Me, My Shelf, & I’s Reviews > The Maid and the Crocodile > Status Update

"Many folk, you see, complain that a story is incorrect, when they really mean it is not comfortable."

"In a society, most things happen on purpose."

I'm loving this so much. It feels very much like a Nigerian Ten Thousand Stitches but with a greater inclusion of/emphasis on disability rep.

“Don’t-be-so-handsome-next-time-it’s-distracting.”

'Let me put it like this: If I pointed to any building in Oluwan City and asked, “What is that for?” no doubt you would say, “For someone to live in.” But if a place for someone is suited only for those with two working feet, then people like me are not someone.
'We are no one at all.'

“Do you know why Mother hates my needlework? It’s because I only embroider weeds. I do it to annoy her, I suppose. But also to remind myself that no plant is truly useless. Only unlucky in where they bloom. Surrounded by people who deem them untamable and a threat to the rest of the garden.”

'I loved it here already.
'And the only thing worse than living nowhere at all was to love somewhere—to fit somewhere—and then, after trying your very hardest . . . lose it forever.'

I am giggling and loving this and it's so refreshing-- fully sold on the romance event though they've barely met.
This very much has the vibe of a fairytale that is strongly set in a Nigerian inspired world. All the characters are immediately likable and so colorful; like just 4 paragraphs of Mamadele is all I need to fully paint her as the Disney character she is.

'I attacked dust and grime with more ferocity than I had ever shown another human being. In a world ruled by dirt and decay, a well-swept corner felt like rebellion.'

'I learned then, you see, to call myself a nobody before anyone else could. Poison could not hurt me if I dosed myself first.'