A mixture of memoir and social commentary, Uwagba's prose really sings in the personal writings. We Need to Talk About Money isn't a book that will tell you how to manage your finances, it's a nuanced, layered look at how everything from the world of work (and toxicity within the workplace), race, generational wealth and friendships intersect with money. A thought provoking read.

I'm torn

"The journey to get here has been as challenging as it has been uplifting, as painful as it has been eye-opening, and with every challenge has come a valuable lesson, lessons that are about far more than just money. They are about freedom and bias, judgement and control, shame, pride, compulsion, fear. Lessons about human nature and human vulnerability, about the world and my place within it."

I very much enjoy Otegha Uwagba's writing. She has a lot of talent, is an original thinker, and I plan on reading all the books she writes. That being said, I didn't enjoy 'We need to talk about money' very much. I was so torn that I waited months before finally writing this review. In the book, she explores her own relationship with money. It becomes a bit of a memoir with a focus on money. While reading, I very much enjoyed how Uwagba used her words, the writing is beautiful at times and it gave me joy just getting to read her words. However, I don't particularly agree with all her points. I didn't see the need to talk about the Kardashians as much. I was also surprised how the author keeps seeing herself as disadvantaged when her parents sacrificed everything for her education, she went to the best schools and her friends were all from high social standing, with all the perks that come with that. In my opinion, she didn't make the best decisions with jobs after university, and seemed like she was lost for a few years, trying to do jobs that would pay well instead of focusing what she loves and is so talented in. I winced at some of her stories, for example being jealous of friends being able to "buy" an apartment in London (with their inheritance) and then buying one of her own just a few years later. There seems to be some privilege that I'm not sure she appreciates. Nevertheless, like I said, Otegha Uwagba is a brilliant writer, who's works I will always enjoy.

Very interesting and informative, Otegha is an excellent writer. Particularly enjoyed her insights on the workplace and the experiences she had in various work environments. Definitely made me think about how to communicate better when it comes to finances.

I loved this new take on a memoir. It was a very honest and well-written exploration of how money impacts every area of our lives. It was also quite confronting and insightful on topics like privilege and race. I really recommend that everyone should read this book.

We Need to Talk About Money is refreshing, insightful and engaging. The discussions on class and education in relationship to wealth and opportunity were particularly interesting.

This was a really interesting read and so much more than I expected.
It covers a lot more than just money and isn't your typical preachy self help book either.
This part memoir explores many facets of life and how money comes to influence and shape situations and us as people.
In some parts it reminded me of Michelle Obama's great writing in Becoming, which definitely isn't a bad thing.
Otegha speaks astutely and openly about her life and money and as someone who got a lot out of her Little Black Book previously, I would also definitely recommend that everyone gives this book a read.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this, part memoir, part social and cultural commentary. Always fascinating at times the words fizzed on the page and I could sense the author's passion. Her thoughts on certain cultural icons and moments are the vital Black feminist perspective that is often missing in our culture. I also really liked the more personal reflections on the challenges of being a Black woman in the workplace, especially in 'boys club' environments. Her essay about money is also a timely polemic on the impact of the different socialisation that women often receive around money, self worth and especially in relation to negotiating around payment for work.

With thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I mostly enjoyed this non-fiction of the exploration of money, though I found the sections on the author’s own experiences (as a fairer generation immigrant who wins a scholarship to private school and then goes on to Oxford) much more engaging than the slightly more dry recitation of research and statistics, though it’s important information.

This book really lost me in the last section - having spent chapters discussing her fear that she would never be able to afford her own home in London, the author find out she can and, despite some pandemic setbacks, buys her first flat at 30, far ahead of the average age she quoted for first time buyers in London. Doubtless she would see this as very different than the friends she has been bemoaning for pages for having bought early with their inheritance (and she’s right, she’s done it through her own hard work) but it comes across as similarly tone deaf when she talks about the (very small) delays the pandemic caused, for example. And she becomes much less transparent about her finances as the book comes closer to the present day - she has every right to but it does undercut her central message around the empowering nature of financial transparency somewhat. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Otegha Uwagba, writer and journalist, starts this book with her family's arrival in London ("a city inexplicably enamoured of the colour grey") from Nigeria, her happy childhood in Elephant and Castle, her parents hiding their financial worries as well as they could, and supporting her education. As she secures a scholarship to go to a private school, and then earns a place in Oxford, she details her relationship with money, and with others who often had more than her. The shape of the book is funny - half memoir, half collection of essays. I think it could be both but it could have been done with more grace - the autobiographical details are interesting and what makes the book so engaging, but they were lost in some of the longer chapters. She does a great job though at keeping readers interested by touching on many different topics - beauty (how expensive it is, but how much you have to lose financially and professionally if you are perceived as not doing enough), living (renting in London especially), work and being paid fairly for one's job, asking for a raise, etc. It was a clever mix of academic studies on women and wages, historical facts, and Uwagba's personal experience.

