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It Comes in Waves
'A breathtaking debut' Foluso Agbaje
'A remarkable debut written with depth and clarity' Chibundu Onuzo
'Heartbreakingly beautiful, witty, humane and transcendent - an unforgettable debut' Lauren St John
'Suffused with love and sadness, ambitious in scope, It Comes in Waves is a delicate, moving novel' Lorna Elcock
'It Comes In Waves will leave you gasping for air, in the best ways' Maame Blue
Grief, that ungovernable pet – it comes and goes as it pleases, never straying far.
Death sneaks up on Onome Odafe. She has little experience of what it means to lose someone she truly loves. So when her sister calls to tell her that their father didn’t survive a stroke, she isn’t sure how to act, what grieving is meant to look or feel like. She passes the days until she returns to Nigeria for the funeral in a haze of performance and distraction, holding together what little of herself is left.
Reunited with her siblings and mother in Nigeria, Onome is thrown into the depths of various funeral events, uncomfortable customs, meddling religious figures and both unfamiliar and familiar faces. One of which, is Aunty Eguono, her father’s sister. A woman who has never shied away from making a scene, and whose careless words one afternoon upend the only image of her father Onome has ever known. As she struggles to accept the reality of her father’s death, she finds herself on a path of discovery leading towards an unsettling a man can be more than one thing, and the man in question may be her father.
An unforgettable debut, IT COMES IN WAVES is both an honest exploration of grief and a captivating story of the lives we lead and leave behind.
'A remarkable debut written with depth and clarity' Chibundu Onuzo
'Heartbreakingly beautiful, witty, humane and transcendent - an unforgettable debut' Lauren St John
'Suffused with love and sadness, ambitious in scope, It Comes in Waves is a delicate, moving novel' Lorna Elcock
'It Comes In Waves will leave you gasping for air, in the best ways' Maame Blue
Grief, that ungovernable pet – it comes and goes as it pleases, never straying far.
Death sneaks up on Onome Odafe. She has little experience of what it means to lose someone she truly loves. So when her sister calls to tell her that their father didn’t survive a stroke, she isn’t sure how to act, what grieving is meant to look or feel like. She passes the days until she returns to Nigeria for the funeral in a haze of performance and distraction, holding together what little of herself is left.
Reunited with her siblings and mother in Nigeria, Onome is thrown into the depths of various funeral events, uncomfortable customs, meddling religious figures and both unfamiliar and familiar faces. One of which, is Aunty Eguono, her father’s sister. A woman who has never shied away from making a scene, and whose careless words one afternoon upend the only image of her father Onome has ever known. As she struggles to accept the reality of her father’s death, she finds herself on a path of discovery leading towards an unsettling a man can be more than one thing, and the man in question may be her father.
An unforgettable debut, IT COMES IN WAVES is both an honest exploration of grief and a captivating story of the lives we lead and leave behind.
359 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 25, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 23, 2026
Such a deeply human reflection of grief, beautifully written. It grapples with questioning faith, the complexities of sibling relationships, how to navigate truths that change your perspective on people you idolise, the strangeness of loss.
It’s quite a slow paced book, but never dull. The in depth descriptions of the traditional Nigerian funeral process were very interesting too!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC!
It’s quite a slow paced book, but never dull. The in depth descriptions of the traditional Nigerian funeral process were very interesting too!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for granting my request to read this e-ARC and provide my honest opinion.
Onome Odafe doesn't know what to do, doesn't know what to feel – these feelings, do they ever go away? Her father, Peter Odafe, is gone; this man that loves and cherishes her is gone!! Why did he have to go!! 😩
When I started reading, I was intrigued by the very first page I read; it held my attention!! It demanded my focus!! But along the line, it wavered. Onome Odafe schools in London; when she gets the life-changing call that her father is gone, she breaks down, and now she has to prepare for the journey back to Lagos for her father's funeral. And I wasn't prepared for the amount of information that was dumped on me, and I feel like the story should have been told from different perspectives of each character instead of just from Onome's perspective! The information that was dumped on me brought more questions for me rather than answers that this book was meant to provide! I also didn't understand how Eroms fit into the storyline.
Onome's father, Peter Odafe, has a secret, and frankly, I was tired of everyone trying to make me believe that Peter was a good man when he was clearly not!! That one despicable thing he did made me question everything, and I was like, why would he do something like this! One character that vouched for Peter's "goodness" was his wife, and the circumstances in which they got together were nothing but good, so how is Peter good? Why did he do that to that woman? What did he stand to gain? Why will he do that to Rouna and Tega? I am just confused; I finished reading with more questions than answers.
