Lara T. Kareem is a Nigerian writer whose stories work through love and life at close range. Three of her books are on Sọna, and they do not sit in one genre. One is a fast contemporary romance, one is a quiet novella about going home, and one is free speculative fiction. When she is not writing she is watching Korean dramas and anime and reading manhwa, and she lives in Lagos with her cat, Ekko.
Full Circle
Nike plans the perfect exit and takes it at a Lagos ballroom, walking out of a relationship that was never really hers. All she wants afterwards is the night, her best friend, and a bottle of wine. Then a chance encounter and a ruined dress introduce someone who will not go back to being a stranger. A romance about being seen at your messiest by someone new.
Full Circle
by Lara T. Kareem
She planned the perfect exit. She didn't plan on him. When Nike takes matters into her own…
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hands at a Lagos ballroom, she walks away from a relationship that was never truly hers. Free for the first time, all she wants is to disappear into the night with her best friend and a bottle of wine. But a chance encounter—and a ruined dress—brings someone into her orbit who refuses to stay a stranger. Now, as she pieces together the life she actually wants, Nike must decide if she's ready to let someone new see her at her messiest. Because sometimes, the end of one story is just the beginning of another.
Show lessAanu Ife
After a run of personal setbacks, Ina goes back to her grandparents' old house in Onilewa. The village moves at its own pace, and the pace is what does it, the memories surface and the things she left unfinished come with them. A tender novella about friendship, self-discovery, and deciding whether to stay anchored to what happened.
Aanu Ife
by Lara T. Kareem
After a series of personal setbacks, Ina retreats to her grandparents’ old home in Onilewa, a…
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village alive with cherished memories from her childhood. As she immerses herself in the village’s gentle rhythms, the echoes of her past resurface, forcing her to confront the wounds she had long tried to escape. Amidst the beauty of Onilewa and the warmth of its people, Ina discovers that strength arises from vulnerability, connection, and the courage to rebuild. With new beginnings on the horizon, she must decide whether to embrace the life unfolding before her or remain anchored to the weight of her past. Àànú Ifẹ́ is a tender and poignant tale of friendship, self-discovery, and the enduring power of starting over. Through evocative prose and a deeply reflective narrative, Lara T. Kareem captures the delicate nuances of emotional resilience, inviting readers to explore what it truly means to face one's past and embrace the uncertainty of the future.
Show lessThe Offline Girls
Free to read on Sọna, and the furthest from the other two. If you want to try her writing before buying anything, start here.
The Offline Girls
by Lara T. Kareem
In 2059, the Girl-Child Safety Implant is supposed to make one thing impossible— a girl…
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disappearing without a trace. Then seventeen-year-old Kulu goes to the market and never comes home. Her implant never sends a distress alert. When Rakiya checks the system, Kulu’s status eventually changes to two words she has seen before: Offline (Error). Rakiya’s university research has already uncovered strange failures in the safety network serving rural communities. Kulu’s disappearance turns those anomalies into something personal. Other girls have vanished the same way, all from underfunded regions still running outdated firmware. As Rakiya follows the data and speaks to the families left behind, a pattern begins to emerge. These girls are not simply falling through the cracks. Someone knows exactly how to make them disappear.
Show lessNew to Lara T. Kareem? The Offline Girls costs nothing, so start there. Then Full Circle if you want the romance, or Aanu Ife if you want the quiet one. All three are on Sọna now.
