Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

21 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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purplepenning's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
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dreareads_'s review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

This book is everything I wanted HP and Percy Jackson to be and more ✨

(Full video on insta and tiktok)
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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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ekriek's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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

4.0

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miandrade's review against another edition

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

2.5

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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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jodieworton's review against another edition

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dark informative 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? No

4.0

My last read of August and it was bloody incredible. 

Akata Witch is the first book of The Nsibidi Scripts series. The book genre is defined as Africanfuturism a term created by the author Nnedi Okorafor. I can not believe this book is 11 years old, and I only heard of it this year, I then added the trilogy to my book Wishlist!

This book is the start of a well development fantasy world, rooted in Nigerian culture, folklore and politics. There was many a reference throughout the book that I found myself researching the meaning and it aided in making this new world richer. 

Akata Witch follows Sunny as she learns of her spiritual heritage, a ‘free agent’ with magical powers. Sunny was born to two nigerian black parents, born in the US but then moved back to Nigeria when she is nine, Sunny is also Albino and feels like she doesn’t ‘fit’ anywhere. This is until she learns of her hidden heritage. 

We then meet Orlu and Chichi, who realise Sunny is a Leopard Person (holds magical power) before she does. They help Sunny and become  best friends. Along with Sasha, who is also from the US and has come to live in Nigeria to learn the deeper meaning of Leopard culture. 

Akata Witch is 100% a fantasy book, however it does have a thriller element mixed into the story telling with the mysterious character, The Black Hat, a serial killer who preys on children. We learn as the book develops that Sunny and her friends are put together as a type of task force to irradiate Black Hat!

The book has great detailing and I was able to envision Leopard Knocks (a place for only Leopard People) so very clearly. This book could most definitely be made into a film or tv series and would be gripping!

If you love fantasy, learning new cultures and languages, this book is a must!! Can not wait to continue with book 2, Akata Warrior!
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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring 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

5.0

Akata Witch is the tale of a world within a world and a girl who doesn’t know her heritage or the mysterious power it brings. This sort of story may sound familiar, but at every opportunity Okorafor departs from the expected to build a magical coming-of-age story that is entirely its own. Sunny and her friends are given an impossible task, are immersed in an impossible world and it is beguiling, beautiful, and mesmerizing. I think it might be one of my favorite magical YA settings ever.

Let’s start with Sunny. First of all, Sunny proves that it’s possible to have an extraordinary destiny without being an orphan. She is exceptional in some ways – as most protagonists are. The most obvious is these is her albinism. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of another book featuring a protagonist with albinism, and a Black person at that. I applaud Okorafor for her choice! But Sunny’s albinism is about more that representation. There’s an empowering reason for it in the story and that matters most of all.  Sunny is never defined by any of her individual traits, even though they weigh on her at times. Okorafor does an excellent job guiding her protagonist through a journey of self-discovery.

Sunny, Orlu, Chichi, and Sasha are a dynamic group and it’s fun to follow their journey. I appreciated the use of mentors and I appreciated the separate shining personalities. I didn’t feel we had too many tropes among them, and those that tried to surface were pushed aside. These characters are defined by themselves, not the role they play in the book, and that’s fantastic. It’s refreshing to see a group with a purpose, rather than an individual with a destiny.

I adore Okorafor’s writing. In Akata Witch, I especially appreciated  her use of weather. Rain, sun, storm – all of them bring so much to the story’s atmosphere in a way I appreciate with most books, but am astounded with here. The climatic scene near the end of the book was astounding and immersive and I was enthralled. There are some writers who are so talented at atmospheric writing that from the first few sentences, you are transported. Okorafor is one of those authors.

Akata Witch is a fantastic dive into magic from a non-Western European perspective. The action scenes have amazing pacing, the characters jump off the page, and the writing is vibrant. I enjoyed this book so much – it’s definitely destined for my personal library. I’d recommend folks look past the ages of the main quartet – this book never felt catered to younger readers – and dive in. It’s wonderful.

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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