We Need to Talk About Money is a blend between memoir, social commentary and essay collection. Unpicking and looking at issues that surround money – toxic workplaces, pay rises, misogynistic men, how people get money.

This is a hard one to review for me. There were some sections of this book that I really enjoyed and others I didn’t enjoy so much, and I didn’t think were exactly necessary to be included. The parts that I enjoyed the most were Uwagba’s recounts of her personal experiences. The horrible experiences she has had in the workplace and her feelings towards money. Where it lost me was in the middle, where it mas more essay like. The parts about the beauty toll, and when she was talking about the feminist workspace felt out of place to me, but they were still interesting enough to read about.

Uwagba is honest about her experiences and discusses the secrecy and shame that surrounds talking about money.. It’s a well written book, but I do think I would have enjoyed it more if the middle section felt more cohesive with the rest of the book. I will definitely read more form Uwagba.

Thanks to Netgalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for the digital copy of this book.

We Need To Talk About Money is a timely read. Otegha covers several topics, including wealth, our relationship to money and how this forms in our formative years, race, growing up in a Nigerian household, dating, her experiences as a student, property, and the workplace.

We Need To Talk About Money, Otegha Uwagba 3/5

A candid and personal account of the ups and downs wrought by money.

This non fiction read is a disarming and arresting read about the effect money has on our lives, particularly women and black women and those of ethnic minority.

I found Otegha’s observations on capitalism, sexism, privilege and class to be astute and exceptionally honest. Her notes how much better it would be if we could all be honest and open about our financial situation and privilege though she understands that not everybody feel they can. (At times I wonder however if there is some latent resentment over her friends not choosing to always be honest)

Did I agree with everything here? Absolutely not. However Otegha writes brilliantly and I’d certainly read her again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this mix of a memoir and social history. Otegha Uwagba's writing is very current and entertaining at the same time. I didn't expect it to be such a page turner. It's great to have more open discussions on a subject that is still often whispered about.

Brilliant, intelligent and astute writing of both a personal and relatable experience of money in early adulthood.
This is a memoir of the authors background, education, work and family but equally it reveals so much about the structures, barriers and costs in society surrounding money. Through the lens of race, gender, class and the recent pandemic, the author shares their own experiences but also examines recognisable and relatable scenarios and cites studies & data that back up this experience in to a broader social pattern of norms.
Very interesting and extremely important reading

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I guess the best way to describe it would be a memoir but with a focus on how money impacted on the author's life journey. When I say money I don't mean just having it or not, but understanding it's value and how it works, what and when we are taught about it and how different behaviours towards money are shaped and formed. Fundamentally I feel this book provides a good argument for we need to talk about money more and also adds on additional layers by discussing money when other factors such as class, race and gender intersect. I have and will be recommended this one widely.

Wow, I loved We Need to Talk About Money by Otegha Uwagba. I was either highlighting sections or nodding vigorously whilst reading. It is an autobiographical account of Otegha Uwagba’s relationship with money and career as well as an in-depth evaluation of the barriers people face in making money, progressing in their career or getting on the property ladder. As the first in my working class family to go to university and to move to London for a corporate job, there were so many recognisable situations in it for me. Race, gender, privilege and beauty tax are just some of the reasons examined as to how they impact on the amount of money you earn. I think this book needs t9 be on secondary school reading lists - anyone who can identify with similar struggles will feel better/be more aware of the pitfalls to try and avoid and anyone who has no idea will benefit from having their eyes opened.

Thanks so much to 4th Estate for letting me read We Need To Talk About Money by Otegha Uwagba. I knew I was going to really enjoy this book - I love Otegha's podcast and a memoir/cultural commentary on money is so very up my street. And this did not disappoint: it covers topics like Otegha's experience as a scholarship kid at a fancy London private school, her time at Oxford, working freelance and working for big corporate companies, girl boss feminism, and the beauty tax - and especially how that intersects with the realities of being a woman of colour. It's delivered with honesty, nuance and depth, and all of Otegha's insights and research flow so seamlessly. I couldn't think of a single other thing I wish she had covered, which is rare for me when reading this kind of non-fiction, and a sign of just how much I enjoyed it. I also really appreciated reading a book on money and class from someone whose background isn't clear-cut - I find these kinds of books are either written by indisputably middle-class (but sympathetic) authors or people who grew up struggling to make ends meet, and it's refreshing reading something that reflects my background a bit more, and a bit more of the realities of many millennials. Although our experiences are very different, I too grew up in a working-class household with lots of so-called cultural capital, and always knew I was going to go to university - and I think that kind of nuance is SO important in these discussions about money. 4.5 🌟

To be a dark-skinned Black woman is to be seen as less desirable, less hireable, less intelligent and ultimately less valuable than my light-skinned counterparts... We Need to Talk About Money by Otegha Uwagba

0.7% of English Literature GCSE students in England study a book by a writer of colour while only 7% study a book by a woman. The Bookseller 29 June 2021

Otegha Uwagba came to the UK from Kenya when she was five years old. Her sisters were seven and nine. It was her mother who came first, with her father joining them later. The family was hard-working, principled and determined that their children would have the best education possible. There was always a painful awareness of money although this did not translate into a shortage of anything: it was simply carefully harvested. When Otegha was ten the family acquired a car. For Otegha, education meant a scholarship to a private school in London and then a place at New College, Oxford.

In 2020, only 3% of students admitted to Oxford were Black and casual misogyny and sexism were endemic. On graduation, Uwagba would discover ever wider divides. The children of the rich were able to take on six-month unpaid internships: those without such financial backing had to find employment. She would find similar divides when she came to look for a flat to buy: years of scrimping and saving seemed to lead to more and more disappointment: those who could rely on 'the bank of mum and dad' otherwise known as family money were buying properties outright without a mortgage - and then moving on to their second million pound plus property.

The greatest divide is not apparently between white and Black people but between those described as 'paper bag blacks' and darker Black people. Do you remember those brown paper bags which you used to get in grocery stores? Well if you're skin colour is as light as - or lighten then - one of those brown paper bags then you probably won't be discriminated against. If your skin is darker, then you almost certainly will encounter casual but regular discrimination.

Uwagba is occasionally infuriated by the treatment which she and other black people receive - and who wouldn't be - but the book is not a pity party. It's a measured statement of the situation, ably supported by endnotes and logical reasoning. In many ways, this makes it all the more frightening: this isn't a rant that you can dismiss as being 'unbalanced'. It's a measured statement of exactly what we as a society are losing when we fail to help young Black women to flourish. It's a warning of the trouble which we are storing up for ourselves, culturally, socially and financially.

It is a brilliant read: Uwagba has the ability to establish a situation in very few words. She doesn't lecture us but allows us to draw our own conclusions. It's probably one of the most frightening books I've read this year and certainly one of the best. I'd like to thank the publishers for allowing Bookbag to have a review copy.

I feel privileged to have joined Otegha Uwagba on her personal journey, so far. We Need to Talk About Money is largely autobiographical, but on the way she opens up thoughts for discussion about numerous issues.

In a nutshell, Otegha is a young, black woman, daughter of immigrants and Oxford educated. Having worked hard to gain her degree in politics, economics and philosophy, her employment expectations seemed assured. The reality is very different. The narrative is linear and I was fascinated by her background and early experiences as she studied for A levels and ultimately a place at Oxford. Her style is lively and engaging and occasionally searingly frank. Her sharp insight into 21st century Britain is heartbreaking but at the same time, I was delighted that she seems to have found her way through a daily nightmare of racism, sexism, class divide and prejudice in a society which, if not broken, is severely cracked.

Some of her workplace experiences made me feel ashamed. I can’t begin to imagine the strength and courage it must take just to turn up to the workplace knowing what to expect. A male dominated culture is difficult for any woman and more so if they’re very well educated and black. Her learning curve was acute, but she’s turned every negative into something more positive and seems to be growing as an individual. I absolutely loved this book. There are numerous discussion issues around power, control, money and more, but at the heart of this is a strong woman and she has my respect and thanks for sharing her story in such an enlightening way. I hope to read more by her.

Otegha moved to the UK as a small child from Nigeria. Initially it was just her mother and her two sisters and they lived in a relative's flat. It was clear that her parents had their girls education at the forefront of their minds. One of my favourite chapters was her description of her childhood when she was first in the UK. How resourceful her mother was. Plus also the values that her parents instilled in Otegha.
Being an enthusiast of learning, she wins a full scholarship to a private school that enriches her education. It sounds like overall she had a mostly positive experience there. Next she heads to university in Oxford and although surrounded by monied people she makes the most of her time there.
Once she has graduated it is time to find a job and this doesn't prove to be an easy task. She does manage to secure a temporary role. Her goal though is to work in an advertising agency. This is where I found the book to get really interesting in terms of differing workplace culture in different firms.She then delves into some of her career trajectory. I found her description of her various jobs really interesting.
Otegha also gives some time in the book to women's use of beauty products, female entrepreneurs, moving out of home and buying/ renting property.
I found her descriptions of race issues to be a highlight of the book.
For me this is a highlight read for this year.