Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Book Review

Title: Dream Count
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Publisher: Knopf (US) / 4th Estate (UK)
Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, African Literature
Year of Publication: 2025
Date of Publication: March 4, 2025
Pages: 416
ISBN‑10: 0593802721
ISBN‑13: 978‑0593802724
Audiobook Read by: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sandra Okuboyejo, A’rese Emokpae, and Janina Edwards

Summary of Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Dream Count follows the lives of four women living between Nigeria and the U.S. There is Chiamaka, her best friend Zikora; a no-nonsense banker named Omelogor; and Kadiatou, a housekeeper from Guinea. Each section of the book follows a different woman but all their lives are interconnected.

The four women have different stories but a large portion of their stories focus on their dating relationships and how these relationships have led each of them to their current situations. Chiamaka (Chia), who is a Nigerian travel writer, calls the line of exes her “dream count,” which is kind of a play on the body count concept. She lives in Maryland in the U.S. and reflects on her past relationships.

“Your dream count is incomplete then!”

Zikora is Chia’s best friend. She is a successful lawyer in Washington, D.C., but she is dealing with the effects of a relationship that led to pregnancy and abandonment afterwards. Zikora feels betrayed, struggles with motherhood, and as a result takes on a general dislike and suspicion of men.

Then there is Omelogor. Her story focuses on her career and ambition. Omelogor is Chia’s cousin and used to be a high‑powered banker in Nigeria. She later moves to the U.S. to pursue graduate study and wrestles with the consequences of moral compromise and self‑understanding. In the U.S., she struggles with liberal Western assumptions. She also runs a website called For Men Only, where she asks men to send in their problems and she gives them advice from a woman’s perspective.

“Remember, I’m on your side.” — Omelogor’s catch phase for her website

And finally, there is Kadiatou (Kadi). Kadi’s story focuses on how the actions of others can affect people’s lives in extremely drastic ways. She is Chia’s housekeeper but she also works in a hotel in the D.C. area to support her daughter. Her storyline climaxes in a sexual assault by a powerful hotel guest, which leads to a public trial and media storm. Her story is inspired by the real‑life case of Nafissatou Diallo.

Main Plot & Characters

• Chiamaka, Zikora, Omelogor and Kadiatou: These four women are the main characters in this story.
• Darnell: Chiamaka dated him for awhile. Their relationship was one-sided.
• Binta: She is Kadi’s daughter. Kadi’s sister was also called Binta.
• Chuka: He was one of Chia’s exes.
• Atasi: The little girl who Omelogor came to care for after an accident.
• Aunty Nwanneka: She is Chia’s father’s second wife.
• Tantie Fanta: Binta and Kadiatou’s aunty who lives in Conakry. Binta would live with her for awhile.
• Luuk: Chia’s boyfriend originally from Holland.
• CEO: Omelogor’s boss in the bank.
• Amadou: He was Kadiatou’s boyfriend, later husband.
• Monsieur: He was Kadi’s former employer
• François: He was Kadi’s employer when she worked at a restaurant.
• Chijoke, Edu, Chinelo, Jamila, Jide, Belema, and Ahemen: These are Omelogor’s circle of friends.
• Aunty Jane: She is Omelogor’s aunt who hounds her about marriage.
• Johan: Chia’s Swedish boyfriend.
• Philio: Omolegor’s cook
• Hauwa: Omelegor’s close friend in Nigeria.
• Afam and Bunachi: Chia’s brothers

Writing Style

The book is written from the perspective of each of the women and takes place during the COVID‑19 lockdown. Each of the chapters are written in the first person narrative. The book starts off from Chia’s perspective and also concludes from her point of view. We listened to the audiobook at 1.5 speed and found that to be the perfect speed for this.

We absolutely loved the relationship between Chia and Omelogor. The honesty between these two cousins was refreshing. We found Omelogor’s character to be very realistic and so believable. She is portrayed in a way that, as a reader, you feel you know at least one person in your friend group who is just as outspoken as she is.

Each story is equally as powerful as the other. Kadi’s story was so engaging and really tugged at our emotions but over favorite story was Omelogor’s. We just loved that character.

The women are all so different but as a reader you will probably relate to each of them in unique ways.

Memorable Quotes

• “I have never lied in my life as often as I lied to Darnell. I lied to please him, to be the person he wanted me to be, and sometimes, I lied to wrest wretched scraps of reassurance from him.” — Chia’s reflections about her relationship
• “This is the problem with going to school abroad, you start giving complicated names to tasteless food.” — Chinelo, Omelogor’s friend.
• “If you live your life and die without one person fully knowing you, have you really lived?” — Chia
• “You think the world is American; you don’t realize that only America is American.” — Omelogor
• “And because I was lying, I gave too many details.” — Chia
• “I was a beggar without shame.” — Chia
• “On Zoom calls with friends, quiet felt like failure, and so I talked and talked, thinking how quickly we adapt, or pretend to adapt, to a life reduced to screen and sound.” — Chia
• “I knew there was some girth, his suits always seemed strained, but I was taken aback by the force of the full belly unleashed.” — Omelogor
• “Darnell’s friends were the kind of people who believed they knew things. Their conversations were always greased with complaints; everything was “problematic,” even the things of which they approved. They were tribal, but anxiously so, always circling each other, watching each other, to sniff out a fault, a failing,…” — Chia’s reflections
• “They were ironic about liking what they liked for fear of liking what they were not supposed to like, and they were unable to feel admiration, and so criticized people they could simply have admired.” — Chia’s reflections
• “She was small and slight with a pinched, humorless face of a person who thrived on grievances.” — Chia’s reflections
• “Sometimes, rarely, you meet a person who blends into your life as if the designers of destiny had long made room for her.” — Chia reflecting on her friendship with Kadi
• “To be alone is not always to be lonely.” — Omelogor
• “The spirit cannot break even if your heart breaks. Your spirit stay strong.” — Kadi
• “We are in love and then we are not in love. Where does love go when we stop loving.” — Chia’s reflections
• “Now, in my mid-forties, with my female eggs in an unforgiving rush to uselessness, marriage had become secondary.” — Chia reflecting on how others who put pressure on her to get married think
• “I always said what women confronted for the crime of singleness said.” — Chia’s reflections
• “There is no elixir more potent that the genuine encouragement of a lovely person.” — Chia reflecting on Chuka’s support.
• “I met someone and emotion happened.” — Omelogor
• “For one of the boys.” — Afam

Final Thoughts on Dream Count

This was Adichie’s first novel in over a decade. We appreciated how each woman’s story was not only detailed and intriguing but could have been stand alone novels. Chia’s dream count had us analyzing and judging both her and her exes. Zikora’s experiences made us understand her bitterness. Omelegor’s story gave us a more career focused side of things, and Kadi’s story made us crave justice for the things that happened to her.

Rating

Have you read Dream Count? What did you think of all four women and their stories?

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