Let's Talk About Dream Count!!!

Yes, I’m late to partyyy😭

You’re welcome to my first detailed book review of 2025. I’m calling it detailed because even though I have a thread on Twitter where I add all the books I’ve read this year, a couple of sentences that summarizes the book and how I feel about it, I haven’t written a proper book review like I used to. I had a reading goal of 50 books this year and I’m on my 13th (covering my face in shame😭😭). I want to get to at least 15 books then we go again in 2026.

I finished reading Dream Count last week and it took me a while to finish because of schoolwork. Though, I know I’m late to the party because it seems the whole world has read Dream Count alreadyyy😂 but please indulge me, I just finished reading mine😪

Btw, I posted a Book Review of Dream Count on Instagram (my first On Camera review btw, so you should check that out here).

Dream Count introduces us to the lives of four women: Chiamaka, Zikora, Kadiatou and Omelogor. It was set few months before and after the lockdown and it starts with Chiamaka’s story which made so much sense because she’s the one connecting all other three women together. Chiamaka is this soft-spoken, posh and gentle Nigerian girl who moves abroad after completing her secondary school in Nigeria. She’s a travel writer and I love how realistic her background correlated with her lifestyle because only a rich or wealthy Nigerian can afford to travel without sponsorship or brand deals, right???

Chiamaka’s dream is to be fully known and cherished by someone of the opposite sex and she feels her life isn’t complete till she gets that and this hopeless desire is seen her relationships with different men in the book. There were many times I’d be like Yeeee!!! Chiamaka oo🙆🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️

Towards the end of the book, Zikora describes Chiamaka as a milk-butter and this perfectly describes her meek nature. I loved Chia but she’s too eager to please people who don’t even matter.

Zikora on the other hand is more self-assured and I think she can be a bit mean and sanctimonious sometimes. If Zikora had Chia’s kind of money, she’d be a different person which is normal tbh. Zikora is this cool, intelligent lawyer babe whose family story I found the most emotional and as if that was not even enough, she had to face another sad incident which made her quite bitter and gave her a biting humour. I’m so glad she was able to repair her relationship with her Mom and they were back on good terms.

Now my favouriteeeee character; Kadiatou🥰

Kadiatou’s story was inspired by Nafissatou Diallo, a Guinean immigrant who was in the news May 2011 for accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the Head of the International Monetary Fund at that time of sexual assault. Kadiatou is the typical African immigrant who comes to America and is grateful for the opportunities America affords them. I love that Chimamanda shed so much light on the intricacies of the African Immigrant experience which is not so popular with mainstream media.

While reading Omelogor’s story, I shook my head so many times in awe of her confidence. Omelogor is this big, bold and brash successful Nigerian woman who says whatever she wants to say and does whatever she wants to do without any fear of whose ox is being gored. I also really loved that Omelogor loves her Chia, it was really nice to see their bond despite their personalities being mirror opposites.

Now with these four women interacting, there’s bound to be misunderstanding and friction and Chimamanda did good justice to that through various conversations and dialogue we had in the book. For instance, there were a lot of rage-baiting between Omelogor and Zikora and it felt like they were simply tolerating each other because of Chia😭😭and it was quite amusing that Chia feels about Hauwa the same way Omelogor feels about Zikora which showed that many of us do not like to share our friends😅

I think the title is gotten from the conversation Zikora had with Chia where she told Chia that Chia spent the lockdown looking up her exes and reviewing her body count and Chia said they were her dream count instead (this further reiterate what I said was Chia’s dream earlier). There are so many excerpts in Dream Count I’d have loved to share but as at the time of writing this review, I do not have the book with me.

I totally enjoyed reading Dream Count and it’s my second favourite CNA book after Half of a Yellow Sun. What made me love Dream Count was how well the characters were written and if there’s one thing all my favourite books have in common, it’d be well-written characters.

I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews about Dream Count and while everyone is entitled to their opinion, we should also know that not all books would contain crazy plot twists and thrillers, some books would be about regular experiences of people which is totally fine.

If you’ve read Dream Count, I’d love to know your thoughts about it in the comments and if you haven’t read it yet, let me know if you’d be reading it.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas🎄 and a Happy New Year🥳🎉🎉

With love,

LamLam❤️