Sumiko Saulson

The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi

Review by Bryan Cebulski (@BryanOnion)

To be honest, I haven’t been sure on what I should write as regards The Icarus Girl. My foremost thoughts are that it’s worth reading—an effective novel operating as both ghost story and bildungsroman. I’m impressed that Helen Oyeyemi wrote it when she was only in her late teens. I have complaints, in particular the lackluster ending and underdeveloped themes, but it was an enjoyable read throughout. Creepy, moving, well-written—aspiring to something beyond the trappings of a horror novel (perhaps because Oyeyemi never consciously constructed it as such in the first place). A creative mixture of Nigerian folklore and Jane Eyre-style Gothic tropes. Certainly a work worth emphasizing its strengths before examining its weaknesses.

I suppose in trying to write a review about this novel, I inadvertently led myself to question what kind of…