Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Noor

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

32 reviews

olivi_yeah's review against another edition

adventurous sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Very minimal writing style, which I didn't mind. The book definitely drags a bit in the middle - only the beginning and end hit the sweet spot for pacing. The author is great at writing fast-paced action scenes.

There is a frustrating lack of development on a lot of the major plot points. It feels like things come up and are never quite explained again. Much of the middle section felt contrived to just get the characters from one point to another.

It felt like much of the world was never really fleshed out. I feel like the setting had so much untapped potential.

Content Warnings

ladydamonayde's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

amyteurhour's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.5

Content warning: ableism, violence/gore, medical trauma, fatphobia

I thought the writing went by quick and easy to read--filled with action--but the story itself was hard to follow. I felt that the worldbuilding wasn't very consistent. There would be points where we got a bunch of description and backstory on the tech in the scene, and then parts where it for a different piece would be mentioning the same thing over and over but not actually saying what it did.

Content Warnings

novella42's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No

4.0

It means the world to me to see disabled characters in speculative fiction written by disabled authors.

I had the rare experience of talking with the author briefly yesterday in a thread on social media (I feel okay sharing this here because it was in a public post). I mentioned I had picked up Noor recently because friends in disability circles had recommended it. She responded, "Noor was my first time (aside from my memoir) nakedly letting the story be about disability. My forthcoming novel is even MORE so. It’s time. I’m glad that Noor is making it to those circles! Yes!"

Needless to say, I went and found a copy of her 2019 memoir Broken Places & Outer Spaces immediately, since I wasn't aware such a thing even existed. And then I finished Noor. This is another long review, but it's partly to help myself remember details when I bring it up at a book club.

There were some powerful elements at play in Noor. I felt moved by the protagonist's rage and was grateful so much of the story centered on the impact of others on her disability--not just her parents, brother, and romantic partners, but also the systemic factors at play like the government and the corporation that made her prosthetics. The way strangers from different strata of society viewed her disability and her enhancements was very telling.

The way she grapples with her congenital disability and internalized ableism reminded me a lot of my own struggles with the same. I was born with a fragile skeleton. A mess, too.

I'd always had it coming. In the dark this was all clear. I emerged from the warm protective darkness of my mother's womb poorly made. A mess. And then years later, fate had unmade me. How dare I embrace what I was and wasn't, and build myself?

Sometimes the language around injury, surgery, brokenness, and body horror got to be too much for me and my C-PTSD. I had to rest several times and asked for help from my partner to co-regulate my nervous system before I could continue. But I felt it was worthwhile, for lines like this:

Sometimes when something breaks, things come out of the cracks.

It felt like the concept of kintsugi, only instead of using gold to repair ceramic, this felt more like repairing a body with fury and power, in response to injustice. It tied in with a theme of just wanting to be left alone to repair and rebuild and live your life.

I think my favorite parts were related to the way she embraced her own identity and strengths and gravitated toward others who saw her worth as a human being. My favorite scene was a tiny detail but it rang especially true for me. (Very mild spoilers for one small moment.)

It was a scene where someone teachers her a mindfulness exercise, and she explains something about that which is difficult for her, and so the teacher guides her to look outside herself and focus on something she could see. That was powerful, and was one of many examples of how much it helps for an author to have inside knowledge of the characters they are portraying, especially when it comes to disability.

Let me explain. People who are not yet disabled or who haven't dealt with chronic pain seem to see body-based mindfulness as some kind of panacea, but going inward and scanning your body is a terrifying experience when your body is a war zone. Rather than telling the person struggling that they're doing it wrong, that there's something broken with them and they won't be able to find inner peace, I love how this scene skipped right to the solution of turning outward for mindfulness in other ways. I wish more people knew that was an option. In 2019 it took me months of shame and depression to figure out why my repeated attempts at mindfulness and body scan meditations seemed to make everything worse. I only figured it out because I finally tried my luck on a therapist.

Anyway. Seeing this phenomenon depicted so easily and clearly felt absolutely wonderful and affirming.

The book felt a little uneven at times with choices I didn't understand, both by the characters and the author, but then again I am not Nigerian or Nigerian American. Just because I don't fully understand it, doesn't mean it's not an understandable choice.

I'm very glad this book exists, and very glad to have read it.

Content Warnings

liter_aly's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

becann's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective 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

3.5

An afrofuturistic romp through a dystopian Nigeria that discusses how cyborgs are disabled and the authoritarian control of capitalism. The world building is the highlight as Nnedi Okorafor builds a fascinating world that deals with contemporary issues. The prose is also great, Nnedi Okorafor's writing is both beautiful and compulsively readable.

Though I liked the themes, they were a little heavy handed and I wish there was more depth. There's a lot of interesting ideas, especially with cyborgs being disabled so I wanted this to be more thought-provoking. The plot is a bit of a mess and could have used more foreshadowing, it would have benefited from either being longer or more focused.

Content Warnings

almostqualified's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.75

Content Warnings

city_girl_writer's review against another edition

Go to review page

fast-paced

3.5

This was a really fast and short book. This was my first adult Dr. Okorafor book and gotta read more of her sci-fi novels. The concept of this futuristic Nigeria was creative and unique to me, and the story was interesting. The characters...were good but not the strong aspect for me. A.O. and D.N.A. develop romantic feelings for each other and I couldn't quite believe their attraction. Nonetheless, I enjoyed listening to this via audio.

Content Warnings

michaelion's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The biggest flaw is that it's too short. I haven't delved into sci-fi that much but I seem to like it, and this book needed more room to be. Heavy lore drops that are mostly tell not show, but not in a way that's irritating, more in a way that this is a huge world that wanted to be explored more. I liked a lot of elements of it though and really related to the main character.

Content Warnings

More...