Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Sankofa by Nnedi Okorafor

19 reviews

mlthomas234's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

Got off to a bit of a slow start, but Okorafor hits a groove about 25% in and the writing is stunning there on out. Sankofa is a full, brave, heartbreaking character in a life that is unpredictable/unexpected, which is only fitting given who she is. ‘Sankofa’ as a symbol is very well-executed and this book really made me think deeply about home as a physical, emotional, and social place— especially as a young black girl who feels isolated and excluded.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Abandonment, Body shaming, Car accident, Grief, and Physical abuse

Minor: Blood

keen's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Car accident, Violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Animal death, Murder, and Chronic illness

Minor: Abandonment and Terminal illness

erinsbookshelves's review against another edition

dark inspiring fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Child death, Animal death, Violence, Car accident, Grief, Murder, Gore, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, and Gun violence

nyoom's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer and Rape

Minor: Medical content

spiritedfaraway's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Everything starts with a meteor shower. A young girl sees something that falls from the stars and what she finds, or what is given to her, comes with great power and a great price. Now wandering with only a small red fox by her side, Sankofa is looking for what was taken from her. As she walks from town to town word by month spreads out even faster and soon Sankofa is wrapped in mythology and legend. 

"People whisper things like, "She's the adopted child of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own." Three was truth in every single one of the stories."

An absolutely engrossing coming of age story with Sankofa looking for purpose and trying to find a sense of self. Amazing character and plot development, but also an exploration of grief, isolation, and trauma. This is a book that is mysterious and vivid and gripping and is so very hard to put down. I truly hope we get more of Sankofa in future books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal death, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Sexism, and Self harm

Minor: Cancer and Terminal illness

There is also death of a sibling and mention of the covid pandemic.

bookishbutch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident

Moderate: Cancer, Murder, and Terminal illness

Minor: Animal death and Sexism

readingunderthecovers's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad 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

3.0

I like this novella but didn’t love it. It was well written and interesting but there were a lot of unanswered questions at the end. If a story is a standalone I like to have all (or most) of the loose ends tied up. I also expected it to be at least partly fantasy but it was all science fiction. It was undoubtedly a good book but not my cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, and Physical abuse

_forestofpages's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Murder and Violence

competencefantasy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

This is the first one by this author where I'm starting out with themes that are up my ally. The relationship of the protagonist with her community and lack of community, the mysterious semi symbolic nature of the powers, an other parts of the central conciet were very much my thing, which is why I bought the book so close to release. What this did for me was allow all the authors other skills in language use, mood, and effective choice of details to rise to the top of my awareness. This stuff is really interesting and really good. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, and Murder

Euthanasia is a theme