Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

12 reviews

bookish_leslie's review

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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)
Sunny’s team didn't win the soccer match
. It was also interesting to read a book that wasn’t North American or Eurocentric, though I found the places, cultural references, and language/slang harder to follow because of this. 

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?

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maresuju's review against another edition

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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

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greymalkin's review against another edition

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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!
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megold12's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

Loved this story. At times I wanted more of the lore or to read more about Sunny’s experience learning about her powers and this world. The ending also felt very fast
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haylzno's review against another edition

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

4.0

For the most part I loved the story. Person stumbled upon this world of magic and finds family along the way is one of my favorite tropes. There were times where I felt the story dragged a bit, taking me out of the story. And there were other times where it felt rushed? Like we spent 90% of this book working towards this end goal of confronting the Black Hat and when we finally get there the whole thing is over in less than a chapter?? Granted there are books after this one in the series so I'm sure it all is possibly revisited, but it felt like we were building and building and building to this moment and once we got there it was over in the blink of an eye. 

However, the Leopard People, free agents, spirit faces, chitim, all of the other aspects of this story were so so so much fun to read I couldn't get enough of Sunny discovering this whole new world. I can't wait to see her continue to grow into her magic and hopefully learn more about her lineage!! 
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cataglyphis's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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kateloveswords's review against another edition

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

3.5

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directorpurry's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

3.0

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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

4.0

An amazing world full of magic, excited to see this series continue.

I swear third time is finally the charm, I'm continuing with this series! Akata Witch is about 12 year old Sunny who stumbles into the Leopard world of magic. Sunny ends up forming a coven with three other kids who become best friends through the trials of magic.

This world is both amazing and dangerous. While the kids are learning how to channel their powers, there is a magician who is stalking the town kidnapping and killing kids. Sunny and her coven will end up being the last defense against the evil this magician is trying to call. I really enjoy this world and I love Sunny's character. I love how much she loves soccer and enjoys learning about her powers. Really excited to see what these kids get up to in the next book!

Rep: Albino Nigerian-American female MC, Nigerian-American male side character, Nigerian female side character, Nigerian male side character with dyslexia, Nigerian female side character with severe scoliosis.

CWs: Bullying, death, violence, blood, misogyny, sexism. Moderate: child death, child abuse, kidnapping, murder, body shaming, racism/colorism, domestic abuse, suicide, racial slurs.
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I still love this book! I am still uncomfortable with physically punishing kids for mistakes tho. Sorry not sorry have not changed my mind about that.

I loved Sunny and her inquisitive disposition. Learning about Leopard powers alongside her was so much fun as she keeps digging for answers. I loved that she developed real friendships with her three other coven mates. Several times I got a chosen ones type vibe from them. While they are reckless at times, they're also incredibly powerful. I really want to read the rest of this series so I can see what else Sunny and her friends uncover!
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I really enjoyed this story about magic, friendship and power!

One thing that did bother me was the amount of times the kids were physically punished for not listening or doing something wrong. I just can't get behind that especially since these kids were like 12-14 yrs old!! Like why?

I really loved the magic and adventure this story had. It was easy to follow what happened and I loved all of the tribal references that were added. The setting of Nigeria was magical and realistic simultaneously. The story came alive with Okorafor's distinct story telling voice. I loved how adventurous and rebellious Sunny and her friends were. Their coven was well balanced between their personalities.

I hope we get to learn more about Sunny's family and the Leopard world in the second book! 
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booksandtea997's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.0

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