The Re-Write by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an ARC of The Re-Write by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn.
I loved the multi-generational humour in Blackburn’s debut Yinka Where Is Your Huzband. I was delighted to be asked to review The Re-Write, but as an old White person who has never watched Love Island I am not the novel’s ideal audience. Temi is not over her ex-boyfriend Wale, and her writing career is flagging. I sympathised with Temi’s emotions when her agent fails to sell her debut novel. I related to her feelings of guilt about her privileged upbringing and education. I understood why she wove a tissue of lies about her work in progress. But when the action moved to the world of reality television I began to lose the drift. How does a person get dragged on social media? Why does everyone take Wale’s flirtations with his TV castmates Taleesha and Kelechi so seriously? What are the differences between a bad boy, an F-boy and a party boy? I could have done with a glossary. However, I was gradually drawn in by Blackburn’s very clever plot. When Temi accepts a commission to ghost-write Wale’s memoir of his experiences on Love Villa, she becomes entangled in a double bluff. She and Wale are growing close again – but if she wants to fulfil her dream of being a published author, she must write a negative and hurtful exposé of his personality. Temi is faced with a nightmare decision. Should she break her heart, or destroy her career? I was shocked by Temi’s behaviour, described in first person, but she made me laugh and gave me plenty to think about.
The Re-Write