Reviews tagging 'Death'

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

7 reviews

theaceofpages's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

I was unfortunately rather disappointed by this book. I read and enjoyed the Akata Witch books a few years back and was excited to see my library had a different book by this author. I don't know if it's the book or if my tastes have just changed, but this one just didn't do it for me in the same way.

I don't know, it was often kind of confusing and could have used an edit to make the plot more streamlined. I was a little frustrated by all the A names (I know this is minor but it added to my frustrations). It got weird and interesting towards the end but then what should have been a big event is dismissed in a few lines. The plot keeps jumping around and randomly changing pace. There is just too much happening for the page count and a lot gets lost or forgotten. Don't get me wrong, chaotic books can be interesting. This one just has too much and struggled to resolve itself properly.

A disclaimer for this part: I do not live in Lagos (although I do live in Africa). As much as the city obviously means a lot to the author (as shown through some of the characters), something felt off to me. I know she was born in and grew up in the USA and I feel like it shows to some extent. I have seen similar sentiments from other reviewers, but others enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, it's not book breakingly bad or anything, but it also didn't quite feel right either...

I had such high hopes for this book and maybe that's why it let me down... If this book sounds interesting to you I wouldn't say not to read it, but rather to be aware that you are going into something that is strange, chaotic and frustrating at times 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Homophobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Death, Infidelity, and Rape

cookiecat73's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Chronic illness, Confinement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Blood, Sexism, and Animal death

Moderate: Vomit, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug use, Islamophobia, Outing, Racism, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Colonisation and Death of parent

gilnean's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Hate crime, Murder, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Body horror, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Child death, and Cursing

Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Death of parent, Car accident, Infidelity, Alcohol, Child abuse, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal death, Physical abuse, and Excrement

rexpostfacto's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Ableism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

mordshunger's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I wanted to love this book. It is full of dazzling ideas and interesting threads to pull at, but around the halfway point I had to accept that it wasn't going to do much about any of them. I found it very chaotic and unfocused, not because it switches perspectives or doesn't answer questions - no, it felt more like an idea pitched, a heap of intrigue with not much else behind it. In the end, it just wasn't for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, and Gore

Minor: Rape

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is interesting take on the first contact story. Cool ideas and great character voices (the one-chapter animal characters were particular standouts), but I found the story a little unfocused and disjointed, especially around the midpoint when the gods showed up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Outing, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

Minor: Colonisation, Medical content, Rape, Terminal illness, and Vomit

ejb44's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 @bottles.of.books on Instagram!

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor is a Afrofuturist novel following Adaora, Agu and Anthony after a sonic wave disrupts Nigerian life. Taking place over the span of a couple of days, Okorafor takes us through multiple perspectives and the inner workings of technology, ecology and challenges the reader to question whether multiple narratives actually remove the issues that come with a single story. 

After having read the authors’ The Book of Phoenix, I was going into this with some sort of expectation of her writing style, which is very abrupt and explicit and poignant, and while this book definitely can be described similarly, it can be a very overwhelming book with odd portrayals of characters. Okorafor has said this book is a response to the portrayal of Nigerians in the movie District 9, and it makes sense considering there are so many characters, but sometimes I think it became too character driven and not really Nigerian driven. 

Some brilliant aspects of the book were the interweaving of the lives of the characters, making it something of a game for the reader to work out which characters have more information than we do, and which characters are in for a shock because we know what’s about to happen. The jumping forwards and backwards, often by only a matter of minutes or hours, really places the reader at a vulnerable crossroad in the plot, and it is quite remarkable how Okorafor pulled it off without the characters muddling together as one. However, the effect was that sometimes the perspectives didn’t really add to the story and they were merely present. 

The presence of animal perspectives as well was really quite unique I think, and really highlighted how literal Okorafor took the question “who is affected by X?”, as she always does. This all-encompassing approach to cause and effect in the context of an alien invasion is brilliant to me and I actually appreciated the animal perspectives more than some human ones. 

Additionally, the religious dynamic of the novel, with conversations of Christianity in the south and Islam in the north, which is the current situation in Nigeria, played out really beautifully, especially when paired with the traditional Igbo and Yoruba mythologies and spirits. These traditions sprinkled throughout were very intentional and felt like they deserved a place in the plot, which I cannot say for all the characters. 

Overall, while this book is slightly chaotic and overwhelming, I do think this book is one worth reading, but maybe not as Okorafor’s first book. If you were interested in her novels, I would wholly recommend the Binti trilogy first and then The Book of Phoenix. This book may fascinate some people I am sure, especially sci-fi lovers who are looking for something a little different and modern, but it didn’t quite excite me as much as make me anxious. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Rape