Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

74 reviews

choicepotatoes_oldo20230731's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.25

STAR RATING

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★★★☆☆
enjoyable enough

NUMERICAL RATING

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3.25
this book has so much potential; i wanted to enjoy it so much more than i actually did

REVIEW

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I never thought I would wind up reading Binti more than once, but I recently discovered Robin Miles and was curious to know if I'd enjoy her fiction narration just as much as I enjoyed her narration of Caste.

As it turned out:

Miles' narration of Binti confirmed her as one of my favorite audio book narrators
It may have something to do with the above bullet point, but Binti is arguably better as an audio book than an ebook

Although Binti was, for the most part, enjoyable, there were a couple of things I found off-putting:

Between Binti's arrival on The Third Fish and the arrival of the Meduse on the ship, Okorafor attempts a sort of "making friends, developing a crush, etc" montage.

We don't learn much about Binti, the ship, or the university during the montage. I also didn't form any real or lasting emotional connection to her shipmates (although, I will admit, I was absolutely prepared to).

Because of this, the murder of everyone on the ship was anti-climactic. Had it been set up differently, it could have been a highly emotional moment that pulled me further into the story and caused me to feel great conflict about Okwu throughout the remainder of the book. Instead, I was left feeling underwhelmed and--quite frankly--more betrayed than if I'd formed deep connections with those side characters only to have them cruelly ripped away from me.

The second off-putting thing, I only really realized after finishing the second book in the series:

Binti doesn't feel like a whole story that stands on its own. It's more complete than the second book, but in retrospect, it feels like a very detailed backstory whose primary purpose is to strengthen the third and final book in the series.

It's true that both the first and second book go a long way towards making the third as strong as it is, but I'm wondering whether both books couldn't somehow have been integrated into the third, as opposed to being two very fleshed-out fragments of backstory in a three-part novella.

All that said, I appreciate this book more the second time through, and especially while reading the third book in the series for the second time. I'm no longer convinced this won't be a book I'll return to, and I'm more convinced to try reading some of Okorafor's other books a second time.

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natalie_gumm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Content Warnings

lavenderashes's review against another edition

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3.5

i really enjoyed reading this but the ending just felt meh to me like we didn’t really get to explore the complexity and consequences of what happened in this story fully. and i guess that’s attributed to this being a novella but im hoping the rest of this series helps bring so closure!

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asahome's review against another edition

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3.75

Content Warnings added from: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor - Book Trigger Warnings

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axel_p's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

grizzlysnack's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark reflective tense fast-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? No

3.75

Content Warnings

ashylibrarian's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

3.5

The unique story of a human girl traveling to an alien planet for a chance to study at the most prestigious school in the galaxy. On her way there, however, Binti's ship is attacked by an enemy ship. Left as the only survivor, Binti must draw on the gifts of her people and the strength she has within to try and make amends amongst the galaxy.

I have not read much sci-fi in the past, so I was glad to take a small story as a starting point. I thought for the length of the story the world-building was strong and created a vivid picture in my mind while listening. I thought the struggles were unique and interesting, and I found the ending to be satisfying. I know there are more books in this series, however, I am not sure yet if I will be continuing.

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walkie_check's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

Content Warnings

chattie_the_mad_chatter's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

A powerful story exploring mental strength, empathy and compromise in the most difficult circumstances.

I immediately liked and rooted for Binti our protagonist and enjoyed the direction Dr Nnedi Okorafor wanted to take us. I went in knowing nothing and prefer it that way so was not thinking about anticipating anything just watching the story unfold.

The world building and clear cultures and species set up in her feels so real. Can't wait to keep reading

Content Warnings

titch's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.75

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