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bookish_leslie's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
- 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?
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Racism, Child abuse, Bullying, Death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Sexism
Also: child endangermentjlr14's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
Minor: Racial slurs, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Violence
purplepenning's review against another edition
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 punishmentdreareads_'s review against another edition
- 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
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Graphic: Grief, Xenophobia, Violence, Murder, Bullying, Child death, Kidnapping, Death, and Torture
maresuju's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Bullying, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Kidnapping, Ableism, Child death, and Murder
just_one_more_paige's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Sexism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Bullying
Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, and Blood
abibliolife72's review
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse and Violence
city_girl_writer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Suicide
queer_bookwyrm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor is book one in the Nsibidi Scripts series. This book was great! This is another of those books I wish had been around when I was in middle school. This would honestly make a great replacement for HP if you need Magic School recs.
We follow Sunny, a girl born in the US to Nigerian/Igbo parents, but raised in Nigeria, and is albino. Sunny starts making friends with a boy named Orlu after he helps stop bullies from hurting her. Orlu has another friend named Chichi who doesn't attend school, is very direct, antagonistic, and mysterious about her age. When Chichi and Orlu tell her about juju, she discovers she's like them: a Leopard Person, a person with magical abilities using natural talents and powders and symbols and such. Sunny gets to join Orlu and Chichi in what is basically juju school, but Sunny is at a huge disadvantage since she's the only one who didn't grow up knowing about any of it.
I loved the group we got. We meet an African-American boy named Sasha who was sent to Nigeria for bad behavior and will be studying with them. This whole group was about balancing each other out: Sasha and Chichi being the hard headed, firery ones; Orlu and Sunny the more calm, sensible, and quiet ones. Together they make an Oha coven, and they are tasked with something no teen should have to deal with alone.
I loved the world-building in this! So many cool and interesting things! In Leopard People world, knowledge is the most valuable thing and so as you learn new things you earn chittim (various precious metals that serve as currency). Since Sunny is completely ignorant of Leopard People ways, she earns big chittim. Each Leopard Person has innate magical abilities they can utilize without powders or using a juju knife. The abilities usually correlate to the person's physical appearance, often a disability or deformity, and is seen as a good thing. I loved the concept of spirit faces and I hope we learn more about them throughout the series. I want Della the Art Wasp! So tiny and desperate for praise.
It was interesting reading about the way Native Nigerians view African-Americans. The word Akata in the title refers to Black Americans or foreign-born blacks as bush animals, and is very rude. Since Sunny is also albina she gets called a witch a lot, and she has taken these names back. I want more African fantasy!
Definitely looking forward to Akata Warrior and to Okorafor's other books.
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Violence and Physical abuse
Minor: Child death and Kidnapping
ekriek's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Minor: Violence and Murder