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nrldyer's review
3.0
A weird and wonderful collection, lifting the veil on what it is to be human in different forms. Some stories and characters spoke to me more than others, but the author certainly has creativity in bounds and a vivid imagination. She writes pain, grief and violence in ways that will stay with you
bodinelouise's review against another edition
2.0
Reading this book I felt the same as I do when looking at abstract art. I can appreciate that it's art but I don't understand it. It doesn't evoke an emotion or spark my interest.
The first 3 stories didn't make any sense to me and I made the mistake to read them back-to-back. When a collection is this alien and wild it's better to read one at a time for easy digestion. 1/3 in there was one that reminded me of an explanation I was given about 'American Gods' and with that mindset, it became easier to follow the storyline of the other ones. I did like the last two stories, I could make more sense out of them and their general setting are more to my taste.
I am not giving it 2 stars because it's a bad book. I consider my ratings a reflection of my personal taste and in this case, it's just not my thing.
The first 3 stories didn't make any sense to me and I made the mistake to read them back-to-back. When a collection is this alien and wild it's better to read one at a time for easy digestion. 1/3 in there was one that reminded me of an explanation I was given about 'American Gods' and with that mindset, it became easier to follow the storyline of the other ones. I did like the last two stories, I could make more sense out of them and their general setting are more to my taste.
I am not giving it 2 stars because it's a bad book. I consider my ratings a reflection of my personal taste and in this case, it's just not my thing.
rcsreads's review
4.0
Beautiful and poetically written. This is a totally bizarre collection of magical realism. I loved every story more than the last!
joecam79's review
3.0
There’s speculative fiction. There’s weird fiction. And then there’s the fiction of Irenosen Okojie, where the term “weird” is taken not just to another level, but another dimension. The fifteen stories in “Nudibranch” are mostly (but not always) set in recognisable places: the streets of London and Berlin, a monastery (somewhere in England?), an international airport. Yet, what happens in them is almost so bizarre as to be incomprehensible. One story, for instance, features time-travelling monks carrying out bloody acts under the watchful eye of a team of saints. Another involves a woman who turns into liquorice.
These flights of fancy are certainly intriguing. However, getting through this collection was, admittedly, particularly difficult. Okojie not only presents the reader with surreal scenarios, but conveys them in a dense, metaphor-laden language which straddles the worlds of prose and poetry and makes the strangeness stranger. Whether one enjoys this depends, I suspect, not just on one’s taste but also on one’s mood at a given point in time. I must admit that there were times when I just couldn’t get into the stories. And there are some of the pieces which I just didn’t understand despite my best efforts. Recommended if you like your fiction different and challenging.
These flights of fancy are certainly intriguing. However, getting through this collection was, admittedly, particularly difficult. Okojie not only presents the reader with surreal scenarios, but conveys them in a dense, metaphor-laden language which straddles the worlds of prose and poetry and makes the strangeness stranger. Whether one enjoys this depends, I suspect, not just on one’s taste but also on one’s mood at a given point in time. I must admit that there were times when I just couldn’t get into the stories. And there are some of the pieces which I just didn’t understand despite my best efforts. Recommended if you like your fiction different and challenging.
lipglossmaffia's review against another edition
3.0
Nudibranch is an acquired taste. From reading Machado and Scheweblin, I felt I would have been groomed enough to properly enjoy this collection but I realize what makes me love the other two more. Plot. Even in their weirdness, there was a plot to follow, Nudibranch is more abstract, like a concept that you need to take your time to stew over. Her imagination is vivid though, I wonder what she must have been smoking or drinking when working on this because I want some.
lethalballet's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ruthie_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
the_literarylinguist's review against another edition
FAR too gruesome
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence