishonest to say one or the other. It’s more diverse than it was when I made that statement, so it has changed in that regard. We are seeing a push towards more books written by, say, minoritised authors. But does that mean those authors are necessarily given the freedom to write about anything, or is there a push for writers of a particular identity to write to that identity?” I would say I wrote it for the people who are looking for the grey areas within a very complicated and sensitive conversation. I guess when I’m writing, I am really honestly trying to change minds or speak to people I wouldn’t normally.” Much of the inspiration has come from her own conversations around social media and sexual abuse in recent years, around the power of the internet and the divisions that have become entrenched, online and off, when it comes to racial, sexual and cultural politics. That was interesting for me to explore because I grew up with sisters and have an almost entirely female friendship group, so my understanding of him was built through conversations with the very few male friends I do have. Not to generalise, but I think many men don’t feel like they can be as emotional as they’d like to be with their male friends, so when you’re a guy’s only female friend, you see a totally different side to them. I’m desperate to hear from more men who’ve read the book because I’m so interested in their perspective. So, once you’d finished the book, what was it like to see it become the subject of this intense bidding war?

The List: The instant Sunday Times bestselling debut novel The List: The instant Sunday Times bestselling debut novel

It is a world Adegoke knows well, having begun her career in journalism, sometimes covering the sorts of stories at the centre of The List, profiling people who are no strangers to the court of public opinion. How would you stand up to scrutiny if you found yourself at the centre of a public scandal? It is a question many are preoccupied with these days, particularly since the popularisation of the term “cancel culture” in the late 2010s. As with her character Lewis? Adegoke writes him as an ageing footballer accused of rampant homophobia who turns out to be secretly gay. “Lewis was a really interesting one for me, because that is quite literally an example I’ve seen play out on more than one list where it’s complicated by sexuality 100%.” Recommended by The New York Times • Vogue • People • NPR • Cosmopolitan • Rolling Stone • Publishers Weekly • The Sunday Times • and many more! Thank you to HarperCollins Australia for sending me a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review**

So, once you’d finished the book, what was it like to see it become the subject of this intense bidding war?

In addition, it's not ideal that the two men we get to hear about that are on The List (Michael and Lewis), have been put there for malicious reasons. This plays into the tired (and incorrect) narrative that women frequently accuse innocent men. I found that quite disappointing, to be honest. Also, we shouldn't only care about abuse if it happens to ourselves, or to those we care about, which is how I felt about Ola's reaction following Celie's disclosure. I think that with more considered editorial work, and some discussion with real victims, this could have been a better book. I also loved how this novel explores that an act on the internet can affect real lives, friendships, careers and mental health of not just those who are directly involved, but also people close to them.

The List by Yomi Adegoke | Goodreads

Slay In Your Lane: In Conversation with Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené". Glasgow Women's Library. 23 August 2018 . Retrieved 10 November 2018. Melan Mag Interviews: Authors of Slay in Your Lane, Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené". Melan Magazine. 23 February 2018 . Retrieved 10 November 2018. Rather than lazily lulling readers into an “It’s cancel culture gone mad” trap, The List holds up a mirror to our internal biases and deeply held beliefs around a number of prejudices, forcing us to ask ourselves: if someone close to you – say, your fiancé – was accused of an act that shattered your entire sense of morality in a public forum, how far would you go to defend them? Should you, at all? Mowbray, Nicole (11 July 2018). "The women with Slaying power: Publishing sensations Elizabeth Uviebinené and Yomi Adegoke". Metro Newspaper UK . Retrieved 10 November 2018.The premise of this felt really interesting to me, so I was disappointed when it personally just did not live up to the hype. Compulsively readable, wildly entertaining, and filled with sharp social insight, The List is a piercing and dazzlingly clear-sighted debut about secrets, lies, and the internet. Perfect for fans of Such a Fun Age, Luster, and My Dark Vanessa, this is a searing portrait of these modern times and our morally complicated online culture. Yomi Adegoke". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022 . Retrieved 10 November 2018. I was doing the most navel-gazing – I was on my Van Gogh shit. I painted so many self-portraits, because all I could really see was me?” I laugh, but she means it. Her paintings, she says, reveal her most natural talent. So, once you’d finished the book, what was it like to see it become the subject of this intense bidding war?

Yomi Adegoke Has Written the Media Novel of the Season | Vogue Yomi Adegoke Has Written the Media Novel of the Season | Vogue

I'd describe this as a finger-on-the-pulse hot and buzzy book but also as one that could have been more polished as a fictional vehicle to carry the important social commentary and debate. Ola has dedicated the best part of a decade to rallying against the patriarchy, rape culture and toxic masculinity. What does she do now? Now her Michael has been named and shamed? We meet in the bar of a plush Wes Andersonified hotel, set in 200 acres of green fields in deepest Croydon, where Adegoke is a founding member of its club. Dressed in a white prairie dress and wearing architectural earrings, she is glamorously post-photoshoot and pre-party. There’s an event for Central Saint Martins fashion graduates that she’ll be popping into later. The night before, I bumped into her at a book launch for a friend before she headed off to a party hosted by Mulberry.I’m sure those leading roles will be really sought-after. I saw that Sheila Atim and Arinzé Kene are narrating the audiobook? A few years ago, Adegoke said: “I have been reading books that have not been written for me my whole life.” Does she think publishing has meaningfully changed in this regard?