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I found it difficult to believe that Dreaming In Color is a debut novel as Uvile Ximba's prose is so captivating. I loved reading Langa's story uncovering the layers of discrimination she is subjected to as a black lesbian in South Africa. The novel is set at the time in her life when Langa is discovering her true self so it is very much a coming of age tale in which, through Langa's eyes, we see how the society around her is constructed to suppress her on all three counts of her gender, race and sexual orientation.

In a way, reading Dreaming In Color did feel like following a dream in itself. Separate episodes sometimes link to each other, or might diverge abruptly, and a couple of times I did go back to reread chapters, unsure if I was understanding Ximba's meaning correctly. I felt that the book could be enjoyed either simply by allowing myself to be carried along by the prose, trusting that everything would become apparent in time (it does!), or I could pause frequently to ponder and deeply understand each moment. Both approaches made for a satisfying read and I found myself considering aspects of Langa's experience that it had not occurred to me to question before. Even something as apparently simple as wearing a school uniform can be shaming and problematic when that uniform was not designed with all body shapes in mind.

After reading Dreaming In color, I did look up the #RUReferenceList campaign to find out more about it although the gist comes through clearly in the novel. This novel could be triggering for sexual assault although there are no graphic scenes. This was such a thought-provoking novel for me to read and I loved how Ximba addresses so many important issues within her storytelling.

This is my first review of a book and is a kind of reaction to the one star commentaries that I saw. For sure I have read The Martian a while back and I can see that this book is similar, but I think a lot of people enjoy it (like I did) because of those similarities. Sure, there are a lot of cliché characters but in the kind of hopefully vision of the future that is lacking right now. The stereotipe of scientists from Russia, China, America and other places that set aside differences to save the world is a much needed hope that if the world is at stake we will all come together. Sure, the book is not all fairies and rainbows, the hero is actually a coward sent against is will to save humanity and in the mean time there is almost a surety that there will be wars and the usual humans in the time of an apocalypse, but the overall tone is optimistic and upbeat and is what a lot of us need sometime. So is a fast and entertaining lecture, that you maybe forget after a while what is about, but you will remember that you felt good reading it.