Overall, I loved that the FMC bears my name; I love the Urhobo representation – it is something I've not really seen represented in books, and that just warms my heart. Regarding the storyline, I loved that the storyline centered on grief (losing a parent suddenly), and then the image of the person you hold in such high prestige is suddenly dismantled by a secret, and then your whole world as you know it shatters! Though it was slow, and the pace didn't pick up until almost the end of the book. If you love grief-centered storylines, you might love this one. Thank you once again for the e-ARC.
Onome Odafe doesn't know what to do, doesn't know what to feel – these feelings, do they ever go away? Her father, Peter Odafe, is gone; this man that loves and cherishes her is gone!! Why did he have to go!! 😩
When I started reading, I was intrigued by the very first page I read; it held my attention!! It demanded my focus!! But along the line, it wavered. Onome Odafe schools in London; when she gets the life-changing call that her father is gone, she breaks down, and now she has to prepare for the journey back to Lagos for her father's funeral. And I wasn't prepared for the amount of information that was dumped on me, and I feel like the story should have been told from different perspectives of each character instead of just from Onome's perspective! The information that was dumped on me brought more questions for me rather than answers that this book was meant to provide! I also didn't understand how Eroms fit into the storyline.
Onome's father, Peter Odafe, has a secret, and frankly, I was tired of everyone trying to make me believe that Peter was a good man when he was clearly not!! That one despicable thing he did made me question everything, and I was like, why would he do something like this! One character that vouched for Peter's "goodness" was his wife, and the circumstances in which they got together were nothing but good, so how is Peter good? Why did he do that to that woman? What did he stand to gain? Why will he do that to Rouna and Tega? I am just confused; I finished reading with more questions than answers.
Overall, I loved that the FMC bears my name; I love the Urhobo representation – it is something I've not really seen represented in books, and that just warms my heart. Regarding the storyline, I loved that the storyline centered on grief (losing a parent suddenly), and then the image of the person you hold in such high prestige is suddenly dismantled by a secret, and then your whole world as you know it shatters! Though it was slow, and the pace didn't pick up until almost the end of the book. If you love grief-centered storylines, you might love this one. Thank you once again for the e-ARC.
June 25, 2026
An atmospheric and character rich novel that explores and reveals family relationships and identities. The poetry like first few pages that set Onome off on her journey take place in London but you can feel something bigger; of this world and the next. A wonderful cast of characters; the unyielding Aunty Eguono; of which we hopefully all do and don’t have one in our family! Pastor Godspower and Uncle Solo. A book that leaves you to reflect on how family relationships appear different yet unchanged in the wake of tragedy.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
It Comes in Waves is a tender and culturally rich exploration of grief that captures the quiet, persistent shadow of loss and the heavy weight of family secrets.
The story follows Oneme Odafe, a Nigerian student in London whose world is upended by the sudden death of her father, Peter. As she returns to Nigeria for his funeral, the grief she carries is compounded by a shocking discovery that threatens to dismantle her father’s legacy and her own understanding of home.
One of the standout elements of this debut is its portrayal of Nigerian funeral customs and cultural attitudes toward death. It provides a fascinating, nuanced look at how heritage shapes the way we mourn. The novel beautifully highlights the differences between Oneme’s life in London and the traditional expectations awaiting her in Nigeria.
However, to be completely transparent, this is an incredibly slow burn. For the first three quarters of the book, the narrative felt quite sluggish. There was a high level of detail in certain scenes that I felt distracted from the core emotional journey, and I found it a challenge to connect with Oneme’s character outside of her mourning. I really wanted to see more of who she was before the loss.
Fortunately, the book completely turns it around in the final quarter. The final act, where Oneme must reckon with the uncomfortable truths about the man she once idealized, was particularly thought-provoking and delivered the momentum I had been waiting for. The author captures the "everydayness" of grief perfectly; it isn’t always a crushing weight; sometimes it’s just a shadow that reframes the ordinary.
Ultimately, while the slow pace made it a bit of a hurdle initially, the rich cultural insights and powerful ending make this a solid debut.
Thank you to Merky Books and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
The story follows Oneme Odafe, a Nigerian student in London whose world is upended by the sudden death of her father, Peter. As she returns to Nigeria for his funeral, the grief she carries is compounded by a shocking discovery that threatens to dismantle her father’s legacy and her own understanding of home.
One of the standout elements of this debut is its portrayal of Nigerian funeral customs and cultural attitudes toward death. It provides a fascinating, nuanced look at how heritage shapes the way we mourn. The novel beautifully highlights the differences between Oneme’s life in London and the traditional expectations awaiting her in Nigeria.
However, to be completely transparent, this is an incredibly slow burn. For the first three quarters of the book, the narrative felt quite sluggish. There was a high level of detail in certain scenes that I felt distracted from the core emotional journey, and I found it a challenge to connect with Oneme’s character outside of her mourning. I really wanted to see more of who she was before the loss.
