Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Binti

Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

6 reviews

miniingrid's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

Releerlo en otro idioma es casi como volver a leerlo por primera vez. Y se disfruta igual o más que la primera. Además la edición catalana lleva incluido el relato corto.

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titch's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

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erebus53's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This is a book that hinges on the deeply human need for family, and place, and also our innate curiosity and exploration. Many themes are contrasted in a seamless flow that ties into the reader's experiences in personal and relevant ways. Binti is at the same time both a deeply logical mathematician and a whole and emotional human girl. She uses her talents in mathematics to earn a scholarship to go offworld to university, and leaves without her family's blessing, not knowing what she is getting herself into. This is a coming of age story with twists, and is an allegory for the child who leaves their home and becomes a new person in a new place, not knowing how they will fit back into their home should they return.

Daubing herself, in the traditions of her people, with red clay from her homeland, she does not know if her new place will even have that clay, which is part of her cultural identity. When calamity strikes she must use her power to find harmony in treacherous situations.

This is a short read, but deeply engaging. Nnedi Okorafo explores the bigotry that that is shown toward people of unfamiliar ethnic minority, and how pride and honour can be preserved inside a person even when they feel the need to hold their tongue to avoid conflicts. She emphasises how through focusing on our similarities we can form bonds of friendship and even kinship with others.

I'm in a conflicted place when I consider the messaging in this story. Ultimately there is an element of needing to change who one is, to survive in hostile environments, which is a testament to the adaptability of humans in general, but at what cost? And isn't it always the way, that it is those who are oppressed who have that change forced upon them, and then just need to find a way to be okay with that?

I can see why this story won awards, and it would be a great club book, or conversation starter for the classroom.

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cybercommie's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

3.25

I liked it. The style is very short story-like, but I still enjoyed it. It was not as strong as her short story work, IMHO, but the plot flowed nicely. The ending where

Binti dies and is brought back in a short period of time

seemed abrupt, but on reflection I liked the way it developed the world/themes/story.
I found the

sudden war bit

to be quite odd. I felt it was dropped abruptly with little explanation. But overall I liked the book and I really enjoyed the worldbuilding, finding myself slipping into it easily, as well as the characters.
I bought this book before I read it (or even knew what it was about) and I’m glad to own a copy.

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jmcordero's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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ejb44's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense fast-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

5.0

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor centres itself on Himba woman Binti who decides to go against what her village expects of her and go to university. On this journey she faces one of the hardest experiences of her life, one that will follow her through the rest of the series and be a key factor in her trauma-healing and decision making. From themes of identity and culture-mixing to friendship and family struggles, Okorafor doesn’t fail to beautifully explore what it means to be from various cultures.

For such a short book, Okorafor manages to create such a detailed world without compromising character and plot development. This skill is fairly unique, and I think the balance between these three aspects of a novel entangle with each other so well. Every aspect of the science fiction in this novel is capitalised to its maximum, without feeling overbearing like I felt it did in her other novel Lagoon.

Okorafor’s exploration of identity, migration and how others’ perceptions of you can shape those aspects of your life really root this story – it is obvious from the beginning the message she is trying to put across. By placing themes of migration and identity in a post-colonial context and exploring these conversations free from European influence, Okorafor is expanding the limitations faced by black women. These themes permeate the other books in the series and never once become repetitive. The message really hit home for me, as someone who has grown up not really fitting in with any other culture in my family (the perks of growing up with parents from two countries!). Okorafor brings in her own ideas as she is Nigerian but was raised in America, and you can tell from the writing it really is a topic that means a lot to her and is close to her heart.

Overall this book is fantastically brilliant, short, vibrant and deals with important topics in such a short space of words. I would also recommend the book Shame On Me by Tessa McWatt to accompany you’re reading of this series as it deals with the same subjects from a non-fiction point of view.

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