The Blessed Girl by Angela Makholwa

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Image result for the blessed girl cover old

The beautiful Bontle Tau has Johannesburg’s most influential men dancing on the palm of her hand in this hilarious South African novel. Competition is tough as they, unknowingly, compete to pay for her penthouse, pay for her cars, local and international getaways as well as give her stipend to live on.
Other than focusing on ensuring she always looks Instagram perfect, no matter the cost or circumstance, Bontle also directs her attention (well, sometimes) on her start-up business while simultaneously dealing with her ex-husband-to-be and healing from childhood and family trauma.
Bontle’s live-for-today attitude might get her through the short term but could be detrimental in the long term. 
Like most of my favourite first-person narrators, Bontle is as unreliable as they come. However, her interactive narration feels as though she’s talking directly to the reader and Angela Makholwa’s witty style of writing leaves you laughing in disbelief.
As much as I enjoyed The Blessed Girl, I did feel that a lot of the serious themes that the book touched on, such as mental illness, were merely mentioned in passing and not exactly well communicated. This could also be a part of the character portrayal. 
Trigger Warnings: Substance abuse, depression, anxiety, absent parents
7/10 would recommend.

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