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bluesav10's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? No
5.0
kim_j_dare's review against another edition
4.0
This has been on my to-read pile forever, and I’m so glad I finally did. This story of Nigerian-American Sunny coming into her powers with the help of her friends is so fresh and engaging. I wish the cover had a little more YA appeal, but maybe now that Akata Warrior is out, new editions will go for a similar look. The comparisons to Harry Potter have merit in terms of the excellent world-building (but you are NOT going to Hogwarts!) and in terms of the appeal across age groups, from middle grade on up to general adult.
alwaysairie's review against another edition
4.0
Basically, Harry Potter but black, in Africa with knives instead of wands and easily two times better!
The book is great and reading it writing definitely makes me think back to my younger years reading Harry Potter but fulfilling the wish of actually seeing how would the magic system and environment be in a black country, here Nigeria.
What I very much loved is that Nnedi Okorafor beautifully built both her world and its magic system, sure taking heavy inspiration from her J.K Rowling but making sure that every detail feels like a parallel rather than a copy. First of all, because the magic system revolving around West African mythology adds an amazing layer of depth to the whole wizard trope. You actually learn about myths and heroes as well as creatures popular in West African culture and for those who have ties to it or even to voodoo culture, some creatures and stories will definitely hit home (s/o to Haitian Vaudou and the ref to Papa Legba, subtle but very much appreciated here
The book is great and reading it writing definitely makes me think back to my younger years reading Harry Potter but fulfilling the wish of actually seeing how would the magic system and environment be in a black country, here Nigeria.
What I very much loved is that Nnedi Okorafor beautifully built both her world and its magic system, sure taking heavy inspiration from her J.K Rowling but making sure that every detail feels like a parallel rather than a copy. First of all, because the magic system revolving around West African mythology adds an amazing layer of depth to the whole wizard trope. You actually learn about myths and heroes as well as creatures popular in West African culture and for those who have ties to it or even to voodoo culture, some creatures and stories will definitely hit home (s/o to Haitian Vaudou and the ref to Papa Legba, subtle but very much appreciated here
kat_sanford's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
professor_m's review against another edition
adventurous
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
librarylandlisa's review against another edition
5.0
FABULOUS novel. I am going to read this entire series, but I am having to pause in between to review newer books. Give to middle grade/YA border readers. Baby swears throughout and some smooching but no sex. Great for actual middle grade age
dandelionsteph's review against another edition
I liked one of the author's other novels, Ikenga, so I had high hopes when it came to this book. However, it has several immediately-apparent problems, to the point it seems like it was her first book. (For example, two books by first-time authors have similar issues: Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman, as well as Adia Kelbara and the Circle of Shamans by Isi Hendrix)
The first chapter/prologue was in the first-person, but later chapters were in the third-person, giving a non-representative idea of the book's point-of-view. The first chapter portrayed important magical events in the main character's life out-of-order, in a disjointed way. There was also something off about the font or formatting which made it difficult to get immersed in the world. The narration has telling-not-showing problems, like describing how the protagonist feels instead of showing it in her actions or showing her internal dialogue directly. (e.g., p.7, "She felt like punching each of them in the mouth".)
The use of interstitial passages of nonstandard format, such as "Fast Facts for Free Agents", p.5., would work better if integrated into the plot, such as it being something the protagonists are reading.
The first chapter/prologue was in the first-person, but later chapters were in the third-person, giving a non-representative idea of the book's point-of-view. The first chapter portrayed important magical events in the main character's life out-of-order, in a disjointed way. There was also something off about the font or formatting which made it difficult to get immersed in the world. The narration has telling-not-showing problems, like describing how the protagonist feels instead of showing it in her actions or showing her internal dialogue directly. (e.g., p.7, "She felt like punching each of them in the mouth".)
The use of interstitial passages of nonstandard format, such as "Fast Facts for Free Agents", p.5., would work better if integrated into the plot, such as it being something the protagonists are reading.
skishimoto56's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
4.75
noellepb's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
3.75
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 endangerment