I’ll be honest… I can’t really say I liked Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay With Me. The book is full of heavy sexual themes that make it a tough recommendation for me personally. It’s literary but just… bleh, sad.
The big takeaway: honesty in marriage is crucial. The story makes that crystal clear. But the way it plays out is a let-down. There’s no one to cheer for, as all the characters are masters of their own demise. The ending, in particular, feels what I’d call a “hollow ending.” Think of a movie where a kidnapped child is finally rescued after a terrifying ordeal, hugging their parents in the morning sun. A happy ending, technically. But anyone paying attention knows the kid will be traumatized forever, always be in therapy, never sleep through the night. That’s this book’s ending. The mom and daughter are back together, the husband and wife reunite—but there’s no real happy future for them. The emotional damage is too big to fully repair.
Reading it was a literary experience I could appreciate. It’s just that emotionally, the story is more “ugh, that’s awful” than “aw, I’m crying beautiful cleansing tears.”
