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bookish_leslie's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
My rating scale, for reference:
- 1 Star: Hated it
- 2 Stars: Didn't like it
- 3 Stars: Meh
- 4 Stars: Liked it
- 5 Stars: Loved it
I obviously didn’t care for this book, given my rating. It wasn’t all bad, of course. For example, I appreciated how knowledge was seen as the topmost goal of the Leopard People, as opposed to the goal of material gain in the real world, and how Leopard people were supposed to love and embrace their physical shortcomings. I liked, too, how not everything was glossed over and made perfect - for example, how (spoiler)
So yes, there were some things about this novel I enjoyed, but overall, I found the story to be fairly dark and off-putting. Here were some of the reasons why:
- The sexism and misogyny throughout the book was horrific.
- The adults in general were terribly abusive. Canings, floggings, beatings - didn’t matter if it was parents, teachers, or magical authorities; they all were abusive in some way. And then the kids beat each other up too. Gee, I wonder why, given the example they were set?
- The plot was pretty weak. The characters mostly floated from one scene to another without any progression or development.
- The characters weren’t very believable. Other than their constant in-fighting, they usually acted much more like 16 or 17-year-olds than the 12ish-year-olds they were supposed to be.
- It was infuriating how information about Leopard people was so slowly dripped and gate kept, and never ended up being well-explained.
- I didn’t understand how or why Sunny’s sun sensitivity was (spoiler)
suddenly and magically cured, especially with the emphasis within Leopard society of embracing shortcomings. - So much emphasis was put on how Leopard magic wasn’t genetic…except that it seemed to be mostly genetic? There were a lot of inconsistencies like this throughout.
- The adults were constantly putting the children at risk for no discernible reason, and it bugs me to no end when children are (spoiler)
sent in to save the day when there are always more qualified adults. Why!? 12 year old children were sent in this book to confront a serial killer while the adults just sat back and watched. These kids weren’t given any information or training or help. Just suddenly summoned and sent in to do their best. And if they died? Oh well. Greater good and all that. But weirdly, they did succeed. I'm obviously glad they did, but how were they successful when so many others more experienced than them had failed? More detail was given to their irrelevant soccer game than to this climax. - There was no cohesion in the tone of this book. One minute I might be reading about an adorable bug who loved to be praised for the things it made out of trash, and the next I might be reading about small children getting their eyes gouged out by a serial killer. WTF?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Racism, Child abuse, Bullying, Death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Sexism
Also: child endangermentbluberrybooks's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
I feel like I wrote this review but apparently I haven't. It's been a bit sine I finished this book so it's not fresh. I really enjoyed the pacing, characters and story. I loved the magic system I believe the world building was fantastic. You leaem about everything with the main character. I like how it showed the double standards she has to deal with as a young girl. I almost gave it 4.5 but didn't because the ending felt too all over the place and the way Sunny just saved the day felt unearned and not every believable. I originally gave it 3.5 but I still think highly of this so 4 star for me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism
Moderate: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Body horror, Bullying, and Misogyny
Minor: Police brutality
jlr14's review against another edition
adventurous
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
Minor: Racial slurs, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Violence
purplepenning's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Bullying, and Child death
Moderate: Body shaming, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Kidnapping, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Death, Murder, and Violence
Serial killer preying on children for ritual murders; corporal punishmentmaresuju's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Bullying, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Kidnapping, Ableism, Child death, and Murder
abibliolife72's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Violence
greymalkin's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I read this book first as an audiobook for the first half and then as an ebook for the second. The audiobook is excellent. The book itself is very enjoyable. My only real quibble is that after all that buildup, the end was a bit of an anticlimax. I wish that there had been more teamwork involved and that Sunny didn't just learn important info like a mcguffin at the very end. It wasn't a bad ending, just that everything else was so detailed and hard-earned and the end was sort of a hand-wavey "and then it just works". I still plan to read the next in the series though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, and Child death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Ableism
surprisebear's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
city_girl_writer's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. This is something I would have been ecstatic for as a younger reader, and this book touched that. I really liked our protagonist, Sunny, and her friends. The magic was unique and loved how it was set in Nigeria. It touched me, and I appreciate this book for it. Very curious to see what happens in Akata Warrior.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Suicide
kirchnerkd's review against another edition
adventurous
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death