Had I not re-read the first three books and went through her storylines on the Hlomu Series website, this review would have gone completely differently, and in all honesty, I would have been completely lost. If anyone happens to read this review and has not yet read the book, do yourself that one favour. It is also a 360 degree turn from the first 3 books, and I am happy that she went that route. The first three books are about a specific brother and how they met their wives and their troubles in the relationships. If I had to read that for the fourth time, again, the scoring would have been lower. The story begins with the ending. The ending is probably also the beginning of the next book.
The storyline takes place in two parts. It is a part prologue to the Zulu Brothers, and alternates between present and past events, with the past events, not only repeating themselves, but also revealing why the Zulu Brothers are the way they are. The past part of the book, tells the story of their grandparents’ struggle to have children. They would conceive, however the children would not survive birth. When their grandmother was pregnant with their father and his twin brother, their grandfather went to consult, and when he came back, his wife gave birth to the twins, and the grandfather immediately died. The twins, Sbopho and Nyanda, lived. The details as to what was said during the consultation are not specified and will probably be revealed in another book. This consultation (based on my understanding) is the catalyst to the troubles they are now facing in their lives, which is being cursed with Iqunga. The past part, also reveals how the brothers first killed. Then the present part of the book, tells the story of the Brothers also consulting, after being made aware that they have the curse of Iqunga, and they are trying to correct it, before their children become like them. This makes it more critical, as one of their boys already almost killed on of the kids he was playing with.
The story is also a book of revelations of sorts, giving us insight into some of the story lines that left us puzzled in the previous books. For example the revelation of Zandile’s father’s killer (being the big one), the events that led to their parent’s death. The book reveals how Mqhele ended up with their father’s guitar, when they actually left Mbuba with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Naledi ended with the cliffhanger - “We are having a funeral”, and that is also revealed (whose funeral they are having). The reason why Naledi’s mother left her husband and her daughters is also revealed.
On the downside, there are too many new characters being introduced at once, which adds more complexity to an already complicated storyline. Another downside to the book (and this is the case with all her other books) is that she has many brilliant storylines, and she wants to put them all in one 300/400 page book. This results in short lived storylines that need to be explained in another book, before the story in the new book can actually continue. Some of the stories were copy and pastes from her website (which was the same issue or dislike I had with Naledi and Zandile). It is frustrating for this to happen when the reader has been waiting five years for her next book to be released. This is why I did not allocate the last two stars.
Similar to her other books, I enjoyed this one, and am looking forward to Mess, despite the fact that I only gave the book 3 stars.