Fortunately, the book completely turns it around in the final quarter. The final act, where Oneme must reckon with the uncomfortable truths about the man she once idealized, was particularly thought-provoking and delivered the momentum I had been waiting for. The author captures the "everydayness" of grief perfectly; it isn’t always a crushing weight; sometimes it’s just a shadow that reframes the ordinary.
Ultimately, while the slow pace made it a bit of a hurdle initially, the rich cultural insights and powerful ending make this a solid debut.
Thank you to Merky Books and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
It Comes in Waves follows Onome Odafe who is studying at a university in London when she receives news that her father has died. The loss arrives out-of-the-blue, collapsing the life she has carefully built. When she returns to Nigeria for the funeral, grief gives way to revelation; secrets long held within the family begin to surface. These secrets concern her father, mother and siblings. Onome’s understanding of her family fractures, and with it, the image of her father.
The novel is written with confidence and restraint. The prose is delicious and emotionally rich. It captures with precision the cultural choreography of Nigerian mourning: the gathering of extended family and fellowship members, the performance and sincerity of grief existing side by side, the social expectations that shape how loss is expressed. These moments are rendered with tenderness and sharp observation.
At its centre, It Comes in Waves asks an unsettling question: can those we love most, who are known only for great things, be deeply flawed? Within many Nigerian families, the dead are preserved as pristine figures, shielded from scrutiny by respect and tradition. To interrogate their lives can feel like a betrayal. The novel challenges this instinct with care, suggesting that death does not erase complexity, contradiction or harm.
The book also engages many themes and questions through the lived experiences of the multi-dimensional characters: mental health, grief and emotional disorientation. Alongside these, Brume explores power: between men and women, between the upper class and the working class, and between those who are protected by silence and those who are shaped by it.
For all its preoccupation with loss, the novel remains deeply concerned with love in its many forms: parental love, sibling bonds, friendship and romance. The relationships are among its greatest strengths, particularly Onome and her sister Ruona and Onome and her friend Safiya. It also explores the complicated tenderness of the mother–daughter relationship. The family at the centre of the novel feels both loving and imperfect.
If the novel leaves any lingering desire, it is simply for more, a deeper exploration of some of the secondary characters whose lives feel rich enough to sustain their own stories.
Overall, It Comes in Waves is an emotionally intelligent and assured novel. It is tender and attentive to complexity. Rukky Brume is a writer whose work invites close attention.
Thank you Netgalley and Merky Books for the ARC.
The novel is written with confidence and restraint. The prose is delicious and emotionally rich. It captures with precision the cultural choreography of Nigerian mourning: the gathering of extended family and fellowship members, the performance and sincerity of grief existing side by side, the social expectations that shape how loss is expressed. These moments are rendered with tenderness and sharp observation.
At its centre, It Comes in Waves asks an unsettling question: can those we love most, who are known only for great things, be deeply flawed? Within many Nigerian families, the dead are preserved as pristine figures, shielded from scrutiny by respect and tradition. To interrogate their lives can feel like a betrayal. The novel challenges this instinct with care, suggesting that death does not erase complexity, contradiction or harm.
The book also engages many themes and questions through the lived experiences of the multi-dimensional characters: mental health, grief and emotional disorientation. Alongside these, Brume explores power: between men and women, between the upper class and the working class, and between those who are protected by silence and those who are shaped by it.
For all its preoccupation with loss, the novel remains deeply concerned with love in its many forms: parental love, sibling bonds, friendship and romance. The relationships are among its greatest strengths, particularly Onome and her sister Ruona and Onome and her friend Safiya. It also explores the complicated tenderness of the mother–daughter relationship. The family at the centre of the novel feels both loving and imperfect.
If the novel leaves any lingering desire, it is simply for more, a deeper exploration of some of the secondary characters whose lives feel rich enough to sustain their own stories.
Overall, It Comes in Waves is an emotionally intelligent and assured novel. It is tender and attentive to complexity. Rukky Brume is a writer whose work invites close attention.
Thank you Netgalley and Merky Books for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thank you to Merky Books and the author for the arc copy of this book!
Wow, this is an amazing, intense book. I don’t know what I was expecting when the back literally says “Grief, that ungovernable pet,” but I can confirm that the way our protagonist experiences grief is palpable. Just like her grief comes in waves, so too did my tears. This is one of those books I’ll be thinking about for a very long time.
Onome is a great protagonist, a young woman trying to navigate her own life and figure out what she wants when her life comes to a halt. I love that despite her grief and her obligations to her family, you see her learning about herself throughout the book. She’s curious and complex and sometimes a little bit silly, but I was cheering her on the whole time.
The friendship between Onome and Safiya is so beautiful. I love how they bond over their shared heritage, but also highlight the differences in their backgrounds and respect/honour those differences throughout the book. We all need friends like that, and this relationship really made the book for me.
