Scan barcode
renss's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
amythereader's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
sammiisammii_'s review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
genevieve_carey's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
3.0
spacewhombus's review against another edition
1.0
After reading over half of this book and not enjoying (or even really understanding) one story I am going to have to dnf this one. I was really excited to read it because I love the short story format and love sci fi and speculative fiction. But if I can’t even understand what is going on then I just lose interest.
Maybe someone else with a bit more literary patience or imagination would love this collection though. The themes were definitely unique just not for me.
Maybe someone else with a bit more literary patience or imagination would love this collection though. The themes were definitely unique just not for me.
stephbookshine's review against another edition
3.0
*I received a free ARC of this novel, with thanks to the author, Little, Brown and NetGalley. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*
Nudibranch is a collection of short stories featuring magic realism and focused around the theme of metamorphosis, transformation, the change from one state to another.
Here is the weird and the wonderful, where a woman can turn into liquorice, monks commit time-travelling murder, eunuchs mate with a sea goddess and monsters go paintballing.
The style of the stories is more like blank verse poetry than prose, and the content reads like someone recording their dreams (and nightmares) in a single stream-of-consciousness flood; capturing not only the surreal contents of their dreamscape, but the exact tone and atmosphere of that illogical, yet immersive, realm.
As such, this is not easy reading by any means, but it is oddly compelling in its strong portrayal of the intense insanity of the human spirit unbound. Irenosen Okojie paints a maelstrom of emotions and experiences, unable to be contained by mere miraculous meat suits; reaching for something beyond mere human boundaries and rules. The other is explored and admired in these tales of magical horror and horrific magic, glorying in all that is strange in thought and feeling.
If you are looking for something quick and sensical, then these are not the stories for you. If you want to swim in exceedingly weird tides of word-waves and surf beyond the boundaries of reason and reality, then these strange tales may be just what you need.
The eunuchs have clouds in their mouths; their motions are erratic, as though they’ll fall into the fire one by one backwards. They soften each other’s injuries with white puffs of breath. They are burning the clothes they arrived in. The sound of fire races to meet bright molluscs in a space that expands and shrinks as things unfold. The carrier pigeons squawk, producing a din that sounds like black rain falling at an angle on the heads of stillborns, like a crow beak tapping against the entrance of Kiru’s cold womb, like the screeching from going blind temporarily travelling through a tortoise shell in the sky, then falling into the water with shell markings that cause flurries, breaches and an undulating silence. They mimic the sound of a lung sinking, chasing an echo thinking it can catch it.
– Irenosen Okojie, ‘Nudibranch’ in Nudibranch
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpress.com/2019/12/30/nudibranch-irenosen-okojie/
Nudibranch is a collection of short stories featuring magic realism and focused around the theme of metamorphosis, transformation, the change from one state to another.
Here is the weird and the wonderful, where a woman can turn into liquorice, monks commit time-travelling murder, eunuchs mate with a sea goddess and monsters go paintballing.
The style of the stories is more like blank verse poetry than prose, and the content reads like someone recording their dreams (and nightmares) in a single stream-of-consciousness flood; capturing not only the surreal contents of their dreamscape, but the exact tone and atmosphere of that illogical, yet immersive, realm.
As such, this is not easy reading by any means, but it is oddly compelling in its strong portrayal of the intense insanity of the human spirit unbound. Irenosen Okojie paints a maelstrom of emotions and experiences, unable to be contained by mere miraculous meat suits; reaching for something beyond mere human boundaries and rules. The other is explored and admired in these tales of magical horror and horrific magic, glorying in all that is strange in thought and feeling.
If you are looking for something quick and sensical, then these are not the stories for you. If you want to swim in exceedingly weird tides of word-waves and surf beyond the boundaries of reason and reality, then these strange tales may be just what you need.
The eunuchs have clouds in their mouths; their motions are erratic, as though they’ll fall into the fire one by one backwards. They soften each other’s injuries with white puffs of breath. They are burning the clothes they arrived in. The sound of fire races to meet bright molluscs in a space that expands and shrinks as things unfold. The carrier pigeons squawk, producing a din that sounds like black rain falling at an angle on the heads of stillborns, like a crow beak tapping against the entrance of Kiru’s cold womb, like the screeching from going blind temporarily travelling through a tortoise shell in the sky, then falling into the water with shell markings that cause flurries, breaches and an undulating silence. They mimic the sound of a lung sinking, chasing an echo thinking it can catch it.
– Irenosen Okojie, ‘Nudibranch’ in Nudibranch
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpress.com/2019/12/30/nudibranch-irenosen-okojie/
julia_meuter's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
samsam123's review
3.0
This is a whirlwind of a book. It defies the reader with twisted metaphors and non-linear plot, so much so that I was often lost. It took getting to the end of several of these stories for me to understand. However, those stories that are not muddled with metaphor and have a clear plot are amazing. For that reason, I have given this book 3 stars. Irenosen can write! I just can’t understand it all the time.
absolutive's review
Too much weird sex and violence, and I found it batty and hard to follow.
shelleyanderson4127's review
2.0
If you like surrealism, then this collection of highly praised short stories is your cup of tea. I do not like surrealism. Okojie writes like Salvador Dali painted, in particular if Dali had taken LSD after drinking several triple expressos. Inanimate objects express feelings, hearts are literally eaten, and people turn into beasts.
The stories are well written and the imagination bold and original. A shelterless man reverses aging; a Mozambican albino floods his village; a Grace Jones impersonator burns the mansions she performs in. The set ups for the plots are wonderfully inventive, but marred by absurdist meanderings and unclear endings. The few stories with a clearer emotional context stand out: "Komza Bright Morning" is a sad but ultimately redemptive story of a rapper's Berlin love affair with a Black trans woman. Okojie's stories do not carry a hint of the unease or quiet horror that, say, Lesley Nneka Arimah or Carmen Maria Machado evoke. In the end, this reader was left disappointed and confused.
The stories are well written and the imagination bold and original. A shelterless man reverses aging; a Mozambican albino floods his village; a Grace Jones impersonator burns the mansions she performs in. The set ups for the plots are wonderfully inventive, but marred by absurdist meanderings and unclear endings. The few stories with a clearer emotional context stand out: "Komza Bright Morning" is a sad but ultimately redemptive story of a rapper's Berlin love affair with a Black trans woman. Okojie's stories do not carry a hint of the unease or quiet horror that, say, Lesley Nneka Arimah or Carmen Maria Machado evoke. In the end, this reader was left disappointed and confused.