A Reading Desk reader picked up The Boy I Kinda Never Maybe Considered, the first book in Aminat Sanni-Kamal's Kinda Maybe series, and came back with a lot to say.
The Boy I Kinda Never Maybe Considered
by Aminat Sanni-Kamal
Nahima is in her late twenties, focused on her career and never really one to take office…
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crushes seriously. At least, that’s what she tells herself. Rakim was the colleague she once thought of as cute in passing, but never truly considered, until friendship blurred, silence grew, and fate brought them back together again. Now, in the messy in‑between of reconnection, the two find themselves in a not‑quite relationship that feels a lot like something more.
Show lessNahima is in her late twenties, career first, and not the type to take an office crush seriously. Rakim was the colleague she once thought was cute in passing and never really considered. Then friendship blurred, silence grew, and the two of them found their way back to each other, into a not-quite relationship that keeps behaving like something more.
Our reader got through it fast, and gave the writing most of the credit. Easy to get into, comfortable, nothing to work around, and invested within the first few chapters.
Nahima takes up the most space in the review, and not always kindly. She is understandable and infuriating at the same time, and there are long stretches where the only sensible response is to tell her to wake up.
Nahima, the FMC, stressed me so much. And honestly, I understood her. I really did. But at the same time, I absolutely did not understand her because there were so many moments where I was just screaming, "Girl, wake up!"
Underneath the situationship, the book goes somewhere heavier. Breadcrumbing and emotional unavailability are the obvious subjects, but it also sits with parent-child relationships, mental health, depression, and self-harm, and with the way the people who raise us shape how we show up for everyone after them.
What keeps that from tipping over, for our reader, is that none of it arrives as a lesson. The heavier material stays inside the characters and what happens to them, so the book never reads like advice wearing a novel's clothes.
This was our reader's first Aminat Sanni-Kamal book and it will not be the last. Warm, witty, honest, and at points almost bare in how much it lets you sit with the characters. Book two, The Man I Collided Into, was already open before this review was written.
Short verdict: A fun, fast-paced read about love, emotional unavailability, and all the ways we can convince ourselves to stay where we probably shouldn't. Funny, heartfelt, and it leaves you with a few things to think about.
This review came through Sọna's Reading Desk programme, where readers can get a book in exchange for honest reviews. Thank you, Bukola (@whatbukolareads on Instagram), for this one.