I loved the family dynamics, and once the twists come into play, I loved watching this family navigate it. All while getting to witness how Onome’s father’s funeral plays out. We all have an aunty like Eguono, who put the drama into a funeral 🤣
I especially loved some of the imagery and the juxtaposition of Onome’s memories of her father with how things looked now. There’s one bit about the carpet he dies on and her memories of playing on it that legit haunts me.
If you’re after a heavier book about grief where you can also be a fly on the wall to family drama at a funeral, this is definitely the book for you!
Wow, this is an amazing, intense book. I don’t know what I was expecting when the back literally says “Grief, that ungovernable pet,” but I can confirm that the way our protagonist experiences grief is palpable. Just like her grief comes in waves, so too did my tears. This is one of those books I’ll be thinking about for a very long time.
Onome is a great protagonist, a young woman trying to navigate her own life and figure out what she wants when her life comes to a halt. I love that despite her grief and her obligations to her family, you see her learning about herself throughout the book. She’s curious and complex and sometimes a little bit silly, but I was cheering her on the whole time.
The friendship between Onome and Safiya is so beautiful. I love how they bond over their shared heritage, but also highlight the differences in their backgrounds and respect/honour those differences throughout the book. We all need friends like that, and this relationship really made the book for me.
I loved the family dynamics, and once the twists come into play, I loved watching this family navigate it. All while getting to witness how Onome’s father’s funeral plays out. We all have an aunty like Eguono, who put the drama into a funeral 🤣
I especially loved some of the imagery and the juxtaposition of Onome’s memories of her father with how things looked now. There’s one bit about the carpet he dies on and her memories of playing on it that legit haunts me.
If you’re after a heavier book about grief where you can also be a fly on the wall to family drama at a funeral, this is definitely the book for you!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I really enjoyed this book! I could hardly put it down. wow. I'm a sucker for well written stories about Nigerian family dynamics and the protagonist Onome kind of reminded me of Kambili in purple hibiscus.
Onome is a student studying law in LSE who suddenly loses her father. She has to go back home to participate in his burial ceremonies and uncovers a lot in the process. She finds out she doesn't know her family and father as well as she thought she did.
This book really captures the complexity of what it means to be human and how different people can have vastly different experiences of the same person.
The writing was simple and engaging. I felt every emotion.
I also loved how human the characters are. While mourning her father, Onome develops a crush on Eromz and has to deal with the feelings of guilt she has around that. It was so tender and sweet.
I loved the depiction of friendship, family relationships, sibling dynamics, marriage, love, religion and everything in between. Also learned a lot about Urhobo culture!
I didn't see the twist coming either and it held me spellbound until the end.
You should definitely grab this one when it comes out. Thanks to the publishers for an ARC.
Onome is a student studying law in LSE who suddenly loses her father. She has to go back home to participate in his burial ceremonies and uncovers a lot in the process. She finds out she doesn't know her family and father as well as she thought she did.
This book really captures the complexity of what it means to be human and how different people can have vastly different experiences of the same person.
The writing was simple and engaging. I felt every emotion.
I also loved how human the characters are. While mourning her father, Onome develops a crush on Eromz and has to deal with the feelings of guilt she has around that. It was so tender and sweet.
I loved the depiction of friendship, family relationships, sibling dynamics, marriage, love, religion and everything in between. Also learned a lot about Urhobo culture!
I didn't see the twist coming either and it held me spellbound until the end.
You should definitely grab this one when it comes out. Thanks to the publishers for an ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The death of the head of a family often precipitates a raft of revelations as family secrets emerge from the woodwork totally upending the status quo.
This happened to Onome Odafe. Her happy existence as a student in England is abruptly terminated when she is summoned back to Nigeria after the sudden death of her father. As she discovers the truths previously hidden from her she is forced to reconsider the father she thought she knew.
Along side these shifting family dynamics Onome also had to negotiate the complex funeral rituals in her native Nigeria.
There are some interesting twists in this low-key family drama.
I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
This happened to Onome Odafe. Her happy existence as a student in England is abruptly terminated when she is summoned back to Nigeria after the sudden death of her father. As she discovers the truths previously hidden from her she is forced to reconsider the father she thought she knew.
Along side these shifting family dynamics Onome also had to negotiate the complex funeral rituals in her native Nigeria.
There are some interesting twists in this low-key family drama.
I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Review of advance copy
I was immediately drawn in to the characters and the wild they inhabit. Some aspects of the book (the church family scenes) were completely relatable as I grew up going to a Pentecostal charismatic church. The author got the language spot on! And the other parts which I haven’t lived, still felt as though they leapt off the page and invited me in to inhabit that world for a while. I thought the characterisation was beautifully done and I totally fell for, and felt for, Onome, navigating a strange new world of loss and grief and uncertainty. The plot unfolded slowly, like a dripping tap gradually filling a bowl, and was beautifully paced with little splashes of extra information here and there.
I loved it!
I loved it!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews